Virtual Murder - Jennifer Macaire Book Review

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"Virtual Murder"
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Review Summary

Novel, March 2003, 164pp.
ISBN 1591050774

In the not too distant future, the Net has become such a vital part of day to day living that it has it's own governing body and police force. One of the hottest places on the net is Virtual Dreams; a site where people can take a virtual vacation that lasts two weeks in net time but only two days in real time. It is the ultimate in virtual reality and participants can do anything on his or her own except have sex.

The owner of the business, Andrea Girt, has a waiting list a mile long and both she and the net, which takes a cut, believe their site can only get better. When the first tour guide gets killed while within the tour, net officials believe he had a heart attack but Andrea thinks somebody killed the tour guide. When a second attempt is made, the Net police are forced to look for answers to the creators of the program, mutants that don't officially exist and have never left their cages in an underground top secret scientific laboratory. Only the mutant (who can pass for human) Monkey can stop the killer but that means turning against his own kind.

This science fiction mystery has a fascinating premise that readers will find pulls them into the story line almost from the start. The characters are well developed and believable, but the star of VIRTUAL MURDER is Monkey, a mutant with a human heart and soul, who can operate independently of the net. Jennifer Macaire is a talented writer who has found her niche in futuristic mysteries. One hopes that readers haven't seen the last of Monkey.

Harriet Klausner

Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar

Detailed literary breakdown of Virtual Murder

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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
Descript. of chases or violence - 10%
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30%
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 20%

Tone of book - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - science fiction story
Spying & Investigations Yes
What is main char. doing? - finding a killer (criminal)
Robots, Computers, VR Yes
Robot, PC, VR Plotlets: - virtual reality
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book

Main Character
Identity: - Male
Profession/status: - scientist
Age: - 20's-30's
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Genius
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - an organization
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a moderate amount

Setting
Earth setting: - medium future 22-24th century
Takes place on Earth? Yes

Style
Person? - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - explicit references to deaths
scientific jargon? (SF only) - a moderate amount of scientific explanation
How much dialogue? - significantly more dialog than descript

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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).

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