A cartel enforcer across South-east Asia must escape a world of paranoia and violence to save his family in this cerebral and multi-layered cyberpunk science fiction novel, from the award-winning author of 36 Streets. Perfect for fans of William Gibson's The Peripheral and Five Minds by Guy Morpuss. Your name is Endel ‘Endgame’ Ebbinghaus. It is Saturday, 3 September, 2101. You’re head of security for Mister Long, boss of the Macau Syndicate, a drug cartel. Your memories are being wiped and re-written. You keep this log because you’re hard pressed to remember what day it is. But today is a special day, mate. This is your last day on the job.” ‘Endgame’ is a violent man, the perfect enforcer. But Endel is also a father and husband, haunted by the memories of his estranged family, and the life they once had. Endel wants them back, and he wants out. But life in the syndicate isn’t one you can simply leave. Endgame is a violent man. Or is he? In a world where memory manipulation is the weapon of choice for the powerful, Endel can’t tell friends and enemies apart anymore, can’t be sure if he’s a person or a tool. Trapped in a taut, twisting nightmare, Endel must find a way to escape the labyrinth they’ve made of his mind, and take revenge. "An easily recommendable, intelligent, adrenaline-fueled genre blend." - Librayr Journal (Starred review) “The Escher Man is just completely unputdownable and a must read for cyberpunk fans.” - The best fantasy, horror, and Sci-fi books of 2024 - Grimdark Magazine “Incorporating imagery and themes of cyberpunk and plenty of violence, The Escher Man is a thriller and a mind game for the characters and reader rolled into one.” Screen Rant “An incisive and self-assured voice in near-future fiction. One of those writers with an effortless grasp of the highs and lows of human nature. Always a joy to read.” Adrian Tchaikovsky, author of Children of Time "A couple of years ago, I said I couldn’t wait to see where T. R. Napper’s science fiction would take me next. Turns out, it was worth the wait." Richard Morgan, author of Altered Carbon "If there is one author alive and writing today capable of picking up the cyberpunk banner and waving his fist at the future of our species whenever Richard Morgan hangs up his boots, I think it’s T.R. Napper. Rarely does a book so encapsulate its genre while also pushing the boundaries of its audience. The Escher Man is fucking brilliant." Grimdark Magazine "Napper concocts a visceral toxic future set in an unforgiving world of rain, grime, and gangland turmoil. The stakes are high and the tech is fascinating. Cyberpunk fans are sure to get a kick out of this polished and exciting adventure." Publishers Weekly "Brace yourself, this is the future, but not as you remember it… it’s more badass." Pat Cadigan, author of Synners and Fools “T. R. Napper shows true genius in his storytelling, with a compelling plotline, noirish setting, and characters of true depth.” Kaaron Warren, author of The Underhistory “Cyberpunk's most poetic assassin, gangsters with social media talking automated face detection, back-alley warlords on the vicious streets of Macau… As with Napper's previous work, there is both a tremendous amount of violence, interspersed with loving, deliberate attention to the great melting pots of culture that he writes about, expressed in the subtle nuances of conversation, the movement of bodies, and the lives that lie wasted in the gutters. You can read this as a book of many allegories; about how the politics of today shape the future of the world; about individuals trying their best to keep their loved ones safe and secure in a dark world that cares nothing for their loves and losses; about the fallibility of memory and the narrative of the self; or even about how the genre, envisioned in decades past, continues to evolve as reality catches up with it. But however you read it, this is one hell of a read. T. R. Napper is back on his quest to be the reigning successor to Burning Chrome, Altered Carbon, Synners and Ghost in the Shell. And it's definitely working. The Escher Man gripped me from the very first scene and never let go. This is the new face of cyberpunk.” Yudhanjaya Wijeratne, author of The Salvage Crew PRAISE FOR T. R. NAPPER Best Reads of 2022, Sydney Morning Herald Best Books of 2022, Canberra Times "36 Streets glows bright and hallucinatory as tropical neon, goes down smooth as warm sake, cuts deep as a nano-steel blade. Napper honours classic cyberpunk with fresh perspectives and hot genre recombinations, a nasty new future gleam, the proverbial new coat of paint. But there are more austere echoes here too, of Graham Greene and Kazuo Ishiguro, of a whole post-colonial literary heritage banging to be let in. In a genre stuffed with facile hero narratives, 36 Streets consistently chooses something else – messy humanity, grey moral tones and choices, hard-edged geopolitical truth. Raw and ragi