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High-Tech Crime Solvers #2
Virtually Undead
From USA Today Bestselling Author, Robert I. Katz, comes a gripping techno-thriller, part of a multi-author series tied together by an interlocking cast of characters, all centered around the fantastic new promise of high technology and the endless possibilities for crime that technology offers, in a world where getting away with murder can be not only plausible, but easy…if you just know how.
Michael Foreman is a neurosurgeon, hard-working, successful and highly respected. In his spare time, he plays the piano.
Ralph Guthrie is a gamer. He makes his living playing online games. He also plays the clarinet. Ralph Guthrie and Michael Foreman are old friends and play together in an amateur jazz band.
But when Ralph is invited to play and critique a new video game, Virtually Undead, and suffers a fatal heart attack, along with nine other players, it quickly becomes apparent that virtual reality has reached out of the virtual world and into the real.
Why has a gas explosion rocked the city? Why has the New York sewer system repeatedly expelled raw sewage into the city’s waterways? And why does a single traffic light downtown persistently malfunction, causing cars to repeatedly crash?
Are all these things tied together? If so, how and why?
When the NYPD and the FBI ask Michael Foreman to consult, he can’t resist the challenge, and finds himself quickly drawn into the escalating mayhem of a video game that’s becoming all too real.
Michael Foreman is a neurosurgeon, hard-working, successful and highly respected. In his spare time, he plays the piano.
Ralph Guthrie is a gamer. He makes his living playing online games. He also plays the clarinet. Ralph Guthrie and Michael Foreman are old friends and play together in an amateur jazz band.
But when Ralph is invited to play and critique a new video game, Virtually Undead, and suffers a fatal heart attack, along with nine other players, it quickly becomes apparent that virtual reality has reached out of the virtual world and into the real.
Why has a gas explosion rocked the city? Why has the New York sewer system repeatedly expelled raw sewage into the city’s waterways? And why does a single traffic light downtown persistently malfunction, causing cars to repeatedly crash?
Are all these things tied together? If so, how and why?
When the NYPD and the FBI ask Michael Foreman to consult, he can’t resist the challenge, and finds himself quickly drawn into the escalating mayhem of a video game that’s becoming all too real.
- GenresCrime
109 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 3, 2020
13 people are currently reading
15 people want to read
About the author
Robert I. Katz
40 books24 followersRobert I. Katz attended Columbia College and Northwestern University Medical School, and is on the faculty of the State University of New York at Stony Brook. His first novel, Edward Maret was published by Willowgate in 2001 and won the ASA Literary Prize that year.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 15, 2020
I must say I truly enjoyed the techno-thriller from USA Today Bestselling Author, Robert I. Katz. This is the second book I’ve read in the artificial intelligence, multi-author series. I will read more.
The story opens with unrelated events that makes the reader wonder how they could be connected. Katz does a brilliant job of allowing you to enter the virtual world of gaming and the endless possibilities that suggest it can be all too real.
Two old friends who have vastly different professions are connected via a love of music. They collide in a crime where this world may not be far off into the future. Is makes you stop and ask, could it be here now?
In a world where most of us want proven facts, there is a virtual world around us that can change your perspective on everything. Robert Katz does an excellent job on showing the possibilities of where AI can and might take us.
The story opens with unrelated events that makes the reader wonder how they could be connected. Katz does a brilliant job of allowing you to enter the virtual world of gaming and the endless possibilities that suggest it can be all too real.
Two old friends who have vastly different professions are connected via a love of music. They collide in a crime where this world may not be far off into the future. Is makes you stop and ask, could it be here now?
In a world where most of us want proven facts, there is a virtual world around us that can change your perspective on everything. Robert Katz does an excellent job on showing the possibilities of where AI can and might take us.
September 8, 2020
A brilliant tale from the ‘High Tech Crime Solver’ series, ‘Virtually Undead’ by USA Today bestselling author Robert I. Katz is a wonderful mixture of medical mystery, police procedural and cutting-edge techno-thriller. The series itself explores new and interesting possibilities of how new technology can be used for crimes. The police, of course, are quite a few steps behind the curve in this respect and need to call in Katz’s protagonist, neurosurgeon Michael Foreman, to help them navigate what must be the strangest case they have ever handled. Ten players, of hundreds beta testing a state of the art virtual reality game, all suddenly die of the same cause. Was the game too realistic it provoked the premature demise of these participants? Or are we faced with a complex serial killing, spread over ten different cities? Unfortunate accident or the work of a diabolical murderer?
The story, though undoubtedly complicated because of the nature of the case, is so well told, the complexities so well explained in terms the average reader can comprehend, that non-geeks will really enjoy the book. Katz’s characters, some borrowed from other books in the series, others unique to this writer, are superbly drawn and highly believable and help the story move forward at an enjoyable fast pace.
Definitely an interesting and original crime thriller and highly recommended.
The story, though undoubtedly complicated because of the nature of the case, is so well told, the complexities so well explained in terms the average reader can comprehend, that non-geeks will really enjoy the book. Katz’s characters, some borrowed from other books in the series, others unique to this writer, are superbly drawn and highly believable and help the story move forward at an enjoyable fast pace.
Definitely an interesting and original crime thriller and highly recommended.
December 7, 2020
Dr Michael Foreman, besides being a neurosurgeon, is also a pianist. Not so farfetched. It seems a lot of doctors are. One of the members of his band is a heavy games player who gets himself killed while playing a virtual reality game. Michael is stunned and offers his services to the police as a consultant. No matter how hard they try to keep him offside, he manages to get in the center of things.
Although done with the best of intentions, the game gets out of control. Michael is stunned to discover that ten people died playing it.
All the technical capabilities seem like they are either here or soon will be. A most entertaining and frightening look at medical/biometric capabilities today.
It is not a dry book. Michael is keeping company with a girl he really doesn't like. He has parents whom he almost never sees. The whole book is very well done.
Although done with the best of intentions, the game gets out of control. Michael is stunned to discover that ten people died playing it.
All the technical capabilities seem like they are either here or soon will be. A most entertaining and frightening look at medical/biometric capabilities today.
It is not a dry book. Michael is keeping company with a girl he really doesn't like. He has parents whom he almost never sees. The whole book is very well done.
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January 24, 2023Very interesting murder mystery
Killed while playing a virtual action game . So many questions . Piano playing neurosurgeon, Michael Foreman, lost his best friend in that game. He wanted answers .
I like this author very much and was led to this series from one of his other books . He is knowledgeable about medicine, academic medicine and is a terrific sci fi author . Interesting use of sub text for emphasis , vocabulary you can look up if you don't know the word. His writing is well done, if somewhat academic at times, no typos .
Killed while playing a virtual action game . So many questions . Piano playing neurosurgeon, Michael Foreman, lost his best friend in that game. He wanted answers .
I like this author very much and was led to this series from one of his other books . He is knowledgeable about medicine, academic medicine and is a terrific sci fi author . Interesting use of sub text for emphasis , vocabulary you can look up if you don't know the word. His writing is well done, if somewhat academic at times, no typos .
December 9, 2021
This was an excellent story with great characters, all of the medical details right (as one would expect since the author is an MD), plenty of action, and great use of gaming and VR details. I did have one issue with the author's style. I'm not sure if he thinks his readers have the memory of a gnat, have experienced neurological deficits, or what, but the repetition of each character's full name over and over again nearly drove me up the wall, to the point that I mentally skipped over the last name. Otherwise, I would have wound up throwing my Kindle across the room in frustration. I have a feeling I am not the only reader who can remember a character's name from one paragraph to the next without having it literally spelled out for me! I will be looking for more of Dr. Katz's books to read, but I'm hoping the next one gives me a break on character names.
August 4, 2020
Well done
I really like this story. It was well done and the characters flowed nicely. I like the interaction between the gamer and the Dr very much.
I really like this story. It was well done and the characters flowed nicely. I like the interaction between the gamer and the Dr very much.
May 5, 2020
This was one of those novels where I enjoyed wondering where the plot was headed! Where was the author taking the story?
There’s food for thought here as, in reality, mankind is making progress with AI, etc.
A few needed scene change markers would have been useful and the middle of the novel was a bit redundant but, heck, so are our confined at-home Covid-19 days. Start reading Virtually Undead and it’ll give you something to think about!
I’m another author in the multi-author series, but will be reading all of these “Virtually” books because high-tech crime is a super genre. Plus, although I do not personally know the author, he has a similar physician background like my own, so he's on my radar to follow.
There’s food for thought here as, in reality, mankind is making progress with AI, etc.
A few needed scene change markers would have been useful and the middle of the novel was a bit redundant but, heck, so are our confined at-home Covid-19 days. Start reading Virtually Undead and it’ll give you something to think about!
I’m another author in the multi-author series, but will be reading all of these “Virtually” books because high-tech crime is a super genre. Plus, although I do not personally know the author, he has a similar physician background like my own, so he's on my radar to follow.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews