Stringers

Where Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy recommended towels, this slapstick and semisweet space opera sends its Earthlings out among the aliens armed only with a jar of pickles. Ben Sullivan, expert fly-fishing lure tier, possesses uncanny knowledge of entomology and clocks—subjects he’s never studied—and facts about both burst out of him willy-nilly. While seeking an explanation (reincarnation? dream transference?), he finds an Internet post that mentions “the Chime.” Unfortunately, the post is bait laid out by Aptat, an interstellar bounty hunter who scoops up Ben and his buddy Patton for COD delivery to the Scythin, who want to drain Ben’s brain. Aptat’s other captives, extraterrestrials all, recognize the Chime as a weapon that could literally empty all of space—and Ben is the key to its use. Panatier (The Phlebotomist) piles a lot of odd insect trivia on top of his off-kilter quest and populates the galaxy with quirky characters who come across as far more real than the reality TV housewives on whom Aptat bases his understanding of Earth culture. Readers are in for a treat. Agent: Hannah Fergesen, KT Literary. (Apr.)