SFF

Head On: A Novel of the Near Future

by John Scalzi
Tor. (Lock In, Bk. 2). Apr. 2018. 336p. ISBN 9780765388919. $25.99; ebk. ISBN 9780765388926. SF
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The latest hot sport Hilketa consists of teams of players who attack each other with weaponry, rip off their opponent's head, and send it through the goalposts. With "threeps" (robot bodies controlled by those afflicted with Haden's Syndrome) as players, this violent game attracts major crowds and investors until one star athlete dies in the middle of a game under mysterious circumstances. FBI agents Chris Shane and Leslie Vann (introduced in Lock In) are called in once again to investigate this Haden-related crime and discover a darker world of sex, drugs, and deals gone wrong. When Shane's parents are courted as possible investors in the game, he must use his own experience as a Haden and his investigative skills to discover the truth before more deaths accumulate.
VERDICT This sequel to Lock In continues the intriguing partnership of two agents with their own unique Haden experiences in a world not too far removed from our own. Scalzi's accessible prose will keep readers on a page-turning course to the book's finale. [See Prepub Alert, 11/15/17.]
Reviewed by Kristi Chadwick, Massachusetts Lib. Syst., Northampton , Mar 15, 2018
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