Helpful Score: 1
Anderson and Beason's fourth collaboration blends hard sf and detective fiction to preview the dazzling next step in virtual reality. Livermore National Laboratory is the site of the sensation--a chamber reproducing, complete with touch, sound, and smell, any recorded experience from F16 dogfights to rock climbing. Seizing a chance for major funding and exposure, project overseer Hal Michaelson offers the new technology to the government as a means of nuclear weapons surveillance. Yet before a key public demonstration, Michaelson is found dead in the chamber from exposure to a deadly acid, leaving FBI agent Craig Kreident to ferret out clues and suspects, including a project coordinator who may be passing design secrets to the computer gaming industry.
