Lock In

Starred review from June 16, 2014
Hugo-winner Scalzi (Redshirts) successfully shifts away from space opera with this smart, thoughtful near-future thriller resonant with the themes of freedom, ethics, and corporate greed. The story is set some 25 years after the first appearance of Haden’s Syndrome, a virus that killed 400 million people and leaves a small percentage of its victims in “Lock In,” a state in which they are fully aware but trapped inside unresponsive bodies. Neural net technology allows Hadens to use android-like “threeps” or make arrangements with Integrators, survivors whose virus-altered brains allow them to share their bodies. When a corpse is found at the Watergate hotel and the only suspect is a blood-covered Integrator who says he doesn’t remember what transpired, newly minted FBI agent Chris Shane and veteran agent Leslie Vann are called in to investigate, uncovering an intricate tangle of political and business interests. Scalzi’s characters possess tangible motivations and inhabit a thoroughly believable world, and the growing partnership between Shane and Vann is a pleasure to watch unfold. This powerful novel will intrigue and entertain both fans and newcomers.

March 1, 2015

After a pandemic sweeps the globe, there are millions of survivors left "locked in" to their bodies--fully aware but unable to control their physical selves. Technologies have been developed to help those sufferers, but it looks like someone used that technology to commit murder. As fascinating for its look at how a near-future society might deal with disability as for its twisty crime investigation. (LJ 7/14)

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from August 1, 2014
This tightly plotted, highly imaginative SF/mystery takes place about 25 years after a virus called Haden's syndrome left a small percentage of the world's population locked inside their own bodies, conscious and aware of their surroundings but unable to interact in any way. The protagonists are a couple of very unusual FBI agents. Leslie Vann used to be an Integrator, someone who would allow a Haden's patient to slip their consciousness inside her body (by way of a neutral network that could link the locked-in person with Vann's own mind); Chris Shane is a Haden's patient who, like many others, uses a threep a mechanical personal transport controlled remotely via a neural networkto interact with the world. Together they must solve a most tantalizing mystery: Who used the body of an Integrator to commit murder? Like Isaac Asimov, in his classic novels featuring human detective Elijah Baley and his robot partner R. Daneel Olivaw, Scalzi builds a complete world from the ground up, layering on top of it a captivating mystery that could only exist in a world like this one. Another brilliant novel from a writer who has quickly become one of the genre's most successful and intriguing practitioners.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2014

After the pandemic known as Haden's Syndrome sweeps the globe, millions of people are left in a "locked in" condition in which they are unable to control their own bodies, and must use technological aids that allow them to control their android shells. Chris Shane is a Haden, newly appointed to an FBI division that deals with crimes involving the Haden community. His first case involves a conspiracy that hinges on the very technology that Hadens use to escape their locked-in state. Scalzi (Redshirts; Old Man's War) explores a near future with his usual deft ear for politics and technology. He addresses the issues of disability without a heavy-handed agenda, and while the details of Haden's Syndrome sometimes get distributed in information dumps, readers will appreciate how much thought the author put into his imaginary disease. VERDICT Scalzi seems to enjoy pulling elements from the mystery and corporate thriller genres, although the novel's relatively short length means that things wrap up a little too quickly. There is also a companion novella, "Unlocked: An Oral History of Haden's Syndrome," which readers can find at Tor.com. [See Prepub Alert, 2/24/14.]

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.