By Harmon Cooper
First Published: 2015
Rating: Excellent
Life is a Beautiful Thing is a  violent, hallucinatory thrill-ride in the vein of Hunter S. Thompson, William Gibson, and Phillip K. Dick, with a side order of Clockwork Orange. Expect heavy hallucinogen usage, sexual relations with transgender androids, pitched together ramblings of a madman a la William S. Burroughs, graphic violence and murder, political satire, drug smuggling, meta-fictional elements, and wash-your-mouth-out-with-soap language.

 

BOOK ONE
An android therapist named Meme battles his way through his mind and Los Angeles alongside an android escort and a cast of colorful, misguided, and unforgettable characters. With the Federal Corporate Government on his tail, and a private security firm known as MercSecure leading the chase, will Meme be able to make it out of the country in time?

BOOK TWO
Rinchi becomes a MercSecure representative and is given her first big assignment — the assassination of a Mexican drug kingpin. On the run from the Federal Corporate Government, Meme and Yeshi make their way to Tokyo, Japan. In an attempt to protect Meme, Yeshi meets with a weapons dealer named Hajime, who offers her more than she bargained for.

The hunt is on.

BOOK THREE
Meme seeks revenge in Japan and later Mexico, where he is contacted by someone he assumes has been dead for years. Rinchi continues her role as a MercSecure representative, starting first in Baghdad, where she runs into an old foe. Desiring more control over the destiny of the nation, Sauria goes to extreme lengths to intimidate a rival and solidify his power. Hallucinatory cyberpunk, meta sci-fi satire — the future is futile.

BOOK FOUR
Yeshi versus Rinchi. Sauria versus Bleak. The FCG versus Anonymous. Meme versus himself.

Meme and company are off to Cuba only to be greeted by a team of MercSecure representatives. Not one to be intimidated, BlurYou founder Bill Bleak hosts a press conference revealing the extent of the Gene X program, a joint project funded by the FCG and Sauria’s two companies seeking to bridge the gap between human and Humandroid. While dealing with pirates off the coast of Somalia, Keva receives a message that compels her to fly halfway around the world for a rescue mission.