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Viral
Chad McKenna wants to live a quiet life of playing video games and watching YouTube. But when a private video of himself ‘enjoying some alone time’ goes viral, he is suddenly thrust into the media spotlight. Chad quickly becomes a reluctant internet celebrity. As the video begins to spread across the internet, it becomes clear that this isn’t your ordinary meme. It’s a virus, and one that will do anything to survive – including murder. If there’s anything worse than a video of yourself masturbating going viral, it’s a rogue robotic army of soldiers that all look like a naked version of yourself, who are willing to go to war with the entire world. And Chad is the only one with the power to stop it.
304 pages, Paperback
Published February 7, 2019
17 people are currently reading
77 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
February 25, 2019
Viral is a story about, well, in a word and pardon my French, wankers. Wankers, literally and figuratively, in a kind of iRobot / Transformers gone horribly wrong. Chad and his brother / employer Sam have a well and truly fucked-up relationship. Sam is always making fun of Chad, until Chad snaps and breaks his brother’s nose. As payback Sam hacks Chad’s webcam, records him jerking off and posts that video online. And it all goes downhill from there. A light and funny story on the surface, that tackles some current issues on a whole other level: forgiveness and revenge, the online community, online trolling and offline bullying, the fact that anyone can post anything online and there will always be people who believe what they read, … A very entertaining read that I’d happily recommend.
February 16, 2019
Read this on Pigeonhole, and I was gripped, the plot takes some very unexpected, clever turns and this book makes you think about the nature of how we project ourselves online and about online privacy. I think it would make a fantastic book club read. I like the way Chad was portrayed, at first the reader feels a mixture of disgust and pity for him, but he grows as a character in a realistic way. This is also a pretty funny book and it ends in a completely unexpected way.
February 21, 2019
Before I review 'Viral' by Mike Jeavons, I'm going to tell you that it's one of the weirdest books I've read in quite some time - and I nearly didn't carry on reading after the first couple of chapters - I didn't think it was my kind of thing. However, as I was reading this novel as part of The Pigeonhole community, I gave it a bit longer, read a few more chapters, and am pleased to say that I am glad I did. As mentioned already, it's pretty weird, very different and very definitely NOT for the faint of heart...
Chad McKenna is a strange and initially unsympathetic character. Overweight, underachieving and living with his Mum, he is struggling to justify his existence by trolling strangers in online comment threads and working as a cleaner in his ridiculously successful brother Sam's IT company, IATech. Sam is a bully and treats Chad horribly, escalating on this particular occasions to an uncharacteristic show of violence where Chad breaks Sam's nose by punching him very hard, in the face, in front of his employees. Sam is furious, and Chad discovers just how furious when he returns to work the next day to find a video playing on all the big screens within the office featuring Chad...shall we say 'winding down' after the previous days events. It soon becomes clear that Sam has hacked into Chad's webcam and recorded him 'enjoying' some of the more exciting elements of the web, and worse still, has then posted the video for everyone at IATech to see. Horrendous, right? What could be worse?
Well how about that video going viral. Like, properly viral. Becoming one of the fastest-growing, most viewed videos of all time?
Or..and stay with me on this one...how about realising that your video isn't *just* the most embarrassing meme you can imagine, it's actually a virus. It's a virus that will do anything to survive, including creating a sentient robotic army that all look exactly like you do when you're enjoying a bit of 'alone time', bits out and all. Well yeah. That.
Don't you just hate it when that happens?
Strangely, as the book progresses, you begin to sympathise with Chad and even to an extent, his brother Sam. The weirdness continues with 'memeologist' Colin, his increasingly strange behaviour and and his even stranger houseguest.
As I said, it's a very odd book, written at times like a stream of consciousness, and with Chad's smart mouth, there are some laugh out loud funny moments. If you like your fiction a bit off the beaten path, with a whole load of trigger warnings and a great big dollop of 'what the fuck'-ery then you should give this book a go.
Thanks to the Pigeonhole and Mike Jeavons for the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.
Chad McKenna is a strange and initially unsympathetic character. Overweight, underachieving and living with his Mum, he is struggling to justify his existence by trolling strangers in online comment threads and working as a cleaner in his ridiculously successful brother Sam's IT company, IATech. Sam is a bully and treats Chad horribly, escalating on this particular occasions to an uncharacteristic show of violence where Chad breaks Sam's nose by punching him very hard, in the face, in front of his employees. Sam is furious, and Chad discovers just how furious when he returns to work the next day to find a video playing on all the big screens within the office featuring Chad...shall we say 'winding down' after the previous days events. It soon becomes clear that Sam has hacked into Chad's webcam and recorded him 'enjoying' some of the more exciting elements of the web, and worse still, has then posted the video for everyone at IATech to see. Horrendous, right? What could be worse?
Well how about that video going viral. Like, properly viral. Becoming one of the fastest-growing, most viewed videos of all time?
Or..and stay with me on this one...how about realising that your video isn't *just* the most embarrassing meme you can imagine, it's actually a virus. It's a virus that will do anything to survive, including creating a sentient robotic army that all look exactly like you do when you're enjoying a bit of 'alone time', bits out and all. Well yeah. That.
Don't you just hate it when that happens?
Strangely, as the book progresses, you begin to sympathise with Chad and even to an extent, his brother Sam. The weirdness continues with 'memeologist' Colin, his increasingly strange behaviour and and his even stranger houseguest.
As I said, it's a very odd book, written at times like a stream of consciousness, and with Chad's smart mouth, there are some laugh out loud funny moments. If you like your fiction a bit off the beaten path, with a whole load of trigger warnings and a great big dollop of 'what the fuck'-ery then you should give this book a go.
Thanks to the Pigeonhole and Mike Jeavons for the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.
April 10, 2020
While I certainly admit my view could be slightly skewed with bias (as I am a fan of the author's youtube videos), I still hope it's valid - this book was very enjoyable. Despite the first half(ish) or so being a tad predictable for me, I still found myself wanting to know what would happen next. I was easily engrossed in the plot and characters.
This book is being a 3.5 and a 4 star for me.
I'm genuinely excited to see what Mike Jeavons writes next.
This book is being a 3.5 and a 4 star for me.
I'm genuinely excited to see what Mike Jeavons writes next.
February 20, 2019
This is one of the weirdest books I've read in a long time. However, that's not to say that it wasn't enjoyable.
We are taken on a rollercoaster of emotions with characters who are I think we are meant to dislike?
I do have some empathy for Chad, the main character, but I also see why we should dislike him too.
We are thrown in at the start where we learn about Chad and his life and relationships with his brother, which, as they are still fairly young in adulthood, is pretty standard for brothers. They still have that sibling rivalry going on, with Sam (the elder) dominating Chad (the younger). Sam being a successful businessman and Chad - just not! - doesn't help the situation.
The story gets more and more far-fetched with computer viruses, AI robots, hostages, raids and many lives lost and the text is pretty graphic in places also with strong language ....
But - I really got into the story and found places absolutely hilarious.
I am actually left not really knowing how to feel at the end. I'd really like to think, well, Chad got what he deserved.....but that is overridden by the feeling of pity that after everything, Chad is left alone as before.
Something quite different, but a good read all the same.
We are taken on a rollercoaster of emotions with characters who are I think we are meant to dislike?
I do have some empathy for Chad, the main character, but I also see why we should dislike him too.
We are thrown in at the start where we learn about Chad and his life and relationships with his brother, which, as they are still fairly young in adulthood, is pretty standard for brothers. They still have that sibling rivalry going on, with Sam (the elder) dominating Chad (the younger). Sam being a successful businessman and Chad - just not! - doesn't help the situation.
The story gets more and more far-fetched with computer viruses, AI robots, hostages, raids and many lives lost and the text is pretty graphic in places also with strong language ....
But - I really got into the story and found places absolutely hilarious.
I am actually left not really knowing how to feel at the end. I'd really like to think, well, Chad got what he deserved.....but that is overridden by the feeling of pity that after everything, Chad is left alone as before.
Something quite different, but a good read all the same.
February 16, 2019
I found this story bizarre but at the same time with enough realism to make it disturbing. It is the tale of two brothers - Sam McKenna, an IT geek millionaire and founder of IATech and his younger brother Chad, a simple, lazy troll. Both are highly unlikeable.
Chad McKenna only wants to be liked but doesn’t see the irony in his hiding behind the internet, leaving hurtful comments of various social media platforms. When a video of him masturbating goes viral, his world is flipped upside down. His brother Sam, gets a kick out of humiliating Chad at every given opportunity. The ensuing chaos born of these two characters who take sibling rivalry to a whole new level is bizarre. The ease with which a virus, just like a rumour is spread via technology was concerning and will appeal to those obsessed with an interest in IT, Robots and/or a social. Three and a half stars.
Chad McKenna only wants to be liked but doesn’t see the irony in his hiding behind the internet, leaving hurtful comments of various social media platforms. When a video of him masturbating goes viral, his world is flipped upside down. His brother Sam, gets a kick out of humiliating Chad at every given opportunity. The ensuing chaos born of these two characters who take sibling rivalry to a whole new level is bizarre. The ease with which a virus, just like a rumour is spread via technology was concerning and will appeal to those obsessed with an interest in IT, Robots and/or a social. Three and a half stars.
March 5, 2020
I'll admit I used to follow Mike on YouTube and that is how I found out about the book. But really I wouldn't have read this if it wasn't for him promoting it. The idea of the story is clever, not unheard of but clever. The whole book feels amateurish, I know that it is his first adult novel it's just it could have been polished and fixed up a bit more. He tries to give the character it's own voice and not his but Chad comes of as even more lifeless and two dimensional. If the book is saupossed to be funny and it didn't get a single laugh or chuckle from me.
Now onto the big issue I had with the book what made it get a 3 star instead of 4 star. Repetition. I think Mike was trying to capture realism but the way the messages back and forth were put in it could have been cut down or even formatted differently and felt like a waste of paper and time. If you are going to put that much of the letters and comments you got to put sustenance and meaning behind it, repeating "fuck you" 10 times means the same as 1. Formatting could have been improved Single quotes are no quotations it's double quotes and I know other authors do this from time to time but it is still not correct.
Do not get me wrong this was a clever story it just could have used a lot more polishing I feel this book was missing a lot of depth we get told what type of characters are in the book but it never really gets us to know who they are. I get it he is a loser on the internet (that was said 10 thousand times) but why? Who is he personally I didn't see too many emotions coming from him.
One thing that did irk me in the story was ONE word is not a chapter! I have seen this in a couple of other books too but it is still not right. Especially this one it didn't add anything to the story or give anything.
Let's hope if Mile ever writes a 2nd book it is better than this one. It's not bad, a quick read just amateurish.
Now onto the big issue I had with the book what made it get a 3 star instead of 4 star. Repetition. I think Mike was trying to capture realism but the way the messages back and forth were put in it could have been cut down or even formatted differently and felt like a waste of paper and time. If you are going to put that much of the letters and comments you got to put sustenance and meaning behind it, repeating "fuck you" 10 times means the same as 1. Formatting could have been improved Single quotes are no quotations it's double quotes and I know other authors do this from time to time but it is still not correct.
Do not get me wrong this was a clever story it just could have used a lot more polishing I feel this book was missing a lot of depth we get told what type of characters are in the book but it never really gets us to know who they are. I get it he is a loser on the internet (that was said 10 thousand times) but why? Who is he personally I didn't see too many emotions coming from him.
One thing that did irk me in the story was ONE word is not a chapter! I have seen this in a couple of other books too but it is still not right. Especially this one it didn't add anything to the story or give anything.
Let's hope if Mile ever writes a 2nd book it is better than this one. It's not bad, a quick read just amateurish.
February 7, 2019
The tale of an exceptional cock-up born from the wounds of an emotionally fraught childhood and the all-to-excessive drama of sibling rivalry. This story quickly raises stakes and then doesn’t stop raising them. It’s also, understandably, chock full of internet-meme- and news-culture references and observations that had no end in tickling my fancy and my funny bone (no, not that one). From the macro-consequences to the hair-raising interpersonal relationships, this truly is a gripping read that I wasn’t strong enough to put down. Whatever your expectations are, this story will blow you away. To say more than that would be robbing you of a truly heart-wrenching, mind-blowingly good read.
This needs to go VIRAL. Catch it any way you can.
This needs to go VIRAL. Catch it any way you can.
December 23, 2019
I absolutely loved this book and it was a fantastic and flowing read, full of twists and turns. I'm a big fan of Mike's online YouTube videos and so I had planned for a while to read this.
One of my favourite things about it was that the characters were so well defined. So many books these days are filled with endless bland characters who you have to keep reminding yourself who they are. In this book it's clear and easy.
I didn't expect the book to be so deep, with some darker twists and turns. That all came as a surprise but a good one as it showed it to be a serious story which kept my attention.
I think this would make a great movie as well.
An easy 5stars for me and I hope that there's another book of a similar nature at some point in the future.
One of my favourite things about it was that the characters were so well defined. So many books these days are filled with endless bland characters who you have to keep reminding yourself who they are. In this book it's clear and easy.
I didn't expect the book to be so deep, with some darker twists and turns. That all came as a surprise but a good one as it showed it to be a serious story which kept my attention.
I think this would make a great movie as well.
An easy 5stars for me and I hope that there's another book of a similar nature at some point in the future.
February 18, 2019
This is an entertaining, funny story. It's a little over the top, very eccentric, and gets you gripped from the start. Chad, the protagonist isn't the most sympathetic hero, but I felt for him throughout the story. The humour is a little off-the-wall, but I loved it. A really great, and (for me) different read. Thanks to The Pigeonhole and Mike Jeavons for the opportunity to read it.
February 22, 2019
Look, I'm not going to spoil anything for you guys but this book was a wild ride and not at all what I expected. I'm normally the queen of seeing twists before they come. I saw NONE of the twists that came. None. Mike surprised me at every turn and gave me a bad guy I wanted to punch.
Also, it does not grate cheese.
Also, it does not grate cheese.
December 1, 2021
I enjoyed the book. It had alot of stuff I didn't expect and kept me engage in the story.
I like how bizarre it got as you read further into the book. It probably won't be everyone's cup of tea. It hits between reality and science fiction.
It makes me want to see what kind future work he do next.
I like how bizarre it got as you read further into the book. It probably won't be everyone's cup of tea. It hits between reality and science fiction.
It makes me want to see what kind future work he do next.
February 7, 2019
Funny, binge-able and unique. I loved it.
One of those books that you can’t put down. An excellent and highly amusing read, that is packed with unexpected twists and turns, and takes the idea of ‘going viral’ to the next level… and then some
One of those books that you can’t put down. An excellent and highly amusing read, that is packed with unexpected twists and turns, and takes the idea of ‘going viral’ to the next level… and then some
February 16, 2019
This has to be one of the daftest books I have read for some time. It would definitely appeal to young male adults. It is about the UK being overrun by Robots all looking like Chad, the anti hero of the story.
June 9, 2019
It was absolutely brilliant and so funny. I was hooked from the start. I enjoy Jeavons YouTube videos so I was looking forward to this one and wasn't disappointed. I look forward to other books in the future.
May 7, 2025
This was the most bizarre premise of a book. But somehow it made it work even more. I really like Jeavons sense of humour and the book made me laugh out loud many times. Although NSFW and not for everyone the book is still a great read if you're not disturbed by some of the more explicit moments.
February 7, 2019
A great story that flows nicely and doesn't drag. Some surprises peppered throughout and plenty of dark humour.
February 16, 2019
Very fast paced and unputdownable. Absolutely loved it.
February 22, 2019
Quirky story, by turns funny, gripping and sad. I really enjoyed it.
March 5, 2019
I almost don't want to review this book. It's a train wreck. But I was very entertained the whole time, so I can't really justify giving it less than 5 stars.
March 28, 2019
Really didn't expect to like this book, but I loved it, it made me laugh and was a very good read.
May 10, 2019
Not at all what I expected, but very good.
July 4, 2019
Excellent read
Thoroughly enjoyed this book...Would recommend to anyone that’s ever had social media. It’s a lesson to us all. Well done Mike.
Thoroughly enjoyed this book...Would recommend to anyone that’s ever had social media. It’s a lesson to us all. Well done Mike.
July 17, 2019
Far fetched
Totally far fetched, but couldn't stop reading it. It's a very quick read and I enjoyed it enough to recommend.
Totally far fetched, but couldn't stop reading it. It's a very quick read and I enjoyed it enough to recommend.
June 30, 2020
A whole lot better than I thought it would be...
November 4, 2024
Enjoyable
This book gripped me from the start, I wasn't expecting robots if I'm being completely honest (normally have no interest in robots really) but I really enjoyed this.
This book gripped me from the start, I wasn't expecting robots if I'm being completely honest (normally have no interest in robots really) but I really enjoyed this.
February 19, 2019
For me the booked started of great. Also the theme of (cyber) bullying interested me. Once the robots came though, I lost a great deal of my interest. It became a bit too far fetched in my view. But, nonetheless, I loved the way the book was written, how it progressed, so I kept reading. I was also glad to see that it was a realistic ending and not a sugary sweet all’s back ok ending.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 15, 2019
Great book
Great book would definitely recommend it. I found it hard to put it down once I started reading it. Hopefully there will be another book soon
Great book would definitely recommend it. I found it hard to put it down once I started reading it. Hopefully there will be another book soon
August 30, 2023
A real riotous rollercoaster of a read. Viral is the best thing I have read in a long time.
Character development is masterful: within a few pages you will have formed opinions on characters and their motivations which will then be repeatedly challenged throughout the narrative.
I’ll not say much more as I feel it best to go in with as few spoilers as possible but I will say this.
“Viral” by Mike Jeavons is a bloody masterpiece.
Character development is masterful: within a few pages you will have formed opinions on characters and their motivations which will then be repeatedly challenged throughout the narrative.
I’ll not say much more as I feel it best to go in with as few spoilers as possible but I will say this.
“Viral” by Mike Jeavons is a bloody masterpiece.
May 25, 2019
I only kind of liked the idea of Chad being a tragic hero. I admit I felt quite upset over that ending.
What I really did like was that in the end, he learned enough to make the hard choice.
This has been such a crazy ride that took so many unexpected turns, bringing Chad to the path of the weirdest people. I enjoyed it. I cringed over it. I laughed. I cried. I exhausted myself reading this book. Nevertheless, it was every minute well-spent.
Thank you very much, The Pigeonhole and Mr. Mike Jeavons for the opportunity to take part on this experience. I look forward to reading more of your works~! :)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews