Book Review: Lock In

This book is an adult science fiction story, but reads very easily and would certainly entertain any teenagers in love with science fiction, robots, and murder/mysteries.

For Fans of:

Robopocalypse, Daniel Wilson

Author, Mira Grant

Children of Men, P.D. James
The Minority Report by Philip K. Dick

Lock In

John Scalzi

Goodreads Summary:
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....

Lock In is an interesting tale of murder and intrigue with the addition of robots and a strange disease. In short, this book has everything.  There is a woven conspiracy that the reader will need to the whole book to unravel and discover who is behind the murder, and who will be killed next.  This story seems like your average mystery story, but Scalzi throws in the Lock In Disease, which, without it, the murder could not have happened.  

The inclusion of those individuals who have had the disease but survived is imperative--as some of these civilians are able to allow rich individuals to jump into their minds and control their bodies--with consent, of course.

This story kept me on my toes from beginning to end, and I love a good book where I try my darndest to figure out the mystery throughout the story, but can't until the last page.  This is a great Science Fiction story that I think will help teens transfer their reading from YA to Adult SciFi.