- Paperback: 336 pages
- Publisher: Ace (MM) (Mar 1 1996)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0441003087
- ISBN-13: 978-0441003082
- Product Dimensions: 16.8 x 10.4 x 2.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 159 g
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,747,236 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Anderson and Beason have teamed up once again, but this time the results are less inspiring than their Nebula nominee, Assemblers of Infinity. Perhaps the biggest problem with this near-future thriller is that it doesn't stick to its authors' strengths. The portrayal of the potential future uses of virtual technology are convincing and intriguing, but this technology is incidental to the plot. In addition, all the characters seem like recent graduates from junior high school. If this book is accurate, America's military-industrial complex is and staffed and run by people who wear Spider-Man T-shirts, cheat on their mistresses and stuff plutonium buttons down each other's pants. Given these problems, it's hard to take this too seriously as mystery or as science fiction.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Anderson and Beason's fourth collaboration blends hard sf and detective fiction to preview the dazzling next step in virtual reality. Livermore National Laboratory is the site of the sensation--a chamber reproducing, complete with touch, sound, and smell, any recorded experience from F16 dogfights to rock climbing. Seizing a chance for major funding and exposure, project overseer Hal Michaelson offers the new technology to the government as a means of nuclear weapons surveillance. Yet before a key public demonstration, Michaelson is found dead in the chamber from exposure to a deadly acid, leaving FBI agent Craig Kreident to ferret out clues and suspects, including a project coordinator who may be passing design secrets to the computer gaming industry. Although the VR gimmickry is fascinating and plausibly rendered, it is pushed aside for a relatively routine detective story that, though a disappointment compared to Anderson and Beason's Nebula nominee, Assemblers of Infinity (1993), will be demanded by fans of that and their other books. Carl Hays
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Customer Reviews
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3.7 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Top-notch hard science fiction, Mar 3 1999
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Virtual Destruction (Paperback)
Kevin Anderson and Doug Beason expertly take us into the depth of virtual reality. The story is a gripping tale of how technology can go wrong. Agent Kreident, the main character, is a computer savy FBI agent who specializes in high tech cases. He teams up with the young Paige Mitchell who helps spice up the plot a bit with undertones of innocent sexuality. This reviewer did find the Paige Mitchell character's usuage of the term, "Kay-O" (ie: okay), to be a bit annoying and over used. Overall, I'd rate the book as a great read, however.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Anderson's/Beason's attempt at mystery fails, Oct 30 1997
By marco67@worldnet.att.net - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Virtual Destruction (Paperback)
This book contains what you'd come to expect of the Anderson/Beason team. A story that appears to well researched with good attention to detail and a pace that doesn't let you get bored easily. These are the high points. Unfortunately there's one big flaw that really couldn't keep me feel disappointed at the end. I figured out "whodunnit" before I was even halfway through. I kept hoping I had missed something that was going to reveal itself at the end, a wicked twist or something to make the whole read worhtwhile. Alas, for something that could've been a fun mystery/adventure turned out to be way too obvious and left me feeling a little shortchanged. As prolific as Kevin J is I sometimes wonder if his sheer volume of work sometimes makes his quality of work suffer.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Virtual Destruction = Real Enjoyment, April 28 1997
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Virtual Destruction (Paperback)
_Virtual Destruction_ is KJA's attempt at being the Michael Crichton of late -- writing original screenplays as novels. He succeeds. This novel could be easily translated to the big screen, with little or no alteration to the story. There is not much mystery, as the reader is let in on all the details from all sides, but it is still a fun ride, watching Agent Kreident put all the pieces together in this thriller
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