Death Dream

It's the ultimate adult playground. Cyber World  will use the latest technology in computer produced  virtual reality to provide thrills and chills  beyond any ever experienced at a theme park. Here  children of all ages will live out their wildest  fantasies: fly jet fighters in combat, take part in a  gunfight in the OK Corral, play in the World  Series, or take a walk on the moon or a trip inside the  human body.From the Paperback edition.From Publishers WeeklyMayhem is afoot at Cyber World, the futuristic setting of this ambitious but not entirely satisfying thriller by SF stalwart Bova ( Voyagers ). While computer programmers Damon Santorini and Jason Lowrey are in Florida creating a virtual reality (VR) park that will simulate a walk on the moon, combat in a jet fighter and other exotic adventures, users of a VR flight simulator they developed for Wright-Patterson Air Force Base are suffering inexplicable strokes. Santorini agrees to investigate, tugging the story line into several curious twists--and nearly as many false starts and blind alleys. Bova concocts a complicated melange of high government and Air Force officials, old love affairs and possible identity changes, but he fails to deal fully with several plot fragments. Although each major adult character here is sexually dysfunctional, their peccadilloes--one of which leads to a significant subplot--are rendered in the same subdued voice as the rest of the novel. Also, descriptions of the VR programs in strictly workmanlike prose prove disappointing--as does the book's incredible denouement. Though Bova's attempt to combine SF and high-tech thrills occasionally engrosses, it ultimately fails to slip into high gear. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. From School Library JournalYA?This novel of "technology gone too far" could easily take place today. At Para-Reality, a company that hopes to get a leg up on Disney in the entertainment industry, Dan Santorini has been hired to develop the ultimate virtual-reality simulation game. He moves to Florida only to find that something is very wrong. First his daughter has some disturbing encounters in the games that the company provides for her school, and then a colleague is killed while practicing one of his VR programs. As Dan races against time to find the answers and to save his family, he is hampered at every turn by greedy investors, a desperate boss, and government investigators. A well-researched and timely book that will appeal to YAs interested in cyberspace as well as those who love a good story.?Susan McFaden, Fairfax County Public Library, VACopyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.