Walking Ghost Phase

by D.C. Daugherty

All eighteen-year-old Emily Heath wants before college is a summer vacation at the beach. Instead she's in Washington D.C. at the height of tourist season, looking for an excuse to leave early. She gets one in the worst way possible; a nuclear bomb destroys a large section of the capital. Emily wakes up in the hospital. She's received a massive dose of radiation, her immune system is failing, and she's going to die unless she accepts Colonel Richard Logner's He has a cure, but in return she must agree to participate in a military experiment. The treatment's side effects include partial memory loss, but Emily wants to live. She accepts his offer and the consequences. At a military base, Emily joins others like her for team-based combat on a virtual reality battlefield. But this is no video game. When she's killed in the simulation, she feels all the agony of dying, and the near impossible odds of winning guarantee her a nightly routine of pain. Only one experiment participant understands how to achieve victory—a young man named Matt—but his solo approach leaves the rest of his squad to die in the virtual world. After Matt tells Emily he can help her, she must decide whether to trust a person no one else does—and most likely sentence her teammates to the nightly anguish—or she can keep trying to win on her own and face the unspeakable torment over, and over, and over. But even success may not be enough to stop Emily from wondering if she should have chosen death back at the hospital.

Genres: Science Fiction, Young Adult

348 pages, Paperback

First published December 15, 2011

Reviews

[liirogue · Rating 5 out of 5]

A group of teenagers is visiting Washington, D.C. when a nuclear bomb explodes. The main character, Emily, wakes up disoriented in the hospital and already showing signs of radiation poisoning. The hospital staff has no way to save her, but the military claims it can - if she agrees to join a secret experiment, they will treat her and also allow her three months with her family before the experiment starts. The major side effect from the cure is memory loss, and they don't know just how much of her memory she'll lose. Emily chooses the treatment, and this novel follows her and the friends she makes during the military's experiment.

It's a fantastic book. Strong characters and good world-building really brings this story alive. I could imagine these characters and picture the world they were living in.

If I had to quickly sum up this book, I would describe it as The Matrix meets the Hunger Games.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read in 1 day, had a hard time putting it down. I admire the writer's vision and creativity with this story - well told with good imagery that made me feel as if I was in the simulation with the characters. I gave it 3 stars because while I was riveted up until the end, the events leading up to the ending became somewhat difficult to follow and the ending itself for me (maybe not for others) was difficult to process. I definitely loved the story telling, I just personally have a hard time processing the conclusion.

[Curtis Gibby · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting concept, but I didn't enjoy the execution. I'm sure the confusing writing style was intentional, but I just found it off-putting.

[Sharon Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't sure what to expect with this one, but I found myself really enjoying it.

Emily is a victim in a nuclear attack on Washington, and is offered a chance of survival, on condition she signs up to an experimental military program. She and a group of other young people, who have no real memory of their past lives, are transported to a facility, where every night they are trained via simulator to attack various objectives. If they die, they are held suspended for the remainder of the session, and wake up covered in bruises and feeling the pain from their wounds. One of the group, Matt, seems to know more than he is telling, and Emily forces him to tell her the truth - or at least some of it.

The story is well paced, and draws you in until you aren't sure what is supposed to be real, and what is supposed to be the simulation.

[Phil Patterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story follows the life of Emily Heath as she suffers as a result of a Nuclear Explosion whilst on a trip to Washington.

As she is receiving treatment the military offer to save her life while being part of a virtual reality military experiment which she has no choice to accept and it test all of her skills, abilities and personality traits to the extremes of her boundaries.

I really enjoyed reading this book, my only real issue with it was the last couple of chapters got very confusing and didn't really finish off but raised more questions than necessary. But otherwise a very good and enjoyable read.

[Kerry McCall · Rating 5 out of 5]

My current favorite book by a local (Nashville) author.

If you like scifi, action or mystery, you need to read this book. Another reviewer called it "The Matrix meets The Hunger Games" and I can't top that description...the reviewer nailed it.

[Glenda Christianson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ending was too abrupt.