Weekly Reads: Lock In

There was a ton of buzz surrounding Lock In before it's late summer/early fall release. I just finally had a moment to sneak it in to my to be read pile. I'm not the biggest scifi reader, but I do like to throw it in every once in awhile. For me, this one started off slow, and I was a little lost with connecting the many characters to their names and attributes, but part of that was limited lunch break reading time. (I usually have to read a good 30-45 minutes straight to really *get into* a book). At times I thought about just quitting it altogether, but I persurvered. And I'm glad I did. It ended up getting good and being really hard to put down.

If you're looking for a scifi read based in the "not so distant future" (book cover's words), check this one out.


Summary from goodreads:

Fifteen years from now, a new virus sweeps the globe. 95% of those afflicted experience nothing worse than fever and headaches. Four percent suffer acute meningitis, creating the largest medical crisis in history. And one percent find themselves “locked in”—fully awake and aware, but unable to move or respond to stimulus.

One per cent doesn't seem like a lot. But in the United States, that's 1.7 million people “locked in”...including the President's wife and daughter.

Spurred by grief and the sheer magnitude of the suffering, America undertakes a massive scientific initiative. Nothing can restore the ability to control their own bodies to the locked in. But then two new technologies emerge. One is a virtual-reality environment, “The Agora,” in which the locked-in can interact with other humans, both locked-in and not. The other is the discovery that a few rare individuals have brains that are receptive to being controlled by others, meaning that from time to time, those who are locked in can “ride” these people and use their bodies as if they were their own.

This skill is quickly regulated, licensed, bonded, and controlled. Nothing can go wrong. Certainly nobody would be tempted to misuse it, for murder, for political power, or worse....