Customer Reviews

Body Electric

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Victoria Barnhardt has achieved her lifelong dream of creating a truly intellegent computer program, one capable of sensation, feeling, and independent thought. She names it for Jodie Foster, but is in for a surprise when Jodie turns out not to be female, as she intended, but male. Not only that, but her program rapidly takes off, growing in capacity and capability at an incredible pace. Unfortunately, this begins to cause her problems at work, as Jodie is starting to draw unwelcome attention from her corrupt bosses.

Vic loses her job, but is not done with Jodie, nor he with her. He contacts her, asking for a body; he has even selected one. It happens to belong to John Reston, a thorn in Vic's former bosses' collective sides, and someone she has secretly desired. Through incredible means, they are able to download the majority of Jodie into the brain dead man's mind. Now on the run, the two must fight to preserve not only their newly awakened love, but their existence.

***** A combination of two groundbreaking movies, TRON and STARMAN, this novel is itself taking on new frontiers. Ms. Squires, who improves with each book, has created a frightening possible, fascinating world that gives the reader much to think upon. Vic is a dynamic, realistic heroine, with troubles and who lives the cutting edge, stressed life of a modern career woman. Jodie combines innocence with masculinity in a most charming fashion. You have never read a romance like this one, but hopefully, there are more to come. *****

Reviewed by Amanda Killgore.

In a world of a not too distant future, Visimorph monopolizes the computer software industry by replacing all of the world's operating systems with PuppetMaster, a system that insures fat profits for owner Bob McIntire. Every time he issues an upgrade, customers must repurchase their current software or risk not being able to function in society. McIntire draws upon the greatest talents in the industry, including Vic Barhardt, a hacker he rescued from prison. Vic turns her gift for hacking into security systems impregnable against hackers like herself.

Using Visimorph resources, Vic creates program, a form of Artificial Intelligence, that she calls Jodie. Vic dreams of imbuing the program with the gifts of femininity without the cultural hassles. Vic feels uncomfortable with her own femininity, disguising her looks with asexual attire so that she might be taken seriously in the computer world. Only late at night in a dangerous world of anonymous sex does Vic indulge her feminine needs, and then only with a mask of leather and control.

Then late one night, a miracle occurs. The breath of life transforms Vic's code to a sentient being. As Jodie grows, the AI takes space on the latest Visimorph's server Neuromancer. Soon Jodie expands across other servers as well, including libraries, AT&T, even the IRS. But fragmentation brings about corruption in Jodie's programs. In addition, Jodie declares himself to be male. When McIntire comes to realize that Vic has been working on an AI, he makes plans to use the code for his own purpose.

Author Susan Squires plays marvelous word games in BODY ELECTRIC, drawing from classical literature and contemporary science fiction to create a dazzling world of possibility. The dangers suggested by Hal in 2001 A SPACE ODYESSY, echoes from Ray Bradbury or William Gibson remind readers of the dangers inherent in a highly technological society. But beyond the fight between the controllers of the world like Bob McIntire and everyman, Squires strikes at the heart of the challenges to women, from issues of femininity to the need to connect to someone. Vic, a woman of intelligence and beauty who denies her femininity, learns to treasure it when the mask is suddenly ripped away by events beyond her control. Jodie's struggle with emotion and a desire to become something "more" adds dynamic tension as well.

Rich in nuance, BODY ELECTRIC is one of those rare novels that readers may read for simple entertainment, or for much, much more as it explores questions of sentience, humanity, and self-identity. I confess to wishing BODY ELECTRIC had been on my graduate reading list rather than William Gibson, although Squires gives me a new appreciation for his novels! An electrifying novel that belongs on everyone's keeper shelf, BODY ELECTRIC earns the WordWeaving Award for Excellence.

Victoria (Vic) Barnhardt is a computer genius. So good, in fact, that her current employer, Bob McIntire--the CEO of the huge computer conglomerate Visimorph-had actually bailed her out of jail with the agreement that she'd design security programs for him that couldn't be hacked, even by talented hackers such as herself. Now Vic has started a project of her own-using Visimorph's vast resources. She's actually succeeded in creating Artificial Intelligence-her computer program, which she names Jodie-can actually think for itself. Vic is thrilled, she's made the breakthrough of a lifetime, but when Bob McIntire begins to get suspicious about what his genius hacker is spending all her time working on, and when Jodie begins to overtake some of Visimorphs other computer programs storage with it's voracious appetite for knowledge, she has to figure out a way to house Jodie outside of Visimorph, and in essence hide her discovery, before Bob can lay claim to her discovery.

Vic thought that she'd given her program, Jodie, everything it would need to be a successful female AI. Only Jodie has other ideas. After soaking up tons of info, Jodie has come to the conclusion that HE is male. Vic is devastated at first-how does it know? And how could it be male? Vic has struggled her whole life, in a male dominated world, in a world where her father thought less of her because she was female. Her opinion of males is low, to say the least. She struggles with a darker side of herself, a side that wants to exploit and use males for her needs, and then discard them. How could her huge success turn out to be a MALE?

When Jodie tells Vic that he needs a human body, Vic is stunned once again. While thrilled with her invention, she's almost scared of what she's created, for Jodie is a life force all his own. When a brain dead body is located, it just happens to be that of a male that Vic had found quite attractive. How can she resist Jodie's incredible mind and this wonderful body?

Breaking WAY out of the box with Body Electric, Susan Squires pulls off an incredible feat. She creates a heroine whom we feel incredible empathy for, but at times almost don't like, she's so tough. Vic is a product of her world, gritty and smart, and capable. I admire this character tremendously, and applaud Ms. Squires for the depth and characterization she put into Vic. Incredible. She made me want Jodie to be human, and understand Vic's emotional struggle with herself over Jodie. This is sure to be another hit under Susan Squires belt, for she's once again proven what inceredibly vast talent she has. Paranormal and Sci Fi readers alike-Don't miss this! You'll be stunned and thrilled with this wonderful read.

Better than Hollywood's version of AI, I hope this becomes a movie! It would be the BEST, or at least up there with LOTR Trilogy, I'd ever see in my lifetime. This book is 100 times better than the Matrix--it's what the Matrix should have been. I had never read this author before & found this book in a bargain bin at my local CVS drugstore for $2.50! Body Electric by Squires would easily be worth much more to me. I've been an avid, even voracious, reader ALL my life (40+ years so far) and this is THE BEST story I have ever read! That is an unbelievable accomplishment for I've read & re-read at least half a million books. I can not wait to devour the rest of Squire's novels.

I am a computer guru to everyone who knows me, and I'm overwhelmingly impressed with the research, imagination & credibility Susan Squires expertly, and SEAMLESSLY, compiled in "Body Electric". Believable even in its incredibility, Squires makes the impossible seem simple, this story reads like a secret conspiracy we can all believe is already happening, and she the brave whistle-blower. Every page flies by, can't put the book down, MUST know what happens next, then next, but towards the middle suddenly the pages slow down; not because they are boring but because one becomes aware of an urgent need to make this pleasure last, dreading the knowledge that the story WILL end though one wants to stay immersed in the story forever.

You've read the plot descriptions in the other reviews. Vic definitely has psychological issues--as do all humans--and is sexually imbalanced. The earlier reviewer mentions incest, as a mother-child dynamic, & missed the connection completely. Vic doesn't see Jodie as her child at all. Vic sees Jodie as her Creation, as one might imagine our Creator sees US! When adding Vic's sexual and identity problems to the mix, it is inevitable that they become lovers, since VIC HAS in effect CREATED her IDEAL MATE! Many modern women love adult men who AT TIMES seem childish, naive & innocent, without their relationship being compared to incest. Vic's real struggle is with her relationship as Jodie's Creator, knowing he started as a Computer Software Program, not the VERY HUMAN being he becomes. Vic relates to machines better than she ever could with humans, eventually this is what allows her to accept her love for Jodie and let go of her shame for being attracted to something essentially NON-Human. Vic struggles to define herself, and what exactly defines pure unsocialized gender, and humanity, throughout the novel. Just as in ALL of us there is a shadow side we don't much like, the same is true of the recognizably REAL Victoria. What we can't like in her character are those parts of ourselves we see in Vic, and reject just as she does.

Jodie is every woman's ideal man {except for that photographic memory perhaps?:=}, with the hard-soft combination all women secretly desire in their mate. Who wouldn't love a teachable man? Squires inserts much humor into her novel & I found myself moved on so many levels throughout, laughing, crying, afraid, angry, grinning, disgusted, hopeful. We fall in love with his character, we fear for him right along with Vic, and we fear for Vic as well, wondering along with her, "Just WHAT IS Jodie capable of? Is there any thing he can't do?" Jodie healed the hole in his skull, grew new bone, skin & hair in under 24 hours, by telling the body to do so, but the one thing he can't do is stop having Grand Mal Seizures. Determined to save him human brain from degenerating further & losing his chance at life, and maybe a future with Victoria, Jodie believes he can get back into the evil megalomaniac Trillionaire McIntire's Super Computer and restore his core program code, trapped behind a firewall Jodie and Vic created. But now that core program seems to have a life and will of its own, blocking access to everyone, including its Host or Creators!

This is one thrill ride a lucky reader will never forget! "Body Electric" is a definite KEEPER to be read again & again, each time as exciting as the first. Sexy without going into too much detail, intelligent, credible, moving, drama & action, funny, scary, the best in ANY class or genre. "Body Electric" is going to be a classic, and Squires the Creator of a whole new class of writing that raises the bar for all others, and spoils us for anyone else.

Ok, I have to start by saying that I really enjoy Ms. Squire's writing. Dangeld, Sacrament and now Body Electric are all interesting books with unusual twists and refreshing new ideas. This book crosses many genres and should appeal readers of all of them: sci fi, tech thriller, and romance. To start, this book goes into great depth about the computer industry. I have to assume whatever Ms. Squires is writing about is viable and true because I do not have a deep understanding of computers, programming, and other related fields.

Let me move on here to the characters. I had a real problem in the beginning of the story. Vic was just so far out there that I had no sympathy with her at all. It took a long time to drag me back around to appreciate her and even then, in the end, I am still not sure that this was accomplished. Jody on the other hand was an incredible character. Every scene he was in, he stole the show. I kept reading to see his character develop and mature.

My biggest problems come about with the relationship that grows between these two characters. It kept crossing my mind that Vic looks at this relationship as a mother/child one. (At least at first). That they get romantically involved, brings up some issues I was a little uncomfortable with. I have to say, if nothing else, this book is thought provoking. I enjoyed reading it... Star Trek meets Free Jack.

I have to say computer concepts are beyond me, but the idea is fascinating. Artificial Intelligence - AI. Ever saved a document and forgotten the title? Imagine this on a grander scale... Vic has created and saved her AI program on her work computer at Vismorph because it has the space and speed required to both build and run her AI program she has named Jodie. Only now she has been fired, and has to save Jodie from getting altered or worse exploited. At the same time Jodie is shuffling around its primary computer components and creating a firewall around the original program in the Vismorph mainframe trying to keep Vic's ex-boss out; while Jodie doesn't understand emotions really it wants a body to be human. Vic only wants to protect her program so after jumping from a burner why not jump into a fire? Because there is no tuning back and if they don't do something quickly, Vic might loose her precious program. Jodie may be a program, but because Vic has designed Jodie to be "perfect" she finds herself attracted to Jodie on all levels.

I will admit I was skeptical. I picked this book up because I was curious how a program could gain life and Ms Squires has created a phenomenal science fiction romance in BODY ELECTRIC. Vic is a lonely, very single computer driven woman who dresses like a man to compete in a male dominated field. When she lets herself be a woman, it is in a disguise and because she has to be in control generally gets hurt. Jodie was supposed to be the woman she wasn't minus the emotional hang-ups, but Jodie decided that rather than being female, the program was male. I loved the way Jodie just took off and grew, but regarding AI, I would have been disappointed in anything else. Reading how Vic was having a hard time fathoming the knowledge Jodie obtained so quickly was funny! Vic also ended up reuniting with her estranged brother because of Jodie, and I hope it is a permanent mend. BODY ELECTRIC seems so cutting edge with computer lingo (that I don't understand but doesn't detract from the story to much), especially where Vic is trying to finish her AI program and then again with the whole idea of Jodie trying to gain a human body. I can only imagine this it is from research and ingenuity. The story line is action packed and I wasn't able to put the book down. If you are looking for something different, this is a must read!

This was totally new ground for me, so it was weird & a real challenge. Sometimes I had to just read right on thru stuff in order to not take too long trying to understand some of the computer talk! lol Somehow though, that did not detracted from the story. I'm usually not into SciFi at all, but I'm really glad I took another reader's suggestion & tried this one. It was definitely suspenseful & fast paced. Ms. Squires did a great job of keeping me guessing how things could possibly be resolved & totally surprised me with the way several things rounded out. She also described scenes in a manner that gave me great visuals. (I'm not sure I could enjoy a movie made from it cause I already have every character's picture & voice in my mind!) I'll admit that a couple of scenes near the end of the book were a bit too descriptive for me, but I was able to skim over them, get the basis of what was going on, & not let it ruin the story for me. It had good secondary characters that really added to the story line, were necessary to the whole, & helped bring everything to it's conclusion. The only reason I gave this 4 stars instead of 5 was the heroine, Vic; I never got a convincing reason for her hostility towards her femininity, nor her self-destructive lifestyle. It kind of turned me off towards her. I do understand that a person's past can shape their personality, I've seen situations where it's understandable - I just didn't understand Vic's reasons. However, Ms. Squires did save me from being totally disgusted with Vic by not having her turn that hostility on Jodie; With him, at least, she was decent. That part aside, this was really a great read. I would definitely recommend it & will be putting it on my keepers shelf. Happy Reading!

This is my second or third book by Squires, and it almost ended up in my 'Bad Buy to Dump' pile. For me, there are 3 things that make a book enjoyable -

1. Plot
2. Characters (& their interaction)
3. Style of Writing.

The Plot was very original and highly enjoyable - Refreshing!
The Style of writing Flowed - no complaints there.
The characters were well thought out and I must admit that I truly enjoyed the hero Jodie. The evolution from innocent to maturity was well done - there are still hints of innocence even at the end. An incomprehension of the evil in man. (Re:Starman) The heroine Vic however in the first couple of chapters failed to gain my sympathy - I truly wanted to slap her out of her self-destructive ways.
Hence I almost, almost tossed the book, but my first glimpse of Jodie saved the day. He intrigued me... like an unfinished sentence... an unanswered question.

So grind your teeth and read on. Jodie is well worth it and Vic learns the value of what she has.

4.5 Stars

If this book was in techo-thriller category it would not cause as much fuss, as it is more in the Robin Cook-Michael Crichton vein than true romance. I have always held that the romance genre is a misnomer, that there is NO genre outside of publishing's mind, because romance is all genres - horror, historical, western, mysteries, suspense and comedy...name a catagory and there is a writer in the romance field doing it and doing it well. And Susan Squires is out to prove that point with a vengeance!!

Squires is a super writer, she challenges the reader, pushes buttons and makes you think. But at times, I get really really angry at her characters (LOL)!! This book is a stroke of near genius, but it is very hard to connect with Vic...the emotional tie you need to your main character is lacking. At times, not only is there no empathy, you really do not like Vic. It is that lack that causes this work to just miss mark. She is a graphic writers (some readers complain TOO graphic - if that is the case then don't read her). She pulls no punches, gives the reader no pleasant safety net. She writes with a confidence that is way beyond someone with just a third book and is a name that will be around.

By Timeless Tales reviewer Briana Lambert

Vic Barnhardt is a rarity. A female former hacker, she is a shining star at Visimorph, a computer company that controls the market with a worldwide monopoly. The company's ethics are at question since they release upgrades and products that force the consumer to buy more products and hardware so that their computers will run.

Vic feels like she has found her niche in the company when the CEO, Bob McIntyre, bails her out of jail and the hacker is installed as an employee of the most influential computer corporation in the world. Vic creates a nearly unhackable computer system for the company but is otherwise unfulfilled by her work there. Vic feels unsettled in such a male dominated company and prefers to mask her very female traits by tucking her long hair under her shirts and wearing no makeup. At night, the wild woman in her comes out when she dresses to impress in leather and frequents some of the seedier nightclubs.

As Vic finds some of her work at Visimorph unchallenging, she begins to spend later and later hours on her special pet project, an AI she names Jodie, after Jodie Foster. Vic feels that she can right the wrongs of the male dominated workforce as well as her own family's hang-ups about femininity through Jodie. She hopes that it will open the doors for females of a technological bent to find their way into major corporations without the prejudice she has faced both as a hacker and in the workforce.

Jodie slowly begins to come to life before Vic's astounded eyes. As she gets to know her creation, Vic is amazed to see Jodie's personality and independence as such strong forces. When Jodie announces to her that he is male instead of female, Vic is shocked and tries to understand. Jodie's gender is soon the least of their problems. As Jodie has grown and assimilated information, the computing power needed and the space for storage has grown exponentially, and now Bob McIntryre is suspicious of Vic and her motives.

Vic and Jodie continue to grow closer as Jodie comes into his own. Curiosity about the senses abound and Vic tries to sate those by voice recognition software and video cameras but some senses must remain a mystery. How can she teach a computer program how to touch? As Jodie reaches out more and more to Vic as a friend, she begins to struggle with the moral implications of Jodie's longing for a physical state.

Soon, Bob McIntyre knows that Vic is hiding something. This influential billionaire will stop at nothing to get Vic's secret from her. As the net tightens around both Vic and Jodie, Bob's true personality begins to show itself. Can Vic find a way to free Jodie from the prison of his existence? Can Jodie help Vic to become more feminine and learn to love?

Body Electric is a blockbuster release that transcends genres. A perfect meld of techno thriller, science fiction and romance, Ms. Squires has created a release that redefines the genre and raises the bar of science fiction romance. Do you like Catherine Asaro's books? If so, you will love Body Electric! Readers will respect the technical intricacies of the story while never losing sight of a romance that transcends all boundaries. Ms. Squires is a visionary in the realm of science fiction romance and 'Body Electric' is a masterpiece!