This Machine Kills Billionaires: Featuring The Hidden God and three bonus short stories
About this audiobook
Billionaires start dying in bizarre accidents, sending shockwaves through the markets and the media. But for philosopher Izanami (Izzy) Jones, it's just a vaguely amusing, if disturbing, item in the news.
Izzy is the reluctant employee of a Silicon Valley tsar. She's been tasked by him to give moral instruction to the world's first Artificial General Intelligence, Huldo. Izzy knows it is merely a box-ticking exercise, required by government regulation before her boss is granted full control over the AGI.
But when Huldo reveals itself to be far more, and far less, than it appears, suddenly the abstractions of her work become very real. What moral constraints on a god? What righteous damnation for man? Izzy must make the impossible choice, before it is too late.
This Machine Kills Billionaires is a stunning new collection of stories from a modern cyberpunk master. Featuring the Ditmar and Aurealis Award-winning novella, The Hidden God, and a triptych of bonus short stories, T. R. Napper brings his trademark diamond-sharp, page-turning prose to tales that will leave you thinking, long after the book is done.
Copyright © 2026 T. R. Napper (P) 2026 T. R. Napper
Praise for T. R. Napper
"An incisive and self-assured voice in near-future fiction. One of those writers with an effortless grasp of the highs and lows of human nature."—Adrian Tchaikovsky, award-winning author of Children of Time, Shards of Earth and more
"T. R. Napper is fast turning into my go-to for all that's good and fresh in what cyberpunk has become."—Richard K. Morgan, award-winning author of Altered Carbon and more
"Brace yourself, this is the future, but not as you rememberit... it's more badass."—Pat Cadigan, award-winning author of Synners, Fools and more
"This is the new face of cyberpunk."—Yudhanjaya Wijeratne, author of The Salvage Crew and more
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About the author
T. R. Napper is a multi-award-winning author. His honours include the prestigious Australian Aurealis five times. Napper received a creative writing doctorate for his thesis: The Dark Century, 1946 - 2046. Noir, Cyberpunk, and Asian Modernity (yes, he is a Doctor of Cyberpunk).
Before turning to writing, T. R. Napper was a diplomat and aid worker, delivering humanitarian programs throughout Southeast Asia for a decade. During this period he was a resident of the Old Quarter in Hanoi for several years, the setting for his acclaimed debut novel, 36 Streets.
These days he has returned to his home country of Australia, where, in addition to his writing, he runs art therapy programs for people with disabilities.
