Body Electric [Mass Market Paperback]

I am a computer guru to everyone who knows me, and I'm overwhelmingly impressed with the research, imagination & credibility Susan Squires expertly, and SEAMLESSLY, compiled in "Body Electric". Believable even in its incredibility, Squires makes the impossible seem simple, this story reads like a secret conspiracy we can all believe is already happening, and she the brave whistle-blower. Every page flies by, can't put the book down, MUST know what happens next, then next, but towards the middle suddenly the pages slow down; not because they are boring but because one becomes aware of an urgent need to make this pleasure last, dreading the knowledge that the story WILL end though one wants to stay immersed in the story forever.

You've read the plot descriptions in the other reviews. Vic definitely has psychological issues--as do all humans--and is sexually imbalanced. The earlier reviewer mentions incest, as a mother-child dynamic, & missed the connection completely. Vic doesn't see Jodie as her child at all. Vic sees Jodie as her Creation, as one might imagine our Creator sees US! When adding Vic's sexual and identity problems to the mix, it is inevitable that they become lovers, since VIC HAS in effect CREATED her IDEAL MATE! Many modern women love adult men who AT TIMES seem childish, naive & innocent, without their relationship being compared to incest. Vic's real struggle is with her relationship as Jodie's Creator, knowing he started as a Computer Software Program, not the VERY HUMAN being he becomes. Vic relates to machines better than she ever could with humans, eventually this is what allows her to accept her love for Jodie and let go of her shame for being attracted to something essentially NON-Human. Vic struggles to define herself, and what exactly defines pure unsocialized gender, and humanity, throughout the novel. Just as in ALL of us there is a shadow side we don't much like, the same is true of the recognizably REAL Victoria. What we can't like in her character are those parts of ourselves we see in Vic, and reject just as she does.

Jodie is every woman's ideal man {except for that photographic memory perhaps?:=}, with the hard-soft combination all women secretly desire in their mate. Who wouldn't love a teachable man? Squires inserts much humor into her novel & I found myself moved on so many levels throughout, laughing, crying, afraid, angry, grinning, disgusted, hopeful. We fall in love with his character, we fear for him right along with Vic, and we fear for Vic as well, wondering along with her, "Just WHAT IS Jodie capable of? Is there any thing he can't do?" Jodie healed the hole in his skull, grew new bone, skin & hair in under 24 hours, by telling the body to do so, but the one thing he can't do is stop having Grand Mal Seizures. Determined to save him human brain from degenerating further & losing his chance at life, and maybe a future with Victoria, Jodie believes he can get back into the evil megalomaniac Trillionaire McIntire's Super Computer and restore his core program code, trapped behind a firewall Jodie and Vic created. But now that core program seems to have a life and will of its own, blocking access to everyone, including its Host or Creators!

This is one thrill ride a lucky reader will never forget! "Body Electric" is a definite KEEPER to be read again & again, each time as exciting as the first. Sexy without going into too much detail, intelligent, credible, moving, drama & action, funny, scary, the best in ANY class or genre. "Body Electric" is going to be a classic, and Squires the Creator of a whole new class of writing that raises the bar for all others, and spoils us for anyone else.

I will admit I was skeptical. I picked this book up because I was curious how a program could gain life and Ms Squires has created a phenomenal science fiction romance in BODY ELECTRIC. Vic is a lonely, very single computer driven woman who dresses like a man to compete in a male dominated field. When she lets herself be a woman, it is in a disguise and because she has to be in control generally gets hurt. Jodie was supposed to be the woman she wasn't minus the emotional hang-ups, but Jodie decided that rather than being female, the program was male. I loved the way Jodie just took off and grew, but regarding AI, I would have been disappointed in anything else. Reading how Vic was having a hard time fathoming the knowledge Jodie obtained so quickly was funny! Vic also ended up reuniting with her estranged brother because of Jodie, and I hope it is a permanent mend. BODY ELECTRIC seems so cutting edge with computer lingo (that I don't understand but doesn't detract from the story to much), especially where Vic is trying to finish her AI program and then again with the whole idea of Jodie trying to gain a human body. I can only imagine this it is from research and ingenuity. The story line is action packed and I wasn't able to put the book down. If you are looking for something different, this is a must read!

Vic loses her job, but is not done with Jodie, nor he with her. He contacts her, asking for a body; he has even selected one. It happens to belong to John Reston, a thorn in Vic's former bosses' collective sides, and someone she has secretly desired. Through incredible means, they are able to download the majority of Jodie into the brain dead man's mind. Now on the run, the two must fight to preserve not only their newly awakened love, but their existence.

***** A combination of two groundbreaking movies, TRON and STARMAN, this novel is itself taking on new frontiers. Ms. Squires, who improves with each book, has created a frightening possible, fascinating world that gives the reader much to think upon. Vic is a dynamic, realistic heroine, with troubles and who lives the cutting edge, stressed life of a modern career woman. Jodie combines innocence with masculinity in a most charming fashion. You have never read a romance like this one, but hopefully, there are more to come. *****

Reviewed by Amanda Killgore.