[I love scifi, and this book looks amazing. Jason has a $15 bookstore GC, too, for one lucky person who enters via the Rafflecopter widget at the end of this post. ~ Lisabet]
Blurb
Jason
Werbeloff’s short stories have been downloaded over 20,000 times.
Obsidian Worlds brings together his 11
best-selling sci-fi shorts into a mind-bending philosophical
anthology.
In
Your Averaged Joe, a man’s headache is large enough to hold the
multiverse. Q46F is an obsessive-compulsive android who finds love in
a zombie-embroiled apocalypse. The end of the world isn’t all that
bad – The Experience Machine will fulfill your every desire (and
some you hadn’t considered). A sex bot dares to dream of freedom in
Dinner with Flexi. But mind what you eat, because The Photons in the
Cheese Are Lost. Don’t fret though: The Cryo Killer guarantees that
your death will be painless, or your money back when you’re thawed.
Unless, that is, you’re The Man with Two Legs.
Plug
into Obsidian Worlds for these and other
immersive stories, including the hilarious Time-Traveling Chicken
Sexer. Your brain will never be the same again.
Excerpt
(from “The Cryo Killer”)
“Inesa
and Paul, good to meet you. Who referred you?”
“Mr.
Camfrey’s wife.”
Paul’s
hands are working. Picking at each other. At the cuticles.
“Ah
yes, I was sorry to hear about his passing.”
“I
think,” she lowers her voice, “that it was professionally done.
Heart attack, I hear.”
I
lean forward. “You’d like a similar package, ma’am?”
Paul
speaks up for the first time. “Is it quick?”
If
I had a penny for every time a client asked me that question.
“Painless,” I say, “or your money back.”
Paul
harrumphs.
“Excellent,”
says Inesa, beaming. “You’ve been doing this a while?”
“Best
in the business,” says Janet, striding over to us. She places a
hand on my shoulder. “You’re safe with Barker.”
“So,
you’re wanting the double package?”
Inesa
squeezes her husband’s arm. Every carat on her ring finger catches
the sunlight. His nod is miniscule.
“Yes,”
she replies after a moment.
“Those
are difficult.” I lean back in my chair, weighing the ring out of
the corner of my eye. “Coroner looks closely at doubles. Need a
plausible cause of death. Right now all I have in stock are gas leaks
and home invasions. Invasions can get messy – brings down the
property value. I suggest the gas leak. Although …” I glance at
Paul. “Home invasions are on the rise.”
Paul
scratches the skin over his knuckles. His lips have taken on a bluish
tinge. I’ve seen all manner of manners displayed in the chairs on
the other side of my desk. Clients respond to their impending deaths
in all sorts of ways. Paul’s reaction isn’t unique.
“Gas
leak,” says Inesa definitively.
Paul
nods, a quick jerk up and down. “When’ll it happen?” He can’t
meet my gaze.
“I
could probably fit you in next week. Any preferences?”
“I’m
writing an exam on Tuesday,” says Inesa. She looks to Paul, “And
I’m sure you’d like to finalize that merger?”
He
groans.
“Late
next week?” she asks.
“Let’s
see … Janet, check my availability, please.”
“Could
do Friday next.”
“Excellent,”
says Inesa.
“But
…” Paul is fading to a paler blue by the minute. Droplets dot his
forehead. “I just can’t live with the thought of this hanging
over me for the next ten days. I just …” He swallows. “I just
can’t.”
I
reach out a hand and touch the man’s shoulder. His golf shirt is
saturated. “Not to worry, sir. A memory wipe is included. You’ll
never know you were here.” I offer him my warmest smile. Janet
calls it the Big Daddy. “In fact, you may’ve been here before,
and you wouldn’t know.”
Paul
eyeballs me. “Have we been here before?”
“I
couldn’t tell you.” I wink.
About
the Author
Jason
Werbeloff is a novelist and philosopher. He loves chocolate and his
Labrador, Sunny.
He's
interested in the nature of social groups, personal identity,
freedom, and the nature of the mind. His passion is translating
philosophical debate around these topics into works of science
fiction, while gorging himself on chocolate.
Amazon
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