Cole Perriman's Terminal Games

by Wim Coleman, Pat Perrin, Cole Perriman (Pseudonym)

Virtual relationships and real-life murder.
In an exclusive, expensive, and often bizarre branch of cyberspace, anonymous people live out their anonymous fantasies. But when Insomnimania members begin dying, hi-tech fantasy morphs into real-life nightmare. Searching for a killer, Marianne Hedison explores dark recesses of technology and shadowy depths of her own imagination.

About the new edition:
Times have finally caught up with Terminal Games. We wrote the book under the pseudonym Cole Perriman, and it was first published by Bantam in 1994. Terminal Games sold well, got translated into German, Portuguese, Japanese, Italian, and Romanian, was taught in courses about literature and contemporary culture at several leading universities, and was optioned by a major studio for a movie that didn't get off the ground.

Here's the original book again, with its 90s-era technology intact. See for yourself how well Cole Perriman's Terminal Games prophesied today's infoworld.

Genres: Thriller, Cyberpunk, Science Fiction

509 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Wim Coleman is a playwright, poet, novelist, and nonfiction writer. His play "The Mad Scene" won First Place in the Script category of the 91st Annual Writer’s Digest Writing Competition. Another play, "The Shackles of Liberty," was the winner of the 2016 Southern Playwrights Competition. Two collections of his one-act plays, "Nine Muses" and "Stages of History," are currently in print, and his plays have appeared in anthologies along with works by authors ranging from Molière to David Mamet. His book of poetry, "I.O.U.," was published in 2020 by Adelaide Books. Novels that he has co-authored with his wife, Pat Perrin, include "Anna’s World," the Silver Medalist in the 2008 Moonbeam Awards, and "The Jamais Vu Papers," a 2011 finalist for the Eric Hoffer/Montaigne Medal. Wim and Pat lived for fourteen years in Mexico, where they adopted their daughter, Monserrat, and created and administered a scholarship program for at-risk students. Wim and Pat now live in Carrboro, North Carolina. They are active members of PEN International; Wim is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America and the Academy of American Poets.

Reviews

[Andreea Mateescu · Rating 4 out of 5]

really good sci-fi book! I recommend it

[Rusu Ingrid · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF....

[bkwurm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad book but a little dated now. Revolving around users of a network in which users adopt "alters" and playact virtual lives, one of these alters starts re-enacting virtual murders that turn out to be exact copies of real life murders.

While it was probably very edgy when it was published, reading it now, with the widespread use of internet forums, apps and smart devices, some of the actions performed by the characters on their computers with only a mouse and a keyboard are baffling.

but the concept behind the murder mystery itself is intriguing.

[Tina]

Unfortunately, this was written in 1994 and it felt too outdated. The plot was slow also.

[Alain · Rating 3 out of 5]

Must have been highly entertaining before the Web came about, but feels a little outdated now. Still an interesting concept, though.

[Lysergius · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is hard to make these tales on on-line activities entertaining, and engaging. This works, barely.

[Jill Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book holds up a lot better than I would have imagined.