Smart, paranoid literary science fiction crossover for fans of Blake Crouch and Philip K. Dick, set in present-day Seattle.

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Vin’s life takes an unexpected turn when he accepts a stranger’s invitation to house sit an ultra-modern Seattle mansion and discovers a technological haunting with the power to fulfill his deepest desires. Buried in a lab far beneath the house is a system of computers and coffin-like caskets that opens a portal into possibility, but is it a risk worth taking? A woman in an apparent state of suspended animation and a dog-eared notebook filled with circuit diagrams, beautiful and intricate drawings of body parts, and pages of code are Vin’s first clues in his attempts to understand the meaning of the crèche, a device with mind-blowing potential that may have been abandoned by its creator, the enigmatic genius, Nerdean.

When Vin finally enters one of the caskets, his world begins to unravel and he finds himself on a terrifying journey that raises fundamental questions about reality, free will, and the meaning of a human life.

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A “…swift moving mind-bender with imperfect, emotionally unstable characters who struggle with the impact their choices have on reality. Readers will have to decipher what is real before they can figure out what is happening. Highly imaginative, highly recommended.”
— Library Journal, Starred Review

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“Like Philip K. Dick or Kurt Vonnegut, Steve Toutonghi manages to break and repair your brain while telling an intensely human story.”
— Sean Ferrell, author of Man in the Empty Suit

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“Side Life couldn’t feel any more relevant.”
— Seattle Review of Books

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“A book to blow our minds and keep us up at night. Wow, what a ride!”
— Auntie’s Bookstore 

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“A time traveling puzzle for lovers of Triangle or the even weirder Primer.”
— Signal Horizon 

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“The twists and turns of this novel will keep readers engaged while perhaps contemplating what they understand about reality and their ability to influence it.”
— Booklist