Cults, Coffee and Close Encounters: A dystopian fiction dark comedy

by Aaron Lamb, Virtual Voice (Narrator)

'Hilarious and unhinged.' Lisa Sparkle
'The story draws you into a brilliantly realised world full of compelling characters and adventure.' Tim Evans

Janice craves a simple cup of coffee while an earth-shattering email looms. But her wait is disrupted by an alien spaceship landing in the Australian Outback, catapulting her into a bizarre war over coffee and kidnappings. She must conquer her deep-seated insecurities to rescue her friend.

Across town, Logan Fury seeks redemption by helping four strangers. As they navigate freeways and suburbs, their greatest threat isn’t extraterrestrials – it’s the rise of rival cults dominating the landscape.

From the author of Apparent Magnitude, this is a wildly entertaining journey through the chaos of humanity facing unprecedented global change. Delving into the mass hysteria of emergency hoarding and power-grabbing mini-despots, this book is a sharp and witty examination of identity stripped of societal layers. It is a relentlessly entertaining book that What defines us when the world turns alien?

Audible Audio

Published April 3, 2025

About the author

Aaron Lamb, a storyteller from childhood, hails from the gritty terraces of an industrial town in southeast London. His adventurous spirit has led him to trek the wilderness of Norway and Finland, run ultra-marathons, and live in Eastern Cambodia. For four years, he brought cabaret and burlesque to life in London's Soho with his own show, the Cabaret Carnival at Madame JoJos.

Now based in Australia with his wife and sons, he continues his love for the open road with frequent road trips to the outback town of Silverton, NSW.

Reviews

[Grim]

Well...that was anticlimactic. Wasn't even funny either.....sigh.

[Sienna S'Zell]

Well, that was a weird read. I guess it was a spoof, but it was so scary, hard to tell. I kept waiting for it to end. I'll have to say, the author did nail it on humans' eternal behavior: first flight, and if that doesn't work, then build walls. I loved that the savior was a nerdy museum director who lived in her head and was paralyzed when confronted with human interaction. Hilarious ending.

[Lisa Sparkle]

One of the most entertaining and unhinged books I've read. Add this one to your TBR if you want to laugh out loud at:

Meth addled fawns

Coffee hoarding

Teacup shaped alien spaceships

Butt plugs for CEOs

Melbourne people losing their minds 

Soccer games for hot showers

The Matildas

Religious cults taking over freeways

Did i mention butt plugs for CEOS 🤣

[Bill Philibin]

(2.5 Stars)

So, this was weird. I like weird, this was just ok for me. This was available as an Audible Virtual Voice audiobook... which is less than ideal, but better than not having audio.

The story was maybe trying to be funny? or at least I hope that was the intent. It wasn't that funny, but it also wasn't serious at all.

Basically, it is an alien invasion, that doesn't necessarily turn into a dystopic nightmare, but more of a stoner daydream where "the jocks" rule and butt plugs are used for punishment. you did read that right.

It wasn't terrible, and I'm currently enjoying a different title by the same author. This was just not for me, I guess.

[Jan Lancaster]

When an alien ship lands in Australia chaos ensues.
Set in Melbourne and surrounding areas, Janice and Logan are two separate characters trying their best to survive. As they cope in varying ways, the story is funny, thought provoking and shows people at their worst and best.
I was distracted by the amount of typos and grammatical errors and found the story didn't flow well. It made me laugh but was a bit disappointing, a good edit would have made all the difference.
Okay if you feel like a silly light read.

[Liana]

It was a fun story. I loved how it was resolved with the Teacup lol The butt plug part was a but out there. Overall, a fun take on the genre.