Head On

November 15, 2017

In the violent game of Hilketa, players brandish swords and hammers in order to knock off an opponent's head and carry it through the goalposts. Okay, the players are "threeps," robotlike bodies controlled by people whose own bodies are completely stilled by the condition at the heart of Scalzi's Lock-In. But when a star athlete drops dead, FBI agents learn that this increasingly lucrative game has a dark side. With a 15- to 20-city tour.

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2018
The long-awaited second in a series (Lock In, 2014) that explores disability politics within the context of a near-future techno-thriller.FBI Agent Chris Shane (gender carefully unspecified by the author) is a Haden, a survivor of a devastating meningitislike disease that has left them "locked inside" their body, able to interact with others only virtually or via sophisticated robots known as "threeps." Chris and their partner, senior Agent Leslie Vann, investigate scandal and foul play in the world of Hilketa, a violent sport played by Haden-piloted threeps in which the objective is to tear the head off a designated threep and carry it to the goal. Promising player Duane Chapman inexplicably dies during a game intended to recruit new investors for the sport, and a league official who attempts to hide data about the suspicious incident commits suicide soon after. Labeling Chapman's death a murder, Shane and Vann follow a trail obscured by arson, kinky affairs, FBI mishandling, threep attacks, and slimy lawyers to a scheme concerning Hilketa's shady (and shaky) financing. As in the previous installment, the villain is obvious halfway through; the true puzzle is figuring out the details of and the motivations behind the complex plot. There is plenty of trenchant commentary on disability rights, prejudice against minorities, and the ways in which plutocrats take advantage of government funding. Readers will definitely show up for the witty banter and smartass takedowns Scalzi (The Collapsing Empire, 2017, etc.) liberally sprinkles through all his novels. They may be less amused at Scalzi's running joke about the way Chris' threeps are always being destroyed, reminiscent of how Stephanie Plum's cars are always exploding in Janet Evanovich's novels; this sort of mild physical humor gets tired quickly. There's also a vital clue that's somewhat too reminiscent of a plot point in Men in Black.Very clever, wonderfully satisfying fun.

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Starred review from March 5, 2018
Hugo-winner Scalzi returns to the fascinating world of the near-future thriller Locked In with this provocative sequel. Chris Shane was the poster child for Haden’s syndrome, a condition in which a lively mind is trapped in an unresponsive body. Like other “Hadens,” Chris uses an implanted neural network to control a “threep,” an android body, and interact with the rest of the corporeal world. He works as an FBI agent handling Haden’s-related cases alongside his partner Leslie Vann. This time, they are called to investigate the suspicious death of professional hilketa player Duane Chapman during a match. Hilketa (it means “murder” in Basque) is a violent sport of carnage and decapitations played by Hadens in specially built threeps; the damage dealt to Chapman’s threep shouldn’t have affected his physical body, but he reported unusual pain from his threep’s injuries and then died. The sport is growing in popularity and money-making potential, bringing the possibility of corruption. Is the North American Hilketa League trying to cover up some skullduggery, or did Chapman’s jilted wife kill him? Chris and Leslie need to uncover the truth before the tangled case ignites a national scandal. Scalzi expands his complex future with master strokes, balancing buddy-cop wryness with thought-provoking social and political commentary. This taut mystery, filled with memorable characters in a well-constructed world, will keep readers on the edges of their seats.

Starred review from March 15, 2018
The sequel to Scalzi's sf mystery Lock In (2014) is, like its predecessor, a tightly plotted police procedural with several interesting twists. For starters, in this near-future world, a small but substantial percentage of the population has been stricken with what's known as Haden's syndrome, which locks people inside their own bodies?conscious and able to feel sensation but unable to communicate or interact with the world. But this doesn't mean Hadens, as they're known, are not part of society; using personal transportation devices popularly known as threeps, they are able to have fulfilling lives and careers. For example, Chris Shane is an FBI agent; in Lock In, Chris and fellow agent Leslie Vann (who is not a Haden) uncovered a nasty truth about one of the world's most famous Hadens. Now, in the sequel, they're looking into the death of a professional athlete, a Haden whose body expired at the same time his threep sustained major injuries?a death that shouldn't have been possible. Soon after, another man dies, and what appeared to be an isolated suspicious death begins to look like part of a conspiracy. Scalzi is one of the sf genre's most popular writers, and it's easy to see why: his prose flows like a river, smoothly carrying us through the story; his characters are beautifully crafted; and his future world is impeccably designed, at the same time wildly imaginative and wholly plausible. Let's hope the author doesn't wait another three-plus years to deliver another book set in this exciting world.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)