Play Dead

Play Dead is a fast pulsing techno thriller that takes place in the year 2050, fifteen years after the U. S. A. entered a drought and after characters Clair Milton and Timothy Blake were born. Both kids attend the St. Andrew's School of Higher Learning in the accelerated learning program. They are dead heads, that is, while using virtual reality technology they die to their identities in the real world and assume alternate identities in a virtual reality.  

The publisher's summary:

"The discovery of two teenagers ritualistically murdered in a secluded Austin park outrages a nation already on the brink of tearing itself apart. The victims are the latest in an epidemic of deaths linked to a mysterious, underground virtual game known only as Play Dead. 

The forensic evidence soon points to Jamie Hamilton, a brilliant yet naive young man on the autism spectrum. But Angie Channing, a world-renown true crime writer, isn’t so sure. Could such a seemingly innocent person be capable of clinical brutality? Why the rush to silence him? What secrets are hidden in the world of Play Dead that were worth killing for? What if Jamie is the key to something far more sinister? 

Angie quickly finds herself in a relentless game of cat and mouse that threatens far more than just her sanity or her life. How far will she go to uncover the shocking truth? Enter a psychological thriller ripped from tomorrow’s headlines that will haunt you until the last page. It is said that nothing is as it seems in the halls of power and that some truths are far too dangerous for the common man."

The setting is not Texas but the virtual reality world itself.  How virtual reality works as well as how it could be used in the future is prominant.  After all, the story takes place 30 years from now and the virtual reality of today has been tremendously expanded in this futuristic novel. I don't know much about virtual reality but the book had a sci-fi feel to me. 

The characters were quite compelling. In the beginning the reader only hears about Clair and Timothy but Angie Channing is the main character.  The hunt to determine what Clair and Timothy had discovered about a virtual reality game called Play Dead is the focus of Angie's search for truth. The answer concerning what the teenagers found also solves their murders. One thought kept coming back to me:  how can two teenagers know more about this topic than the adults who create these virtual reality games.  It didn't seem authentic to me. Angie and another character, Jamie, are the primary characters after the teenagers are killed. Jamie is autistic and is a virtual reality game champion. Society calls him a derogatory term  "dead head."  Angie is also a dead head but she has been able to keep this fact a secret from her readers.  Angie has authored a book on the subject and is researching another one.  No one knows how she does her research, though.  

The plot is intricate but I got lost in all the background information on virtual reality.  I am not scientifically inclined so trying to figure all this out was challenging.  This was a huge drawback to my enjoyment of the novel.  Some chapters went so far over my head that I merely tried to read fast through them until more plot action took place.

 I enjoyed Play Dead but did not enjoy it as much as someone who is more scientificaly inclined will enjoy it. However, I will highly recommend the book.  It is thought provoking.  4 out of 5 stars.