Rabbits by Terry Miles

 If you have been obsessed with games, counter-culture, mysteries and in general, a good twisty read that fucks with your mind, then you will dig this one, Rabbits by Terry Miles. Based off on a long running podcasts about an allegedly secret game based on alternate reality, Rabbits is a thriller that is full of so many interesting forgotten culture/ game references that by the time you get to the bottom of the mystery, you are so mind-fucked that you don't even care. 

Set in Seattle, the main protagonist is K, who is obsessed with games and mysteries all his life. He's the kind who frequents dark web forums, hangs out at old gaming arcades and loves dispensing tidbits about mysterious ARG's that the underworld gaming fanatics have only heard about and are drawn to. A self-professed expert on this game called Rabbits, that is one of the most secretive alternate reality games out there, K gets pulled deeper into this game, when a reclusive billionaire named Alan Shapiro seeks out his help in 'saving' the game, with the claim that the game has been corrupted and that players all over the world are disappearing or getting killed in bizarre fashion. K and his girlfriend, Kloe, another geek game-fanatic, jump right into the thick of things with a new iteration of the game having kicked off. Post this, the narrative is literally a warren of rabbit-holes that we swing down into, tracking obscure clues, piecing together puzzles and narratives left out in old books, libraries, the dark web and lots more. It's a heady intoxicating confusing ride all the way and I am not sure, even having finished the novel ( or having completed the damn game!) I understood all of it. 

It's a techno thriller, that touches on the topics of Quantum Physics, Alternate Dimensions, Deep Fakes, Time-travel(?) and lots more with frequently throwing us off the chase with dips into counter-culture references galore and twisty conspiracy theories. Not sure I picked up on all of that, but it was definitely an entertaining ride. This isn't a character-driven novel nor is it a strictly linear mystery getting solved. K, has a complicated past - having lost both his parents in a ferry accident and having himself been part of a traumatic childhood accident that altered his perception of the world ( that literally introduced him for the first time to this blasted game!) His relationship with Kloe as well, is something that developes throughout the novel but we never get into his mind/headspace, crammed as it is with the game of Rabbits. Coming down to the game itself, this was a jigsaw puzzle with multiple moving pieces scattered throughout the internet and the real world, frequently bisecting each other, so by the end, my mind was just so full of it, that I gave up trying to piece it together. 

Despite all the confusion, what it definitely is, is an entertaining read that never falters. Once the chase begins, it's a heady flight into the unknown with unpredictable twists and turns galore. Can't deny it was good fun and it sucked me in, with some great set up. If you love the concepts of ARG's, want to fill up your gaps in counter-culture references and don't mind barreling down a baffling, twisted rabbit-hole, then the 'door is open'. Go ahead, take that red pill and discover a new bizzare world that you never knew existed out there.