Mirage

Rating:
Summary: Weird!
Review: Excellent idea but stretched a little too far. The basic premise, simulation of a person's psyche on computer, is tantalising. I felt the characterisations were believable but the various twists and turns were too predictable and seemed to be deliberately laboured. I reckon the book is 2 chapters too long and would have benefited from a hard-nosed editor demanding more pace, less self-indulgent self-analysis.

Rating:
Summary: A Bit too long
Review: Excellent idea but stretched a little too far. The basic premise, simulation of a person's psyche on computer, is tantalising. I felt the characterisations were believable but the various twists and turns were too predictable and seemed to be deliberately laboured. I reckon the book is 2 chapters too long and would have benefited from a hard-nosed editor demanding more pace, less self-indulgent self-analysis.

Rating:
Summary: A must for any sci-fi, mystery, or horror fan.
Review: F. Paul Wilson and Matthew Costello take you on an unbelievable journey through the human psyche. When nuerophysiologist Julie Gordon learns that her estranged twin sister has fallen into a coma Julie travels albeit unwillingly to her side. Once Julie is there she realizes her chance to try an experimental virtual reality scanner she devoloped. Against the wishes of her partner in the development of the machine Julie travels on a risky journey through her sister's subconscious mind. What truths come to Julie through these episodes bring a frightening revelation to Julie and a truth about the lives of her entire family. Mystery, horror, and mix of sci-fi will keep you reading through the twists and turns of this well written, emotionally draining tale of family secrets. An excellent read.

Rating:
Summary: GREAT FICTION to top Critchton
Review: I've known and hunt for the books of the two great authors of this book, but havent come to see any of em on the bookstores that i frequent. I havent read any of their individual works before since i cant find em, but have read about their particular novels that captured my attention. It turned out I get to stumble upon this book and seeing that these two coveted authors have collaborated, it blows my top off, so needless to say I bought it - and just as i presumed , these two authors are excellent writers.

I first get to hear about F. Paul Wilson as the then-anonymous author for his medical thriller THE SELECT, and all along I've known of Costello for his novel SEE HOW SHE RUNS. It turned out that he is now well known for having created the bestselling CD-ROM Interactive drama called THE 7TH GUEST.

This book however is a surefire winner by combining two of these great authors' capabilities to compose great story scenarios of thrills within a novel not only in plot, but in the way they delivered the story for the readers; this is one of those books that you'd indeed find hard to put down once you started reading it, so much similar with that other book I've reviewed here at Amazon called THE BIG PICTURE.

The plot involves a total opposite of twins, who are both raised by their uncle as told in the storyline; the other, Samantha, ar erratic yet great paint artist went on a comatrose for no tracable reason that baffled every doctor - and it turned that her only option of hope for who could help her is the most unlikely person - her twin Julie, a proffessional in the field of scientifical research program that she turned out, and have developed a virual reality machine that could penetrate through the brain's cargo of memories she called as Memorycape.

Part THE LAWNMOWER MAN but with an added touch of a little similarity to Critchton's fictional concepts - this novel stands on it own competitively amongst those well known fictions. The twists are as fascinating as any of the great thrillers in the field of science fiction and crime genre. "The Matrioshka dolls images" that Julie would often see in her twins memoryscapes serves to hold all of the clues into what answer lies in the mystery that this novel would unfold... if you could solve it by the hint, well it would be a better idea to give yourself the treat of reading this book. It's a great adventurous read for the sci-fi/crime/thriller fiction novel genre.

Definitely one of the best,

"A WONDERFULLY INVENTIVE, ENGROSSING, THOROUGHLY TWISTED PIECE OF WORK... I LOVED IT." ~~Peter Straub

"WILL KEEP YOU TURNING THE PAGES" ~~Rocky Mountain News

Rating:
Summary: Science Fiction Thread Fabulously Enrichens Classic Mystery
Review: It's rare to find science fiction laced mysteries where the sci fi content doesn't overpower or mask the value of the underlying mystery like jalapeños on hollandaise. "Mirage" is one of those rare exceptions. Too often, sci fi novels deliver zero character development, employ metaphors only a geek would understand and appeal only to cultists. Not so here! "Mirage" is a great read, a very good mystery with character, imagination and excellent suspense that would retain its value if all the fictional technology were to be replaced by more conventional discovery mechanisms. Suspending disbelief as one enters this engrossing novel, the cleverly and progressively disclosed mystery captures the imagination. Popularly pausable -- but palpably fictional -- technology is used as the primary illumination technique to draw the reader ever deeper into a hidden world of growing suspense. In the reader's mind, the authors' sci fi metaphors for human memory can construct a fantastically rich tapestry of images. Bravo! Early on, the characters in the story feel flat and uni-dimensional, crafted with copious conceptual cliches. But as the entire novel slowly discloses the character of the three main players, it is the character of the players -- and the ways in which the authors illuminate their character -- that form the heart of the story

Rating:
Summary: An exciting journey into human memory using virtual reality
Review: Mirage reminds me of American network television-- it is slick and exciting but in order to enjoy it you must be able to overlook cliched characterizations, substandard writing quality, and predictable outcomes. However, the pace is quick, the mystery is intriguing, and the idea of exploring the human "memoryscape" with virtual reality software is fascinating enough to a computer geek like me to make the book worthwhile airplane reading.

Rating:
Summary: Weird!
Review: This book wasn't too bad, but it was strange. The descriptions of Sam's memoryscape were a little too wordy at times, but I did enjoy this book. I do recommend it but, if you want to read a real page-turner by F. Paul Wilson then get The Select.

Rating:
Summary: Great Story
Review: This is more of a sci-fi book than a medical thriller, as advertised, for which I am very grateful. If it had been labeled a sci-fi thriller, I probably wouldn't have picked it up and would have missed out on a very good story. The idea of exploring a person's memory with virtual reality is fascinating. Wilson and Costello have combined to make this a believable premise. The characterizations were wonderful and the suspense unrelenting.

Rating:
Summary: Great Story
Review: This is more of a sci-fi book than a medical thriller, as advertised, for which I am very grateful. If it had been labeled a sci-fi thriller, I probably wouldn't have picked it up and would have missed out on a very good story. The idea of exploring a person's memory with virtual reality is fascinating. Wilson and Costello have combined to make this a believable premise. The characterizations were wonderful and the suspense unrelenting.