The Book:
Fifteen years from now, a new virus sweeps the globe. 95% of those afflicted experience nothing worse than fever and headaches. Four percent suffer acute meningitis, creating the largest medical crisis in history. And one percent find themselves “locked in”—fully awake and aware, but unable to move or respond to stimulus.
The Blurb:
One per cent doesn't seem like a lot. But in the United States, that's 1.7 million people “locked in”...including the President's wife and daughter.
Spurred by grief and the sheer magnitude of the suffering, America undertakes a massive scientific initiative. Nothing can restore the ability to control their own bodies to the locked in. But then two new technologies emerge. One is a virtual-reality environment, “The Agora,” in which the locked-in can interact with other humans, both locked-in and not. The other is the discovery that a few rare individuals have brains that are receptive to being controlled by others, meaning that from time to time, those who are locked in can “ride” these people and use their bodies as if they were their own.
This skill is quickly regulated, licensed, bonded, and controlled. Nothing can go wrong. Certainly nobody would be tempted to misuse it, for murder, for political power, or worse....
The Review:
Completed 8/28320 page ebook
On first look at the blurb, this book looks like it could be a boring and/or depressing telling of Haden's, the disease that has taken over, but it's not at all.
What you have here is a Sci-Fi Mystery. Chris Shane is an FBI agent, who is also the poster child of Haden's, having contracted it as a child. Not many in the world don't know who Shane is, his father being a famous basketball player who put Chris in the spotlight when they were trying to find alternatives for Haden's victims.
Haden's leaves the mind in tact, but leaves the body immobile. Over years, what they come up with is a robot type machine, or a personal transport, called a "Threep" that allows the use to be up and around in the "real" world. They also have a technique where the Haden's patient can overtake the body of a person called a "Integrators" by overlaying the brain of the Haden onto the Integrator. Integrators are Haden's suffers who recovered after the 2nd stage and didn't progress to the lock in.
Shane, on his second day on the job with the FBI, arrives to a scene with his partner Les Vann where a body has been discovered. The accused was an Integrator, and the FBI investigates all crimes to do with Integrators and Threeps. From there, more people are dying, both Integrators and Haden's victims. Shane and Vann must find out what is going on and put a stop to it before more people die.
This book was GREAT fun, such an enjoyable read. It really grabbed my attention from the start and kept it. The use of a Threep for a Haden is really neat, as Shane is constantly getting his Threep damaged yet he continues on. The relationships between Haden's and non and the relationships between Haden's with each other is a really neat and different dynamic.
I highly recommend this book. It's good for sci-fi fans but good for any thriller/mystery fans really, as long as you don't mind a bit of something different. Fans of VR books like Ready Player One will really enjoy it as well, as there is a virtual reality aspect too.
I also listened to this on audio which was enjoyable. Wil Wheaton isn't the best narrator out there, he doesn't change voices for characters like most narrators do, but it's Wil freakin' Wheaton and I enjoy listening to him narrate. He is quite entertaining!
The Rating:
LOVED it, an amazing book! (5 stars)
The Book:
Unlocked traces the medical history behind a virus that will sweep the globe and affect the majority of the world’s population, setting the stage for Lock In.
The Blurb:
The Review:
Completed 8/28144 page ebook
While not a strictly entertaining book, Unlocked is interesting because it gives the background of Haden's, as told by the written accounts of various people who saw Haden's start and develop first hand. The reports came from doctors, researchers, close ties to the First Lady (who the disease was named for) and so on. It was an interesting look at a complete background of the disease. The amount of thought and effort put into coming up with this book, and this first look at it all was really interesting. It was definitely worth the read to understand the disease more fully and get a great background of it.
The Rating:
Enjoyable, equally good and ok. (3 stars)
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