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Strange Flesh: A NovelMichael Olson
Simon & Schuster, April 2012
ISBN: 978-1451627572
THIS IS A STORY ABOUT SEX AND GAMES.
Strange Flesh--the debut thriller by Michael Olson--opens with a woman’s suicide, one that’s as intricate as it is horrific. This opening sets a dark, ominous tone that carries throughout the novel.
Computer security expert James Pryce is hired by ex-lover Blythe Randall and her twin brother, Blake, to track down their younger half-brother, Billy, missing since recording his own apparent self-electrocution.
James follows Billy’s trail to a Lower East Side high-tech artists’ collective, gaining the trust of techies who’ve created the next iteration of virtual sex. James is tasked with infiltrating Billy’s playground: GAME, a high-tech artists’ colony whose home base is a virtual-reality simulation called NOD.
The question of what’s real and what isn’t is an interesting dynamic that takes another form in the novel with Billy’s virtual game, which requires participants to reenact scenes from 120 Days of Sodom. The most persistent of gamers take the game to the real world, where they’re asked to perform cruel and dangerous activities outside of the computer.
Watching Pryce use his hacker skills to track down Billy tempers much of the horror of Strange Flesh and makes for some fun and exciting moments. The sex and violence in Strange Flesh obviously play a key role here, but they serve to showcase how thin the line between anonymous computer use and the real world really is.
Michael Olson balances sex and violence, excitement and horror, to create a thrilling debut. Strange Flesh is a well-written thriller with plenty of mystery; disturbing imagery adds powerful tension; exciting computer hacking scenes; sex scenes add a sense of fun to an otherwise dark novel. Perhaps not for the faint of heart, Strange Flesh should be a welcome addition to those who enjoy hacker noir. Highly Recommended.
MICHAEL OLSON a Harvard graduate, worked in investment banking and software engineering before taking a master’s degree from NYU’s Interactive Technology Program, where he designed a locomotion interface for virtual environments. strangeflesh.net
ISBN: 978-1451627572; ISBN10: 1451627572; Imprint: Simon & Schuster; On Sale: 4/3/2012; Format: Hardcover; Pages: 416; $25.00
