This was requested when I first found out about NetGalley and I had requested so many ARCs that I could not get to all of them before they were archived. I really wanted to get to this one, as it seemed interesting. If I can find this somewhere for a reasonable price, I will try to get it! I am giving this book three stars, as I don't want to give it a good or bad rating, since I did not get to it and we have to leave a star rating.

This was a pretty good book. It starts off a bit slow, bit picks up once Ted gets a surprise visit from someone. When Sumire hasn’t heard from her brother in a while, she fears something bad might have happened to him. Ted reluctantly agrees to help her find them, and what follows is a journey more dangerous than he ever expected it to be. Yet as this tale comes to a close life for Ted and Sumire will never be the same.

What a book! This one was a fabulous read. It sucks the reader right into the plot. Would definitely recommend it for being one of those good books that tick all the boxes!

I received an Advanced copy of this book from Netgalley. Thrillers aren’t usually set in Silicon Valley, so points for originality on that one. The author clearly understands the area and the culture of the region, along with Japanese culture. The characters are pretty two dimensional, main character/narrator include. The author clearly doesn’t know how to write for a woman, and the bit of relationship/Romance was pretty forced. Once you figure out what is happening, the resolution is a bit dull. Book won’t leave a lasting impression and I won’t be recommending it, but it wasn’t not entertaining… so very meh 3 stars for me.

This was well written thriller and contains everything one would love in a mystery. The main character seemed like an old friend that I was cheering on from the moment you learn the main characters name. It had a great plot and was loved every detail

Thanks to NetGalley and the published for a complimentary ARC for my unbiased review.

3.5 stars

Review contains spoilers.

Overall I found this to be an entertaining read. The concept was really great, and I enjoyed the fake science behind the transportation system. It seems like it would make sense, but also brought to light the consideration of how much we value human life when it comes to making a profit. The main character was interesting, and had a boatful of flaws that made him more interesting and put a few obstacles in his way. I remain very interested in his relationship with his mother. It was well written, although the beginning was a little awkward as the author introduced the characters and concept. Once that was out of the way, it clipped along at a great pace.

The Japanese cultural references throughout felt a little odd. Was it respectful? Was it fetishization? I'm still not entirely sure. Also there's obviously flaws in the science fiction part.
(Again, spoiler!)
The transporter requires someone to die for each trip that is made. It seems like they would run out of people real quick, right? I mean, the founder herself is basically using it to commute. That would be two deaths a day per person who would use it.

But all science fiction requires some suspension of disbelief, I was just struggling with the math of it all.

Overall, fun read.

The premise of this book is really exciting, and as a tech worker and executive myself, I really thought I would enjoy it. The Douglas Adams and Murakami references are right up my alley. But the execution and the storytelling is sorely lacking. The protagonist is not likeable and not well developed. There's very little by way of nuance to this character.

I appreciated that the story moved quickly and posed as a bit of satire for the world of tech, but in some cases, it was comically so and as a result took me entirely out of the story.

The book also borrows a ton from Japanese culture, but I found it was done rather poorly, which prompted me to look into the author's background who is very much not Japanese. I find that sort of co-opting of identity for the sake of art all very Gwen Stefani-esque and disrespectful.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I read To Kill A Unicorn as an ARC courtesy of Netgalley & Pandamoon Publishing. 🫶

To Kill A Unicorn is a true genre mash for me and I LOVED every second, this was the most imaginative book I have read in a long time. Our main character Tatsu AKA Ted is pulled into a mystery that even he can’t imagine the depths of when an old friend Ryu goes missing shortly after joining a new tech start-up and Ryu’s sister (and Ted’s ex-girlfriend) seeks out his help in finding her brother. SüprDüpr is the newest start-up headed by an enchanting redhead & backed by billions in cryptocurrency that no one can figure our the goal of BUT with the company building homeless shelters and promising to clean up the community, no one feels the need to question it all that much.

Ted, a programmer by day, and a hacker and an alcoholic by night, dives head first into SüprDüpr to find his friend and discover the impossible: is teleportation possible; SüprDüpr discovered it; what is the cost of the greatest transportation advancement in human history? There a few sinister turns in this book as the reader realises the lengths people will go to when they stand to become the richest people on Earth.

DC Palter created so many layers and it was just exciting to read. The themes that they explore include corruption, addiction, grief, sacrifice and beating the odds in a city where the truth is fighting to stay hidden. I just loved everything about it - the characters were well-constructed, the sci-fi elements were made very easy to understand, and if you know me you know I need a cry at the end of the book which I got. 🥹

Side note: there were even a few manga entries in the book which were so beautiful and added a lot of the story.

To Kill A Unicorn is out now & I 100% recommend you pick up a copy! 📚

Thanks to Pandamoon Publishing and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

To Kill a Unicorn is set in Silicon Valley, where someone goes missing and it's up to his friend and his sister to find out where he is, and how his job at a secretive startup may be linked.

As someone who has previously worked in the startup and tech space, I thought it was a humorous look at the industry. The characters, however, felt really one-dimensional, and the ending seemed abrupt. There were a lot of instances where the narrative seemed to drag on and I got disinterested. It wasn't until the action portions that the story really seemed to thrive. Those that enjoy Murakami will probably like the references to his work in this. Also, some of the references to Japanese culture made it obvious to me this was not someone who was actually Japanese, so take with that what you will.

4.5/5 ⭐️
Set in the startup world of Silicon Valley, mathematician and programmer Ted Hara sets out to find his missing friend. When he discovers his friend started working at new startup SüprDüpr, he starts to investigate and go undercover. What he discovers involves teleportation, missing people, murder, and elephants.

I enjoyed this book a lot! It was so unique and kept me wanting to know what happened. It definitely is not your typical novel, but I’d really recommend it! Mystery, tech, with a little sci-Fi mixed in, this book is a delight!

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The publisher noted that this book “defies easy categorization” and they were not kidding! There’s a little bit of everything in this one. The book jumps into the deep end right away and it took me a good 30-40 pages to catch up and get my bearings. It’s not that its fast paced, it just took a while to get a grasp on who the characters were and what was going on. The pace is a bit slower until roughly half way through the book when it seems to pick up the pace and hit its stride clear through the end. The characters are a bit flat throughout, this is definitely a plot driven story. As far as the story itself, it gets a bit tech heavy at points but, I don’t think I’ve ever read anything like it before. It has the vibes of a modern film noir. The SüprDüpr technology (sorry to be vague, don’t want to spoil it!) is actually very well thought out and I loved the reveal of the sinister way it actually works. An interesting read for sure, I’m grateful to have gotten an eARC from NetGalley and Panda Moon Publishing!

A fun take on the tech industry. Pretty entertaining. I like the author's imagination, which is put to good use here. Recommended.

I really appreciate the free ARC for review!!

It was okay. I found myself mostly bored and uninterested throughout. The author clearly has a weird obsession with a caricature version of Japan that I’m assuming came from discovering anime in high school.

The beginning scene was also super jarring. There should really be a scene that establishing what normal looks like before kickstarting the plot. Instead, this story just plops you down into the main conflict and tells you what normal looks like.

Thank you to the author, Pandamoon Publishing and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This debut novel about a hot new Silicon Valley start-up working with a high degree of secrecy, and the intersection between a mysteriously missing childhood best friend and Japanese culture starts off slow and never really builds up enough speed to make it compelling. The premise was interesting, but the writing is fairly clichéd and the characters are not developed well enough to make them in any way relatable. Yes, the tenderness of childhood relationships and their hold into adulthood is moving, and there are various oblique references to Murakami - but since I am not necessarily a fan they didn't mean much to me.

Quite nice, quite entertaining. The plot is relatively interesting, although I haven't understood how the SuprDupr technology worked or rather, what actually happened, when activated (sorry for being so vague; I don't want to spoil). Basically, "To Kill a Unicorn" (made available to me by netgalley.com) is just another Silicon-Valley-Start-up novel, not bad, but not convincing, either. I am a bit surprised about the insistence on everything Japanese on almost each and every page of the book, since the author is not Japanese himself (if I'm not mistaken). I don't want to insinuate that only a Japanese author could write a story, whose main protagonists are Japanese or US-Japanese, eat Pizza with Ramen on top (really?), read mangas and drink sake all the time. However, the fact that he is apparently a big fan of everything Japanese does not justify a book full of clichés. Or does he mean it satirically? It definitely reminds me of the famous books, the Englishman Peter Mayle wrote about his time in "La Provence", which were also full of bizarre stereotypes about French people in southern France. Seemingly knowledgable, but actually rather patronising / arrogant. So, my conclusion would be (once again): taking creative writing lessons doesn't make you a great writer. But for an afternoon on the beach or commuting from LA to SF or elsewhere in CA "To Kill a Unicorn" t might be an acceptable read.

I'm pleasantly surprised to hear that this is Palter's first novel. The writing was well done, and I especially loved the clever chapter names. The plot is really solid and makes for an engrossing experience. I would highly recommend this book, it had me hooked.

I really do not have any notes for this book. I was hooked pretty early and had trouble ever putting it down. If I do have one issue, it is with the ending. It fits, and I guess that it is perfectly fine; I just thought the feeling of " they all lived happily ever after" was a weird way to end the book, considering that Sumire lost her brother, Ted lost his friend, his job, and is lucky not to have an extended prison sentence, and Katie is still on the loose with what appears to be billions of dollars at her disposal. Additionally, I felt that the whole coding school angle could have been omitted from the story, and nothing would have been lost other than maybe a sense of closure that Ted landed on his feet. Besides that, no additional notes. Great book!

Thank you to NetGalley and Panda Moon Publishing for providing me with an eARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

A missing friend sends protagonist Ted Hara on an expansive odyssey of the Bay Area.

To Kill a Unicorn finds its footing after the first couple of chapters. In the beginning, the writing, colloquial speech especially, is noticeably clichéd and might deter people from continuing further. Similarly, some expositional phrases were a little stilted, likely to take readers out of the story.

The writing improves significantly when it focuses on the immediate action.

Overall the narrative does well to tie in personal loss, the literal weight of a human life, Silicon Valley and Japanese culture into a mystery. This comes at the expense of character development, where most characters feel one-dimensional, leaning heavily on archetypes. Many male characters are described to be motivated (at least in part) by gaining the attention/favour of female characters. Despite the novel’s devotion to the protagonist, he isn’t entirely compelling either.

All this to say, the plot becomes more interesting and inventive as more and more of the depths of the mystery reveals itself. Most enjoyably, money in the form of stocks, cryptocurrency, net worth, cash etc is a recurrent motif. The story hints at a critique of the obscene wealth of Silicon Valley tech giants in contrast the unhoused population they co-exist with. Although, the resolution only perpetuates the working class system. Religion, most often Christianity is also a consistent theme. The ending succinctly provides closure to the main plot points.

Fans of Haruki Murakami will notice how the novel wears its Murakami references on its sleeve, most reminiscent of the mysteries of missing persons such as A Wild Sheep Chase and Sputnik Sweetheart (among others), including overt mentions of Norwegian Wood and The Elephant Vanishes.

this was a great entry in the Silicon Valley Mystery, it had what I was hoping for from the description. It had a great concept in a mystery series. The plot worked out really well and I enjoyed every part of the journey. The characters worked well in Silicon Valley and I hope there is more in this series.

"I was sure Satoshi was hiding something, but I was no closer to finding out what. My trip had been a failure. And I had no doubt he’d tell Katie everything we’d discussed. The entire ride home I waited for the phone to buzz with the news of my firing. But all that popped up on the screen was a warning to avoid a big backup on the 880."

This was a fun read! It had all the good stuff I love in a book: funny, atmospheric, and mystery. It took my brain on a joy ride. and. Definitely recommend if you are looking for something spontaneous to read. The writing was so good!!
Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.