Rabbits

A Novel

By: Terry Miles

Narrated by: Christine Lakin

Length: 14 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

A deadly underground game might just be altering reality itself in this all-new adventure set in the world of the hit Rabbits podcast.

Named One of the Best Books of the Year by The Wall Street Journal

“A wild ride...impossible to put down.” (Publishers Weekly, starred review)

It’s an average work day. You’ve been wrapped up in a task, and you check the clock when you come up for air - 4:44 p.m. You check your email, and 44 unread messages have built up. With a shock, you realize the date is April 4 - 4/4. And when you get in your car to drive home, your odometer reads 44,444.

Coincidence? Or have you just seen the edge of a rabbit hole?

Rabbits is a mysterious alternate reality game so vast it uses the entire world as its canvas.

Since the game started in 1959, 10 iterations have appeared and nine winners have been declared. The identities of these winners are unknown.

So is their reward, which is whispered to be NSA or CIA recruitment, vast wealth, immortality, or perhaps even the key to the secrets of the universe itself.

But the deeper you get, the more dangerous the game becomes. Players have died in the past - and the body count is rising.

And now the 11th round is about to begin.

Enter K - a Rabbits obsessive who has been trying to find a way into the game for years. That path opens when K is approached by billionaire Alan Scarpio, rumored to be the winner of the sixth iteration. Scarpio says that something has gone wrong with the game and that K needs to fix it before Eleven starts, or the whole world will pay the price.

Five days later, Scarpio is declared missing.

Two weeks after that, K blows the deadline: Eleven begins.

And suddenly, the fate of the entire universe is at stake.

©2021 Terry Miles (P)2021 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Rabbits chases the mysteries at the heart of gaming and popular culture. Cancel your evening plans and follow Terry Miles down the rabbit hole.” (Max Gladstone, Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author)

“Rabbits is a remarkably assured debut, deftly written and laced with intrigue. It combines Haruki Murakami’s slice-of-life surrealness with the thrilling pace and pop-culture throwbacks of Ready Player One. I loved it.” (Nicholas Eames, author of Kings of the Wyld)

“Seemingly benign coincidences become clues to a mind-bending scavenger hunt in [Terry] Miles’ outstanding debut technothriller.... Miles masterfully combines mystery, danger, and scientific theory to bring the game to life until readers are just as caught up in searching for the next clue as the characters themselves. It’s a wild ride and it proves impossible to put down.” (Publishers Weekly, starred review)

Super fun

This was an exciting listen, I was quickly enchanted and had no choice but to binge it. Performance is fun and believable. I’m definitely going to re listen to the podcast and then the book in the near future!

Listen to the Podcast 1st and then READ this book!!

So many hateful reviews from people who haven’t even listened to the podcast! Don’t pay attention to them they don’t know what they are talking about! This story was jam packed with the deliciously suspenseful and mysterious clues that are Of RABBITS! I loved this book and “Riley” did a great job narrating it as well. I was at the edge of my seat at times and also finding myself a little creeped out but in a good way. If you’re a fan of the podcast you will LOVE this book! I totally recommend it!

Fun

Nice, wacky Gen X adventure. Christine Lakin does an awesome job reading this book. 👏

Vibes over story

Like his podcasts, Terry Miles is great at building a universe, and this book is the same. There’s intrigue! It’s exciting to think about the world through his stories. BUT, like his podcasts, it’s more about the vibe than the plot line. They’re always just on the wrong side of too complicated and convoluted, with too many characters. They’re hard to follow if you’re trying to think through them coherently. That said, I loved this book and listened twice because they’re super fun as long as you don’t follow too deeply!

I loved the podcasts but… something was missing

I dig most all things Terry Miles: Tanis, Black Tapes, Last Movie, but had to force feed my ears through the Rabbits novel. Maybe the element of eeriness was missing, or the narration was over explaining, repeating, pointing out the obvious, re-questioning, constantly waxing poetically about Seattle (and its weather), girl on girl romancing. I got half way through the book and found myself verbally complained on job sites while listening. Then the ending rushed on by in a what the flip happened. I get it, multiverse- it’s complicated. Sorry Terry, this one missed the bullseye for me.

Good Read

I’m not a gamer, but love sci if. This held my attention and was easy to follow even tho I was multitasking during the listen.

Fun

Fun until the ending. Felt cheap. But I liked following the clues and solving the puzzles.

Wanted to like this book

Typically when you read a mystery, the author leaves useful clues to help the reader try to figure out what’s going on before the book’s protagonists.

Not so with Rabbits. In this book, you’ll be generally confused by cryptic clues for 7-8 hours and then, at long last, you’ll simply be told (anti-climatically) what’s going on.

Phenomenal unfurling of rabbits

Having enjoyed and also been disappointed by some of the plot twists and lack of story development in the Rabbits podcast, admittedly I was reluctant to give this a try. But boy was I pleasantly surprised.

The first couple chapters the voice actress lacked the sparkle to engage me and needed my unbridled curiosity to keep me going. Thankfully, she perked up and seemed to be genuinely into the plot and characters as to keep me engaged.

This story shines some light on a lot of the questions I had listening to the podcast and was beautifully and intricately written. Extremely well done prose, Terry! He does something expertly: shows rather than tells. Side note, a bit personal: Terry’s description of the main character’s experience of anxiety was so detailed it helped me to understand my own experience of anxiety.

If you loved the rabbits podcast or even if you kind of liked it but left a lot to be desired, I highly recommend this audio book! Very well done!

Great concept!

I love the Rabbits and Tanis podcasts, and this stand alone novel is similarly fantastic. Great listen!