Past Crimes

April 25, 2011
This adrenaline shot of uncut geekdom, a quest through a virtual world, is loaded with enough 1980s nostalgia to please even the most devoted John Hughes fans. In a bleak but easily imagined 2044, Wade Watts, an impoverished high school student who calls a vertically stacked trailer park home, lives primarily online, alongside billions of others, via a massive online game, OASIS, where players race to unravel the puzzles OASIS creator James Halliday built into the game before his death, with the winner taking control of the virtual world's parent company, as well as staggering wealth. When Wade stumbles on a clue, he's plunged into high-stakes conflict with a corporation dedicated to unraveling Halliday's riddles, which draw from Dungeons and Dragons, old Atari video games, the cinematic computer hacker ode War Games, and that wellspring of geek humor, Monty Python and the Holy Grail. (Of course.) The science fiction, video game, technology, and geeky musical references pile up quickly, sometimes a bit much so, but sweet, self-deprecating Wade, whose universe is an odd mix of the real past and the virtual present, is the perfect lovable/unlikely hero.

Starred review from May 15, 2011
Young Wade Watts takes refuge in the OASIS, the globally networked virtual reality that nearly all of humanity relies on. Its 2044, the year before the Singularity futurist Ray Kurzweil predicts will inextricably unite humans and computers. Life on earth is bleak and sinister, thanks to failure to avert global warming and the oil crisis. An orphan, Wade lives in the Stacks, a vast slum comprising trailers piled in precarious towers, but keeps to his hideout, where he attends school online, plays video games, and sends his avatar, Parzival, to visit with Aech, his only friend. Fanboys (2009) screenwriter Cline brings his geeky ardor for 1980s pop culture to his first novel, an exuberantly realized, exciting, and sweet-natured cyberquest. Wade/Parzival, Aech, a droll blogger calling herself Art3mis, and two Japanese brothers embark on a grandly esoteric and potentially life-changing virtual Easter egg hunt and end up doing battle with a soulless corporation. Mind-twisting settings, nail-biting action, amusing banter, and unabashed sentiment make for a smart and charming Arthurian tale that will score high with gamers, fantasy and sf fans, and everyone else who loves stories of bumbling romance and unexpected valor. With a movie version in the works, Clines imaginative, rollicking, coming-of-age geek saga has a smash-hit vibe.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)

May 1, 2011

Video-game players embrace the quest of a lifetime in a virtual world; screenwriter Cline's first novel is old wine in new bottles.

The real world, in 2045, is the usual dystopian horror story. So who can blame Wade, our narrator, if he spends most of his time in a virtual world? The 18-year-old, orphaned at 11, has no friends in his vertical trailer park in Oklahoma City, while the OASIS has captivating bells and whistles, and it's free. Its creator, the legendary billionaire James Halliday, left a curious will. He had devised an elaborate online game, a hunt for a hidden Easter egg. The finder would inherit his estate. Old-fashioned riddles lead to three keys and three gates. Wade, or rather his avatar Parzival, is the first gunter (egg-hunter) to win the Copper Key, first of three. Halliday was obsessed with the pop culture of the 1980s, primarily the arcade games, so the novel is as much retro as futurist. Parzival's great strength is that he has absorbed all Halliday's obsessions; he knows by heart three essential movies, crossing the line from geek to freak. His most formidable competitors are the Sixers, contract gunters working for the evil conglomerate IOI, whose goal is to acquire the OASIS. Cline's narrative is straightforward but loaded with exposition. It takes a while to reach a scene that crackles with excitement: the meeting between Parzival (now world famous as the lead contender) and Sorrento, the head of IOI. The latter tries to recruit Parzival; when he fails, he issues and executes a death threat. Wade's trailer is demolished, his relatives killed; luckily Wade was not at home. Too bad this is the dramatic high point. Parzival threads his way between more '80s games and movies to gain the other keys; it's clever but not exciting. Even a romance with another avatar and the ultimate "epic throwdown" fail to stir the blood.

Too much puzzle-solving, not enough suspense.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

March 1, 2011

Reportedly bought for something like $500,000 and already slated for filming, this novel from Fanboys screenwriter Cline features a geeky kid named Wade Watts who gets caught up in a worldwide virtual utopia called Oasis. There he finds himself on a virtual treasure hunt for a very real treasure. Described by Firstshowing.net as a blend of Avatar, The Matrix, and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, this book promises to be really, really big. Get it, probably in multiples.

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2024
Pinter (A Stranger at the Door, 2021), who writes in multiple genres, imagines a world in which humanity is consumed by virtual reality. School, meetings, games, and more are contained in Earth+, while Earth- is the woeful physical world. Newly pregnant and deep in debt, Cassandra West and her husband, Harris, struggle to keep afloat. Cassie is a representative for a company that licenses rights in Earth+ for simulations of true crimes. People are obsessed with pretending to be serial killers or viewing the crimes as they happen. But Cassie's world goes up in flames, literally, when Harris announces that he's part of a cult that then commits mass suicide. Ten years later, Cassie is persona non grata, blamed for Harris' crime. When she sees that another dire event may be in the works, coordinating with the release of a simulation of the crime, Cassie must confront the sim's creator before more people die. Although there's a lot of exposition, it is necessary for readers to fully understand this dark vision of the future. Underlying commentary skewers true-crime enthusiasts who profit from other people's tragedies. Pinter's accessible speculative story will appeal to fans of Ernest Cline's enduring hit, Ready Player One (2011).

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

December 18, 2023
With this dark, gritty, and suspenseful sci-fi thriller, Pinter (Hide Away) launches readers headfirst into an immersive near-future world. Everyone lives 24/7 in a virtual reality called Earth+, where true crime simulations are all the rage, while people’s physical bodies are abandoned on the planet Earth. Cassandra West is an agent for V.I.C.E., the foremost licensing agency for true crimes. It’s her job to convince the families of real murder victims to sell their stories as entertainment for armchair detectives to investigate. Newly pregnant and struggling with debt, she celebrates a successful signing even as she’s haunted by the accusation that she may be taking advantage of victims. Then her own husband dies, setting her on an impossible quest for justice that will stretch her mind and body to its limits. Cassandra’s chillingly familiar struggles combine with the intricate dystopian world to make for a spellbinding story. Exploring devastating questions of parenthood, police brutality, and celebrity, Pinter provides a refreshing and exciting perspective on the rise of the true crime genre. Though the last act leaves a few too many questions unanswered, this satisfying page-turner is full of cutting critiques of the American government and justice system. Readers will be thrilled. Agent: Amy Tannenbaum, Jane Rotrosen Agency.

December 15, 2023
Criminal enterprise on a grand scale. By 2037, the Metaverse has grown up to become Earth+, the digital home to most human activity, while Earth-, the actual world, has been neglected and degraded. One of the primary enterprises of Earth+ is entertainment, and the biggest and most lucrative entertainment venue is Past Crimes, where subscribers can experience simulations of the world's most notorious crimes. There's an amusement park (simulated) called Murderland, and though murder predominates there, all manner of mayhem is included. Like streaming television, Past Crimes and its competitors are always seeking new material. Cassie West is an agent of VICE, one of Past Crimes' competitors; her job is to secure licenses from the families of crime victims, who will then populate new simulations. But, almost as soon as the book begins, Cassie's world falls apart: Her house burns down with her husband, Harris, inside, and that fire is just one of a number of suicidal conflagrations, collectively called the Blight, that are deemed to have been Harris' responsibility. Past Crimes swoops in, scoops up the license, and begins to build a new simulation. Cassie believes her husband is innocent of actually inspiring and organizing the Blight, and the plot recounts her efforts to prove this. Past Crimes itself turns out to be a criminal enterprise, and though much deception and violence ensues, Cassie is battered but unbowed. Pinter's setup offers great opportunities for satirical observations, the most obvious being the national appetite for true crime, and the satiric elements are among the highlights of the book. The extrapolation of the Metaverse into Earth+ is also deft, compelling, and horrifying. Unfortunately, the characterization is less accomplished, the dialogue often wooden, and the plot too reliant on coincidence and serendipity. Marvelous stagecraft, but not a great play.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

January 1, 2024

It's 2037, and people are abandoning the decaying planet for Earth+, a virtual world in which to spend one's time. Just barely eking out a living in the physical world, Cassie West and her husband, Harris, remain hopeful for the future, but their dreams are dashed when Harris is held accountable for thousands of deaths in an incident known as "the Blight." A decade later and still dealing with the fallout of the Blight, Cassie becomes a target in the real and the virtual worlds as she races to save the lives of thousands and uncover the truth. An insightful examination of true-crime entertainment, Pinter's novel also stands as a condemnation of gleaning excitement through other's misery. With a narrative flavor reminiscent of Ready Player One, it nevertheless lacks a similar descriptive charm, owing to prose that tells more than it shows. Stilted character dialogue further dampens the experience, making it a haphazard race toward the conclusion rather than a carefully laid-out journey. VERDICT Despite its weaknesses, this sci-fi thriller from Pinter (A Stranger at the Door) is recommended for fans of Ernest Cline and the crime thrillers of James Patterson and Lee Goldberg.--Andy Myers

Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.