DNF: The Last Contract of Isako

I am a couple hours into this audiobook, and I’m struggling to be interested.

The whole premise is unbelievable: losing your job apparently means forfeiting your life. A specialized class of contractor whose job it is to fire people, which is so dangerous and prone to violence that a specific martial art is required. The leading martial art is proficiency with a “long knife”, a 45 cm short sword of some sort. This same contractor is also somehow responsible for driving the strategic career of their clients. Powerful people live a second life inside a robot body, but they lose their charisma, and we’re supposed to believe they remain powerful without it.

I’m also just not identifying with any of the characters. The apparent protagonist is a woman in her fifties, and we’re supposed to believe she is the best fighter. She’s also a mom on the side. Everyone else we’ve met so far is lacking in three-dimensionality. Particularly the protagonist’s 19-year-old daughter, who seems like a clueless airhead (though this impression may be unfairly driven by the way the character is voiced).

And there is just a whole lot of exposition, about a world that I don’t care about, doesn’t really make a lot of sense, and just seems over-the-top dramatic for no reason except to be dramatic.