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Side Effects: A Gritty Cyberpunk Thriller About the Last Drug Humanity Will Ever Need
In a future so near, it might already be happening.
Z is the ultimate A perfect high. A mind-bending trip. No toxicity. No overdoses. No addictiveness. No side effects. It might be the last drug humanity ever needs.
DEA agent Cochrane goes deep undercover to investigate. Assuming the identity of Henry Dimes, a low-level dealer in a sleazy Venice Beach hotel, he immerses himself in a world of users, dealers, prostitutes, logisticians and technopharmacists.
But Cochrane is addicted to something else — the past. A bespoke drug lets him relive visions of Anna, his lost love. Obsessed with their perfect summer in Mexico — parties, surf, sex, drugs — he finds himself losing his grip on his own identity.
As he rises through the underworld, the profits grow, the bodies pile up, and crossing the line gets easier every day. Caught in the crossfire of a war he barely understands, Cochrane discovers that no matter what the label says — there are always side effects.
Side Effects dives into a near-future underworld shaped by control, violence and identities fractured by the addictive grip of memory. In a world of blurred loyalties and shifting realities, sometimes the past is the most powerful drug of all.
Z is the ultimate A perfect high. A mind-bending trip. No toxicity. No overdoses. No addictiveness. No side effects. It might be the last drug humanity ever needs.
DEA agent Cochrane goes deep undercover to investigate. Assuming the identity of Henry Dimes, a low-level dealer in a sleazy Venice Beach hotel, he immerses himself in a world of users, dealers, prostitutes, logisticians and technopharmacists.
But Cochrane is addicted to something else — the past. A bespoke drug lets him relive visions of Anna, his lost love. Obsessed with their perfect summer in Mexico — parties, surf, sex, drugs — he finds himself losing his grip on his own identity.
As he rises through the underworld, the profits grow, the bodies pile up, and crossing the line gets easier every day. Caught in the crossfire of a war he barely understands, Cochrane discovers that no matter what the label says — there are always side effects.
Side Effects dives into a near-future underworld shaped by control, violence and identities fractured by the addictive grip of memory. In a world of blurred loyalties and shifting realities, sometimes the past is the most powerful drug of all.
308 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 27, 2025
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 22, 2026
An excellent read! Very much of the cyberpunk / tech-noir genre, which isn’t always up my street, but I enjoyed this a lot. Fast-paced with plenty of twists and turns. Recommended.
Displaying 1 of 1 review