Stevie‘s review of Bang Bang Bodhisattva by Aubrey Wood
LGBTQ+ Cyberpunk Thriller published by Rebellion Publishing Ltd 09 May 23
I don’t read a lot of cyberpunk, even though the aesthetic appeals to me, mainly because I see few recommendations for books in the genre that feature queer characters. Likewise, I don’t read as much noir as I’d like for similar reasons. So when I started seeing mentions of this mash-up of the two with its trans and polyamorous protagonist, I was very keen to get my hands on a copy. It certainly delivered hugely on diversity, with representation of a wide range of marginalised groups eking out a living in a near-future city, where tech enhancements are near universal and the police are more or less a private militia for the rich and powerful.
Kiera Umehara is a trans woman living in an open trio with two other radical queers, all of whom work in the gig economy, although one of them, Jinx, aspires to become a big-name influencer. When their social score drops and they are threatened with eviction from their apartment because of it, Kiera is forced to team up with Angel Herrera, the cop turned PI she swore she’d never work with again after their last job ended in a fistfight. Herrera has been hired by his ex-wife to track down the former colleague she left him for, now working as a lawyer, and coincidentally representing Kiera in her fight to get legal recognition of her chosen name.
The pair soon find their man – dead – and when Kiera takes a break from work to attend a party with Jinx, she ends up falling for a fellow guest, who promptly also vanishes with all clues pointing to the presumed kidnapping having been committed by the same person(s) that killed her lawyer. Kiera and Herrera find themselves under suspicion (cue racism and misgendering from the cops) and have to race to solve both cases before they end up being jailed for the crimes they are investigating – and more – because this is a criminal web with links to the highest levels of local politics.
I enjoyed this book a lot; although it was clunky in places and set in a future that seemed to have diverged from our present at least twenty years ago, the amount of trans and queer representation more than made up for that, in my opinion. It was a rare joy to come across a novel with a fully functional polyamorous relationship at its heart and where all the conflict came from factors outside that relationship.
Another book I want to reread when I have the time to savour it, and another author I want to read more from as her career and writing progresses.
Grade: B
Summary:
Someone wants trans girl hacker-for-hire Kiera Umehara in prison or dead—but for what? Failing to fix their smart toilet?
It’s 2032 and we live in the worst cyberpunk future. Kiera is gigging her ass off to keep the lights on, but her polycule’s social score is so dismal they’re about to lose their crib. That’s why she’s out here chasing cheaters with Angel Herrera, a luddite P.I. who thinks this is The Big Sleep. Then the latest job cuts too deep—hired to locate Herrera’s ex-best friend (who’s also Kiera’s pro bono attorney), they find him murdered instead. Their only lead: a stick of Nag Champa incense dropped at the scene.
Next thing Kiera knows, her new crush turns up missing—sans a hand (the real one, not the cybernetic), and there’s the familiar stink of sandalwood across the apartment. Two crimes, two sticks of incense, Kiera framed for both. She told Herrera to lose her number, but now the old man might be her only way out of this bullshit…
A fast-talker with a heart of gold, Bang Bang Bodhisattva is both an odd-couple buddy comedy that never knows when to shut up, and an exploration of finding yourself and your people in an ever-mutable world.
Read an excerpt.
