Book Review: Virtual Murder

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Virtual Murder     Amazon US PB Amazon UK PB Amazon Canada PB
Jennifer Macaire
Class/Genre:   Mystery
Novel, March 2003, 164pp.

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 Maccaire 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

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner