Thrill Switch

by Tim Hawken

Detective Ada Byron is pumped to finally be assigned her first murder case... until she sees the crime scene. Someone has been killed exactly the same way as her father was seven years earlier.

To see if this is a copycat, or something more sinister, Ada must work with her personal nightmare Jazlin Switch - the programmer who murdered her dad. What follows is a mind-bending, heart-stopping ride through the dark side of reality and the virtual world.

Perfect for fans of William Gibson and Neal Stephenson.

PRAISE FOR THRILL SWITCH

“Welcome to a sci fi version of Silence of the Lambs”
★★★★★
- Gordon A Long

“A science fiction fan’s dream”
★★★★★
- Residual Sizzle

“This is a thriller that doesn’t stop!”
★★★★★
- Audiobook Reviewer Magazine

*content contains violence, references to sexual abuse, and adult language.

Genres: Science Fiction, Cyberpunk, Mystery, Thriller, Audiobook, Crime, Fiction

264 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2022

About the author

Tim’s first novel, Hellbound, was born while on the road, written on airplanes and in hotel rooms. The book was discovered on an online writer’s forum by Dangerous Little Books author CJ Werleman (God Hates You, Hate Him Back), who immediately recommended it to his publisher. Hellbound has since been followed by sequels, I Am Satan and Deicide.

Tim has gone on to win the AHWA ‘Flash Fiction’ Story of the Year twice (2013, 2020) and has been shortlisted for an Australian Shadows Award. He has recently contributed to best-selling books such as Dear Santa, Dear Dad, and Dear Mum, plus released a literary fiction novel under the pen name T.S. Hawken.

To get frequent updates about Tim and his work you can sign up to his newsletter on his website, or follow along on Instagram where he posts a 100-word, art-inspired story most days (@tim_hawken).

Reviews

[Rachel (TheShadesofOrange) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.0 Stars
As someone who enjoys a good gritty thriller, this one was right up my alley. I worried it might not appeal as much to other sci fi readers who don't share my love for dark fiction. However this one is well regarded among the other SPSFC judges so that appears not to be an issue.

I enjoyed this fast paced narrative. It feels like a cliche to call a book a pageturner, but the description fits here. I blasted through this book in a day because it was so addictive. The use of VR technology was not the most unexpected but it's the kind of plot I enjoy reading.

I would received this one to readers who love a dark sci fi thriller as much as I do.

Disclaimer I received this one for review as a judge for the SPSFC.

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book as a judge on the Wayward Stars team in the SPSFC3 (third annual, self-published science-fiction competition), in the finals round. This is my own personal review and does not represent the views of the team or any other individuals other than myself.

The book description for this one noted that it is "Like a cross between Ready Player One meets The Silence of the Lambs...", and I can say that it fits. A new detective, VR technology, a mysterious crime, a real psychopath, all of those are present.

There is a lot of action with good pacing, good characters and a very good mystery that is fun to see unravel through the course of the story. What I also liked were some of the thought-provoking ideas introduced about VR technology, and where that could lead in terms of questions of morality. It also delves into the idea of how you could control something like that, if at all. Definitely relevant questions and ideas as our modern world progresses on that front.

I thoroughly enjoyed this. I was engaged from start to finish. I thought it was very easy to read (although I will warn that there are some pretty dark moments of violence). I could easily recommend this to fans of sci-fi and/or crime thrillers. My rating would be 4.5/5 stars.

[Lukasz · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5

Thrill Switch is a gripping page-turner that kicks off with a brutal murder and rarely slows down. It also comes with a lengthy list of content warnings, but if blood and viscera doesn’t faze you, you’ll love this fast-paced cyberpunk thriller.

Detective Ada Byron’s first murder shakes her world to the core. The victim’s demise mirrors the way her father was killed seven years earlier. Hardly possible- the notorious virtual world serial killer, Jazlin Switch, is behind bars with no computer access.

The investigation forces Ada and her partner to consult Jazlin and to navigate the treacherous waters of future Las Vegas politics. Casualties pile up as the conflict between anarcho-libertarians and power-hungry politics escalates.

I prioritise character development over world-building, and I’m rarely impressed by the latter. Not a case here. Hawken captured a nuanced socio-political landscape of a world in which virtual serves as an escape from the harsh realities of overpopulation and limited career opportunities. The virtual reality allows people to experience full freedom without facing consequences for their actions. The thing is, the line between complete freedom and anarchy is thin and easily crossed. Also, when you get killed or raped in a digital world, it doesn’t happen to your physical body, but your mind experiences it fully. This raises the question: what defines “reality” in such circumstances?

The accessible writing and short chapters filled with action and tension make this book gripping. I found myself wanting to know what happens next. Before I realized it, the story concluded (loved the ending), leaving me craving more.

The characterization impressed me. Ada is one heck of a protagonist. Smart, determined, and with a troubled past, just as I like it. She starts off as an eager newbie detective, but the events force her to grow fast and use all of her skills to survive and solve the case.

And while I liked Ada, it’s Jazlin who steals the spotlight whenever she appears. The comparison to Silence of the Lambs holds true, particularly regarding Jazlin’s character.

Thrill Switch is a superbly written cyberpunk thriller that pulls no punches. It’s brutal, so be sure you’re in the right frame of mind. But if you’re game, buckle up and enjoy the thrill.

Audiobook narration: Molly Secours has done a stellar job here. I loved her narration.

[Craig Bookwyrm · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a twisty, techno, cyber punk, detective, crime noir thriller. Set in a dystopian future where huge numbers of society live totally in VR.

A philosophical and moral commentary on identity, privacy, freedoms, and consumerism, Thrill Switch is an intriguing sci-fi thriller that will keep you guessing and questioning what is real.

[Sibil]

I really enjoyed this book. It is violent and gory, and you should pay attention to trigger warnings, because there are quite a lot of them in this book, but still, I couldn't put it down.
It has some strong Cyberpunk vibes and I adored them! It has also some important themes that are treated here, and I appreciated the way in which the author did it.
And what's even better is that this is a well-developed thriller in an amazing setting, futuristic and full of interesting tech (also, quite scary tech!) with some good characters. Ada and Joon are an amazing team, because they are so diverse, in a lot of ways they are opposite, and they work so well together (and what's even better is that they both grew in this book! And I am always here for some good character's growth!)
It is engaging, it is captivating, it is gritty and violent too (so keep that in mind) and I couldn't put it down!

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s like Silence of the Lambs had a love child with Strange Days and then that love child went all Natural Born Killers with Snow Crash.

[Morgan Conn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.


Ada Byron is tasked with solving murders in virtual reality world, but that are also killing the people in the real world. Teaming up with FBI agent Joon, they go into the holos to investigate . Using tips from a former Holos serial killer and following the leads, they go on a crazy adventure trying to figure out who is killing people. You don’t know who to trust in this book. At some points you are suspicious of just about every character. Well, at least I was. This book was so fast paced, a page turner that I just could not put down. It’s jam packed with action scenes that will get your heart racing. The ending was unexpected, and a great way to end. I was very impressed with this book, and cannot wait to read more from this author!

[Athena (OneReadingNurse) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for the SPSFC. I have mixed feelings but this is a cyberpunky thriller mashup with a lot of gore and violence and discussion of cyber reality & gender dysmorphia. A detective is trying to solve a murder case in both the real and holographic world that many people spend much of their lives in now.

Should laws govern the place or is no dark whim too much? A good concept but is advertised at a much shorter length than it actually was on Kindle. I was confused in a few places and also not expecting the setup for a sequel at the end. Overall it had good action and pace.

I've always thought people who spend their lives and personalities on the Internet are ridiculous so I at least had something to like Ada for and a debate to be interested in

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thrill Switch by Tim Hawken was another read for the SPSFC-3 competition for the second round. This was one of four books that were given to our group to read from other groups during the first round of reading. All four of these books seemed very different not only from what we read in the first round but from each other in this round. The review and scores below are strictly of my own opinion and do not in anyway reflect that of our team or the competition in general.

Thrill Switch was giving me dark cyber punk vibes similar to Bladerunner. The story itself is very different but that is what I pictured of the world during this read.

I've been lucky to have the chance to immersion read all of my second round books so far allowing me to see the visual story as well as enjoy some solid narrations. In this case we had Molly Secours narrating Thrill Switch. I was not previously familiar with any of her other work which can be difficult for me at times. That wasn't the case here. I settled into her telling fairly easily from the start.

This leads us directly into the pacing. I would certainly describe Thrill Switch on the faster side of things. I think Molly did a really good job in bringing another layer to a colorful yet dark story that Tim Hawken has put together. I never had any issues with names of characters or places to struggle through within this one. I will mention there are some possible trigger warnings that are mentioned in the Goodreads blurb which are spot on. This story does get rather dark and it may or may not be too much for some readers at times. Another aspect that may be difficult at times is the real versus digital world hopping from time to time. I didn't have any issues with this but if a reader isn't paying enough attention, I could see some confusion due to this.

I felt the world building was a strong aspect to this story. Whenever I had a chance to dive back into this read, I was really in feeling into this world. Whether it was just the dark and gritty futuristic real world of Las Vegas to the wildly fantastic and dark digital world that was created. This was really that perfect type of atmosphere to immersion read in my opinion. The different factions and cultures represented in both of these realities were interesting to see throughout the story.

The character development was also done well. We see a solid arc from beginning to end for our main protagonist Ada which is expected. But I also really enjoyed the growth from some of the supporting cast such as Agent Joon and the story behind the seven were all very interesting to see unfold.

This story kept me on my toes in many ways. Not only from the darkness of situations at times but how things were revealed as we approached the end.

I'd certainly recommend this read to someone how doesn't mind the trigger warnings, looking for something on the darker side of things and wanting a mystery being woven in and out of a digital reality.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

The blurb describes this book, Mr. Hawken's second, as a cross between Ready Player One and Silence of the Lambs. I agree to a point. However, this book is not about playing video games. This book is about living completely online, in what they call the "Holos." In Thrill Switch, there are people who never un-jack from the Holos. They are fed through nutrient tubes and completely live their lives through avatars.

Ada Byron is a detective for the Las Vegas PD. She has been, up to this point, been relegated to missing persons, but gets assigned a murder case. In this case a somewhat famous online persona is murdered, but there is question as to whether it is a real, physical murder, or if it happened in the Holos. If it happened in the Holos, there is possibility that a devious criminal named "Switch" is back.

The problem is that Switch killed Ada's father, and Ada barely escaped with her life. It was the only time Ada had ever jacked in. She never went back in. Until now, when she gets assigned this case. Another thing about Ada is that she had a very non-supportive mother. Almost abusive, at least verbally and psychologically.

At one point, an FBI agent, Joon, is introduced. Joon is one of those who lives almost totally "synced," and doesn't like being in the real world, to the point that he can't stand anyone actually touching him. He is very interesting and quickly became a favorite of mine. The relationship between Joon and Ada begins with much tension, but gets better by the end.

There were a number of phrases that Detective Byron used that I though amusing. I think my favorite was "snot-poppet." Who knows what that means? If I remember correctly, it was a derogatory term that referred to Joon. There were some others that I won't mention here, as they might be deemed inappropriate.

I was completely enthralled by this book. it really hits the ground running, so to speak. The action is great, it moves quickly, and the visual imagery was well done. I was able, for the most part to envision what the author was describing. The characters were vibrant, and easy to either love or hate. There are also several total twists that I did not see coming. I always love those kind of moments, when an author is able to pull that off. Hawken pulls it off wonderfully.

Reading this book felt like playing Cyberpunk 2077, a PC game that I finished a few months back. The settings reminded me so much of that game, hence, I think, the Ready Player One reference. The suspense and dangers that Ada Byron finds herself in lend it to the Silence of the Lambs comparison. Ada is in much the same position as Clarice Starling vs Hannibal Lecter. Switch is a type of Lector, in a way.

I noted one quote that I found interesting. Stated by one of the suspects in the case, a well-known rich person and senator named Fukami, "No politician believes everything they say."

The ending lends itself to a sequel. Who knows if there will be one, but it sure left itself open for a possibility. If there is one, I will most definitely read it.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book as a judge in the SPSF3. I listened to the book on Audible. The narrator did a good job, except I wasn’t super partial to how she did the one guy Joon’s voice, but everything else was great.

Dark and violent, with an ambiguous message and ending, Thrill Switch is none-the-less an exciting and immersive cyberpunk detective story. I'm giving it 5 stars on here but it was more a 4.25 star for me.

The book is quite violent. It never got gratuitous, but the book does deal with some pretty heavy stuff. In fact, if there’s one word I’d give this book, it would be that: heavy.

The good stuff first. The characterization is great. Ada, the main character, is a beaten-down, solitary, brash-as-hell detective with a huge chip on her shoulder. One might say she’s a noir detective for the future. She strides that line between likeable and kind of frustrating at times, but that serves to give her an understandable characterization. She is the star of the book, as she should be, and she learns a lot about herself while also never compromising what she believes in. Joon is pretty much the only other character we see for long enough to develop into more than a side character, and I liked him as well. A great foil to Ada, as they worked well as a team, and if you like a “reluctant allies to friends” relationship, you will enjoy their dynamic (I was happy to see there wasn’t a love story angle). Jaslin, the villain, is cool in a Hannibal Lector sort of way, but I found her too lofty and not in the story enough to really be comparable in the sense of reaching Lector’s level of memorable.

The other villains are good. We have a wide swathe of them in different facets of the story - some overtly menacing and others subtle - and all are despicable in their own right. Like Ada, you don’t know who to trust, and that dynamic was very well-done, both with allies and antagonists.

The action scenes in the novel are top-notch. A lot of the book is Ada and Joon moving from lead to lead, but where there is action, it’s well-described, easy to follow, and exciting. One of the best scenes in the book is when Ada takes down someone in the virtual world - that chapter was excellent.

The world-building made sense, for the most part. The idea of attempting to regulate a virtual space was a relevant and poignant topic, though I wasn’t very clear on where the story landed on that aspect - rather than seeming to suggest the issue is nuanced or choosing a side, it felt more like it waffled or didn’t want to make such a judgment, which I found made the heaviness of the story somewhat unnecessary - why make it so harrowing if you’re not going to make an argument? It also seemed the story focused a lot on the doom and gloom aspects of the Holos, versus anything that might be positive. This fit the tone, of course, but I was curious, if the place was such a dumpster fire, why anyone went in there at all, why they’d let their physical body waste away when the virtual world seemed as hard to get ahead in as in real life? Still, all that aside, the worldbuildng made sense for the story, in that it had clear rules and the exposition was given out at a good rate.

The story itself is where the novel doesn’t hit full marks for me. I’m not saying it wasn’t well-plotted or that it lost steam at some points - I was never bored or lost - I just figured out a lot of it too early for my liking. Certain red herrings weren’t executed well enough for the twists to be completely surprising, so the ending was a bit of a let-down. One character even pulls a classic “villain ball” trope at one point that 100% cemented the twist for me ahead of the reveal.

Yet, overall, aside from how dark it got at times, the book is an exciting blend of Silence of the Lambs and Snow Crash, with a good hit of thriller. Highly recommended.

Also, given it’s set in Vegas, there was a line, “a frenzy of fear and loathing” that made me laugh. I think it was the only thing that made me chuckle - check those content warnings if you want to read this. There is … torture.

[Azrah · Rating 5 out of 5]

[This review can also be found on my BLOG]

**I read this book as a judge for the third annual Self Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC), this review is solely my own and does not reflect the opinions of the whole team**

CW: violence, blood, gore, torture, murder, death, death of parent, kidnapping/confinement, reference to sexual abuse / rape and child harm, discussions of suicide / self harm
--

Cyberpunk meets crime noir as young detective Ada Byron is assigned a case where people are being killed in real life whilst being plugged into a VR world, a facsimile of the murders committed by an infamous serial killer who has been securely locked up for years. Thus Ada is put into a cat and mouse chase with said serial killer, who is also responsible for her father’s death, as they are the only one who can help her get to the bottom of the case.

I really enjoyed this one and literally couldn’t put it down! From the beginning the story and characters hook you right in. The murder mystery keeps you guessing and aligns really well with the wider political turmoil surrounding laws and regulations within the VR/Holos world and some of the commentary there reflects our world today too.

There are short snappy chapters that keep you engaged with it all as well as the vast worldbuilding that is being revealed. Both the dystopian Las Vegas of the waking world and the virtual Holos world that we jump between were really well written, the latter of which has a Ready Player One vibe about it but with more R rated elements and a populace that is much more unsavoury. The pacing keeps constant for the majority of the book and even when the murder case stuff was slowing down the more personal character related scenes also keep you invested.

Ada was a great protagonist, you can see from the beginning there is a chance for her to have a good character arc and the narrative definitely delivers there. A lot of the supporting characters were well fleshed out too and I really liked the dynamic that developed between Ada and the FBI agent she works with.

I’d definitely heed the content warnings before going into this one (the violence in particular is quite graphic) but if you’re a fan of mystery/crime and sci-fi mashups then this book isn’t one to miss. It definitely brings all the thrills!

[Iris Brognara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad. I enjoyed this cyber-futuristic world and it’s nuances…but the book dragged in some places and that prevented me from giving it the 4 stars I originally planned. I also think this book is meant to be part of a series, even more if you consider how it ended. Well, we’ll see what the future holds I guess

[Alex Bree · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hunting for a serial killer in both the virtual reality and physical worlds. This book has everything to love about stopping a serial killer and solving murders while exploring the emerging virtual reality worlds. It highlights questions of politics, power, money, and dark uses of a virtual reality world--where law and order clash with the user's darkest desires of freedom. Hawken asks terrifying questions about the future of technology that will keep you up at night. The story was fast-paced the entire time and it kept me on the edge of my seat. It does explore darker themes, so be prepared.

I loved our crime-solving duo and how they complemented each other so well in both worlds. Our MC's Detective Ada Byron and FBI agent Joon, as well as the cast of potential villains were intriguing, complex, and made you want to read more.

TW: Torture, gore, SA

SPSFC3 Judge

[Kire Todeski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Normally I’m not the type to read thrillers but I thought I’d give it this one a shot because it was also cyberpunk.

Have to say I couldn’t stop reading it,and the thriller part of the story was really good but hey I’m not an expert on thrillers so maybe other people could of figured stuff out sooner lol. But the twist at the end was definitely a good one that had me going “oh shit!!!”

Great read and definitely does a great job (as far as I’m concerned) of blending cyberpunk with thriller.

[Nancy Foster · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am one of the judges of the SPSFC3 contest participating for team Space Girls and this is the penultimate finalist book left to read & review. This review is 100% my own personal opinion and my score will be tallied with the other judges to determine the winner.

I heard fabulous comments about this book. This might have skewed my expectations a bit since the people that have told me how great this book is posess very similar scoring tastes as myself. So, I was coming into this book with insanely high expectations it would be mindblowing.

There is quite a nice a mesh of genres in this book that will grant it offers wide genre appeal: a bit of cyberpunk, dabbles of some aspects of LitRPG where you can get more powerful weapons/avatars and VR death can be real, thriller, political fiction and also dystopia. The beginning of the book is surprisingly similar to that Jennifer Lopez movie 'The cell'.

Taking place around 30 years into the future, a VR reality world is now very popular, inexpensive to log in and with wide adoption in the US to help curb the housing crisis for the impoverished. Now that fewer people are walking outside, there is less physical world consumerism, and less pollution. The book never addresses if technology has advanced enough so that this highly realistic VR world consumes less water for cooling servers. It seems rather odd one of the mecca VR capitals of the world would be Las Vegas. Quite frankly, I would have assumed it would make more sense to select a place with tons of water like Detroit or a small town next to Niagara Falls.

Still, it was somewhat refreshing to have a book take place in Las Vegas.

The first chapter starts with a bang (pun intended). A long-term VR user named Christos Rama is being tortured in a room that suspiciously looks identical to the revamped abandoned casino where his real body is jacked up. Despite every attempt to escape, a serial killer still finds him...

The Las Vegas PD is tasked to solve this guy's murder and suspect it might be the doing of an infamous serial killer named Jazlin Switch (whose mind is supposed to be trapped in a firewall after somehow being captured in the VR world). In a nutshell, the book starts really good and the action is quite thrilling.

Now, this is where the book has issues that start to pile up. Even though it makes a ton of sense to ask a woman named Ada Byron with a PhD in serial killers to assist with the case since she is supposed to have a ton of knowledge about Jazlin (and a good motive why she hates that killer so much), there is a major issue here. Ada is not just some clinical psychologist/outsider consultant or a rookie cop that just casually knows by instinct how to work like a detective, she is supposed to be a detective.

Which by itself, is not an issue either. I have read plenty of books starring female detectives. The problem is Ada has absolutely zero experience using the VR world. Which seems really odd given detectives would need to solve criminal cases by knowing how to hack into crypto coin accounts under false identities. There is also a high likelihood that informants and middlemen would do a lot of shady deals online in firewalled special rooms. While the reason why Ada hates the VR world is 100% justified, I think the book could have handlled things better by either making her an outsider consultant that tags along or having her still show immense disdain for the VR world, but still sufficiently knowledgeable about entering it on limited occasion with a really crummy avatar persona without any special specs just to pass her detective test.

Either option could have worked in the story, obviously with several cons. If she is an outsider, then you'd need a third character as acting cop since Min-Joon is himself an external FBI agent specializing in VR world crime. Having more POVs makes it harder to write the book, but it might have offered better breadcrumbs to make the reader guess which of the 3 characters are a bad guy in disguise. I would have enjoyed guessing the red herrings a bit more.

If Ada was a cop that did know a little bit of the VR world, then the generic police Avatar sections of the book would have to be rewritten. I quite personally think the book would have shined better with either option, the second story structure change scenario would have been a plus for me because Ada is so greeny green, that it is difficult for me to take her seriously as a detective in a major life-changing criminal case.

Min-Joon as her unwanted teammate is a fabulous character. Loved the chapter where he explains to Ada why he spent so much time in the VR world and does touch on the reader's heart strings regarding the utter care he places in his VR alter persona.

I also liked Seargent Mendez. Now, I bet everyone who has followed my reviews would like to know my verdict about the snippets of Spanish dabbled in the book. And apparently the author tasked a person to check the Spanish instead of relying on an unreliator robotranslator. Which is definitely a wise choice. As for the Spanish, I am wondering whether it was accidental or a purposeful writing choice to have Mendez make so many grammatical Spanish mistakes.

The book never specifies if Mendez is a 3rd or 4th generation Mexican and her mastery level of the language. The spelling of some phrases seems to hint Mendez's ancestors emigrated no later than around 2010. It isn't that some of the slang words are wrongly spelled, just that Spanish is an ever evolving language and the umlaut ü symbol is vanishing from Mexican Spanish. Words that stubbornly cling to the symbol like pingüino are starting to vanish. You'll see the word now pretty equally divided in modern everyday Spanish using a normal u. I recall schools these days are ditching the Ch and Ll letters of the alphabet for simplicity as well.

One scene particulaly stroke me to feel Mendez has a B1-B2 level of Spanish in the scene where she affirms to Ada whether she understood her command. Mendez uses the word 'Entendida?', which at first sight seemed to hint she was referring to the English word 'Understood?'. So, in retrospect, I did understand the phrase. Only that... this is a grammatical mistake in Spanish. Yes, the verb entender does have a tense that roughly translates to the English equivalent verb understood. But as far as I know, it is never used in this very specific context. I probably learned this grammar rule in school growing up, but I can't remember which obscure verb conjugation rule it is. Even though Spanish is my L2 language and there's aspects of the language I'll never master (such as the joy of abureating), I picked up verb conjugating rules very well and don't even know why I select the right verb, it just comes out naturally.

So, when I saw that very specific sentence in the book, I knew in an instant if Mendez had advanced Spanish, she would have ordered Ada with the phrase: ¿Entendiste?, which roughly translates to 'Did you understand?' Once again, I can't recall the obscure grammar rule why Understood doesn't directly translate like that to Spanish, perhaps it is an irregular idiom that just became widely adopted and any native speaker accepts the idiom as it is without really pondering why this is so. But, since I know plenty of people love it how I analyze Spanish snippets in books, I couldn't disappoint them. Maybe Mendez really only speaks colloquial Spanish passingly with her grandparents and the author hid this as an Easter egg in the hopes a reader that frets over minutiae like this as me would successfully spot it. Either way, it doesn't make or break the book for me, Mendez is a fun side character.

As for the villains, I liked Jazlin, her scenes were always great. Most of the other villains however are so cartoony that I sometimes wondered if this book was in reality a parody. I also felt surprised the government didn't put a security stop on companies making VR devices, because even a non syncing one can make your heart stop. Like... if you flatline, that is uhhh. real clinical death. It isn't just a Ventricular Fibrillation that can be zapped with an AED within a few seconds, PEAs and asystole needs CPR and adrenaline. Man, I am surprised these companies haven't been sued to death for causing permanent brain damage to flatlined users.

There are also other issues in the book such as how come criminals don't disguise themselves as the IV fluid delivery guy and just enters people's apartments and steal copper cables or hack into their machines to steal SureCoins. I would have assumed Ada as a detective would be an ace spotting these criminals because it would be so common to see them sneaking into homes and looting them. She wouldn't have ever needed to enter the VR world if she specialized in this kind of theft.

Anyhow, these are the issues I had with the book. However, the story is very fun, I enjoyed the writer's style and the plot holes don't entirely distract from an otherwise entertaining book. Enjoy!

[Cult_of_books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Liked the character work, liked the plot, liked the Holos.. a real page-turner that kept me guessing what's to come.
4,5/5

[Jay Brantner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Thrill Switch as part of a judging team for the third annual Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC3), where it is a quarterfinalist.

This is a book that starts (and ends!) with a bang, with a man tortured in the virtual world before being murdered in real life, and the police having no leads but the infamous virtual serial killer who has been locked up for years.

What follows is a cyberpunk thriller with a content warning list as long as you arm, with a political conflict between anarcho-libertarians and the surveillance state in the virtual world providing the backdrop for a murder investigation.

I have some complaints about how thoroughly the worldbuilding feels rooted in the early 2020s (Twitter’s blue bird logo is iconic in the future!), but it’s a fast-paced, hard-hitting thriller with a lot of critique of both statism and libertarianism, albeit with less of a positive vision. Not my usual speed, but it was a thrilling read!

First impression: 15/20. Full review and SPSFC score to come at www.tarvolon.com

[✨Lily · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first cyberpunk novel and it was an epic ride! Set in a futuristic Las Vegas following Detective Ada Byron who has been assigned to her first murder case. It took a while to get into it, since you’re entering an entirely different world but the vivid imagery helped.

It’s a great novel but might be an even better graphic novel. Hawken really transports you into the dark future in this neonoir sci-fi novel. The blurb was spot on when it said Ready Player One and Silence of the Lambs all in one go.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I say this is one of the best books I’ve ever read, I mean it. This book had me laughing, gasping, crying, kicking my feet! And Ada Byron is one of my new favorite characters of all time. A triumph of a novel. Looking forward to a sequel! (It has to happen, right?)

[C.E. Clayton · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Thrill Switch” is equal parts “Ready Player One” and “Silence of the Lambs” with a sprinkling of “Altered Carbon” for good measure. You have detective Ada Byron who has become an expert on Jazlin Switch, a notorious serial killer who managed to murder people in the real world by destroying their avatar in the virtual space known as the Holos. Ada has dedicated her life to studying Switch and becoming a cop all because Switch killed her father seven years ago. Now there’s a new killer out there copying Switch’s style, but are they really? Ada has to face her fears and stop more people from dying, but in order to do that she needs to team up with Holo “native” and FBI agent, Joon, and venture back into the Holos, a place she hasn’t been to since her father died. Worse yet, she may need Switch’s help in order to unravel the conspiracy this new killer is at the center of. Hawkin does an excellent job blending a virtual MMO style world with a real, vaguely dystopian Las Vegas in order to craft a violent and thrilling (heh) cat and mouse murder mystery. This was a fast-paced futuristic crime and mystery story, but was light on the procedural investigation aspect, so take that as you will.

There’s a lot going on for such a short novel; you have an immersive cyberpunk-esque world and all the science fiction that entails, plus a virtual reality MMO style virtual space where the question of morality is front and center (should you be allowed to live out whatever dark fantasy you have because you aren’t ACTUALLY hurting anyone?), and also an overt look at what happens when capitalism truly dictates laws and politics. All this plays into a murder mystery where policymaking and conspiracies abound, and at the center you have a foul-mouthed detective who, while she has some great and really funny one-liners, sometimes read as too juvenile for the position she held, even when partnered with the serious Joon. Because of that, she didn’t feel like much of a detective to me, and since I am a big fan of true crime and police procedurals, that suspension of disbelief was hard for me to fully embrace but that’s just a personal preference of mine.

The ”Altered Carbon” aspect of this book comes in with the use of avatars and having people entering the Holo’s fully synced, meaning that they feel and experience this virtual space as realistically as the real world, often blurring reality to where the Holos feels more real than anything else. It reminded me a lot of the “stacks” used in Altered Carbon as there is a level of carelessness some people use with their avatars and keeping them safe or abusing others because the avatar can be swapped like a pair of shoes. It brought up a lot of really interesting discussions around online spaces and the extremes of anarchy when you don’t have the consequences of “one life”. Because of that, if you are sensitive to on page torture or implied sexual violence, read this book with some caution as Hawkin does not hold back in that regard. I just wish I connected to the main detective more to really scratch that itch I was hoping for in a crime and mystery sci-fi novel, hence the 4 stars. But this book was still a lot of fun and a great for anyone who is a fan of crime and mystery sci-fi novels with a cyberpunk flare! And thank you to the author for sending me a copy for an honest review!

[Nicole (bookwyrm) · Rating 4 out of 5]

In my SPSFC3 reading, I've come across a few books that felt like they could easily be movies: this is one of them. It's fast paced and has a similar tone to a big summer blockbuster action movie. However, this one would probably be rated R or even NC-17, depending on how much the director chose to show... see the CWs I listed below for why. Even with those CWs, though, this isn't a horror story. It's firmly a science fiction thriller.

Our main character Ada is a cop in her mid-to-late-20s, and she hasn't been into the Holos (aka the virtual world) since her first trip... which is when her father was killed by a serial killer. So naturally, this book's murder case requires her to go back into the Holos for the first time in years. I really enjoyed watching her experience it all essentially for the first time.

I think my favorite characters, though, were the ones who spent a lot of time in the Holos. Joon and Sabi in particular were favorites of mine. I really felt like they captured some of the identity and self-creation themes presented in this book. As you can probably guess, that was my favorite part of the book's plot, too. I really enjoyed following where the psychological aspect of the plot went.

No content warnings were provided for this book that I saw, but I really think they were needed. There were times I felt like the book got much more intense than it had forecast at the start of the book. I am a big supporter of CWs, so I would always rather have them provided.

Additionally, the book does end on a slightly unfulfilling note. There is a nice resolution to the book-specific story, and theoretically this could be read as a standalone book with a slightly off-balance ending. However, while not really ending on a cliffhanger exactly, it is perfectly clear that there is more of this story yet to come.

I guess a quick summary of my experience with this book is this: I enjoyed the plot and pacing a lot, and the characters grew on me quickly. The messaging in a lot of this book was fascinating. The darker themes in the story resulted in me getting thrown out of the flow, though. I would have enjoyed the philosophical aspect and the way the book pushed the boundaries of reality a lot more had the dark scenes not been as intense as they often were.

CWs: death, gore, torture, violence, attempted sexual assault

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

I read this book as part of the judging process for the 3rd Self Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC3), and I was provided a review copy for judging purposes. My opinions are my own and do not reflect the thoughts of my SPSFC3 team or the competition as a whole.

[Isabelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was really looking forward to trying Thrill Switch by Tim Hawken because it was the shortest finalists out of the lineup and I had recently read multiple chunkers and was ready for something quicker. Combined with the short but intriguing description and the eye-catching cover, I was ready! And maaaan, did I love this book!

I was a little apprehensive at the beginning because some of the darker scenes were right at the edge of what I’m comfortable with, probably even a little bit over, but they gave the story such a compelling start that I had to continue anyways. I also liked the banter between the fMC and another character a lot and wanted to see how that would develop. While the tension between them ebbed a little too quickly for me and their (non-romantic) relationship-development was a little predictable, I didn’t feel that was a hindrance and still enjoyed following along.

The plot was fascinating. It had a great pace all throughout, the mystery was great, and the psychological aspect was really fun. I especially enjoyed the call-out of the MC over a habit that I personally didn’t enjoy either! Hah! I’ve said this before but I love books that allow me to theorize about things throughout and this was one of those! I wasn’t always right but that’s part of the fun. Some of the reveals were awesome and I’m glad that I couldn’t predict everything.

While prepping this post, I saw that there’s a novella in this world and I’m really excited to check it out. I loved the cultural and ethical themes in this book and really want more of all that. There is so much potential for this world and I hope we get more stories set there!

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

DISCLAIMER - I received a free copy of this book to review for the 2023 Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC).

This book had a lot of potential - science fiction, politics, virtual reality, murder, double crosses, and a large and diverse cast of characters. Unfortunately, I did not find it engaging. Every time I put it down, I hesitated to pick it up again.

Part of the problem with this book was that it was too long for the storyline. While the story had many twists and turns and suspense needed to build, I found myself getting lost in the minutia. Another problem was that the narrator would change without warning and I would find myself halfway through the page before I understood who was talking.

The good news is that the storyline was interesting, the philosophical questions excellent, and the book improved as it went along. I found the final pages hundred pages or so quite exciting, probably because so much happened in a relatively small number of pages.

Overall I would give this book a 3.5.

[vk chompooming · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well, there goes 6 days of my life I will never get back. I've gotta get better at choosing cyberpunk novels. I can't remember the last good one I read. Thrill Switch was so bad that I almost DNF. The story was bland and uninteresting. Thrill switch was touted as a mystery, but that felt forced. There was very, very little action, weak characters, and predictable plot. This book is so bad I am deleting the sequel novella Kill Switch from my To Read list.

[Aviar Savijon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thrill Switch

A outstandingly well written dark fantasy epic adventure. I loved it!!! Each page was exciting and full of action. Tim Hawken is now on my must read author list.

[Joe King · Rating 2 out of 5]

A deep, and resounding, meh.

[Shanna Tidwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story. I think someone who is a gamer may enjoy it even more. The characters were well written and described well.
Ada and Joon are great characters and I really enjoyed their banter. I kept thinking something could develop between them. Spoiler alert, it doesn’t. I would definitely be interested in the next book and I think there may be another coming…
Lots of gender fluidity and I do not have an issue with that. Some right wing people may have issues with it.
Narration by Molly Secours was excellent.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

[Andrew Hindle · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s the not too distant future. The virtual world has become as rich and important as the “real” world, with many people spending most of their lives strapped into pods that keep them fed and more or less healthy while they’re immersed in “the Holos”, where they can be who they want and – for a certain portion of the population – commit whatever kinds of gross crimes and perversions they want, because the Holos isn’t regulated and is a haven of free speech and expression absolutism[1]. People live there, work there, play there. A huge number of people are essentially stored in places like Las Vegas, THE CITY OF SIM there I said it because Hawken is a coward, solving or at least postponing the global overcrowding and resource-scarcity problem by making themselves as small-footprint as possible while they live out their lives in safety and prosperity in the electronic sphere. Because nothing that happens to you in the virtual world can affect your flesh-and-blood existence.

…OR CAN IT???

We open on a guy in the Holos being killed by a deeply unpleasant spider-bloke. Cut to the outside world, and first-person-perspective consultant-detective-type Ada Byron is assigned to the case – because it turns out this guy has just died for realsies, and that’s something that hasn’t happened in seven years. And Byron had been one of the few surviving witnesses.

She’s given 24 hours to get a break in the case before she’s forced to interview Jazlin “Thrill” Switch, the hacker Hannibal Lecter responsible for the last time a bunch of folks got killed in the Holos and died in the outside world too. Switch’s nickname isn’t “Thrill”, I was messing with you. It’s “the Specter Slayer”. And one of the victims of “the Specter Slaughter” had been none other than Byron’s dad.

The murder investigation grows steadily more complex – is Jazlin Switch somehow out of electronic jail? Has a protégé discovered her evil methods? Did they really have no way to find her actual flesh-and-blood body in the real world and so locking up her avatar was given the “meh, good enough” stamp of approval? – and of course it turns out to go all the way to the top, lid blown off, et cetera. Which we love.

With a senator trying to form a structure of laws legislating and limiting freedoms in the Holos, the plot thickens further. Byron is partnered up with Joon, a sassy hotshot who lives more in the Holos than he does in the flesh-and-blood world, while Byron is a cantankerous real-world purist due to her childhood trauma. It’s a classic detective / FBI odd couple partnership and I thoroughly enjoyed it. And soon, the body-count starts to rise.

It was kind of weird that the celebrity dominatrix-type didn’t have a very famous and publicised safe word, by the way. But then that just starts to raise more questions about the virtual / physical connection and how it all works. It’s also kind of weird that synced people don’t seem to have emergency ejects from the Holos. The tech overall was puzzling to me. I get that it could scramble your brain to drop you out (Stockholm syndrome and so on, sure), but how would tech like that develop? There are never power grid failures? No accidents? People get kidnapped and trapped in their avatars and only Joon seems to be wise to it. Everyone should have the measures he has in place. Okay, the story kind of explains. Synced Holos is more immersive than unsynced virtual. I don’t know if I believe that sort of tech would be allowed to develop, but fine.

The investigation goes on, the intertwined lives and agendas and fates of the main players slowly becoming clear, and the grand conspiracy unfolding with very satisfying twists and turns, keeping you guessing to the end.

The slightly confusing tech setup aside (sometimes you just have to trust that it really all does make sense and this is the most effective way to create drama and stakes in a story where otherwise basically everyone is just playing Doom with headsets on), this was a great murder mystery action thriller with a lot to say about the nature of humanity, freedom, identity and the difference between reality and perception. I enjoyed the unfolding logistical nightmare of people coming out of virtual and crowding up the place, even though it was a relatively minor facet of the story. There were some fascinating tangents into the (past and future) history of the internet which I really enjoyed.

A couple more random notes:

- Look, you can’t put the words “fear and loathing” next to each other in a Las Vegas context. You just can’t.

- It was amusing to me, but also somewhat off-putting, that Byron was giving Joon a hard time for being “very young” when she is by all reports in her mid twenties? I kept waiting for her “age” to be some kind of twist or development, but it just ended up coming across like 25 is old.

- The word “appreciably” was used where “appreciatively” was the correct … never mind, that’s a tiny editing glitch and the important thing to remember is that the word “fapcracker” was also used, and is now my new favourite word ever. Although “dundernubbin” is also great.

- And oh boy, the big old traditional social media companies in the Holos sure aged well. Like slashdot in a Reynolds book. Heh.

All in all this was really great stuff. This review is already well and truly long enough but let’s stop in at the meters our way to jack-out.

Sex-o-meter

The Holos are the absolute end-state toilet you can imagine virtual reality becoming if social media was extrapolated into the future. There’s a whole lot of sex, violent fantasy stuff, BDSM, fapcracker, the whole concept of “tribodying” which warrants further exploration, and we culminate (so to speak) with a gross incel-ranty flourish and attempted paternal rape for a super duper icky ew factor of ten giga-ews. Thrill Switch gets a Lawnmower Man movie out of a possible Lawnmower Man short story on the sex-o-meter.

Gore-o-meter

Likewise, this book was gory from the start, and featured elevated horror gore throughout. It wasn’t “real”, and yet … wasn’t it? That’s kind of the point. Anyway, yes, it was an absolute festival of gore but it wasn’t overblown. Some enjoyable action-style torture and mayhem, pretty hair-raising but not what I would call extreme. Nevertheless, four and a half gobbets out of a possible five.

WTF-o-meter

There isn’t much WTF here. Cyberlife is cyber, but aside from the questionable mechanics behind it all I wouldn’t say it was weird. Still, I say again, fapcracker. Psychedelic visuals and some really interesting philosophy on what is real and what is a result of our sensory dependence make this one an interesting story, but not a greatly WTFfey one. Thrill Switch looks to be clocking in at seven miniwats per chapter, which is a six-sided dice with eight numbers on it out of a possible grizzly bear wearing a hat with “roll for initiative” written on it on the classical scale.

My Final Verdict

I spent a lot of the book waiting for the pay-off with Byron’s dad. If he was such a nice guy, why did Switch make him part of her spree? I was slightly disappointed by the closure on that one. Still, small potatoes. I’m giving this one five stars for imagination, action, thought-provocation, and all-round just being a good time. I can’t really fault it. This was a good story well told and I could see the movie in my head. It’s just a pity everyone else will also be able to see the movie in their heads, and it’s Ready Player One. Because this book is original and creative and good, and Ready Player One is shit.

I did enjoy the arc and story of the lampshade character Cline, though. I should have guessed he’d turn out to be … not entirely Ernest?

---

[1] I will say, however, that it is also a haven for the exact kind of “freedom with consequences” that certain people tend to gloss over when they complain about their God-given right to say racist slurs being infringed upon. But that’s a whole other debate – let’s just say that this book also deserves credit for commenting on that part of the cultural discourse.

[Esther · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tim, you amazing human.
That's a thrill (pun intended) I won't shake off for a while.

(RTC soon)