Level 26: Dark Origins [Hardcover]

Anthony E. Zuiker (Author), Duane Swierczynski (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 8, 2009

Unabridged CDs • 7 CDs, 9 hours

A revolutionary, cross- platform, immersive storytelling experience centered on a series of crime thrillers from the visionary creator of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Unlock a new level of fear

It is well known among law enforcement personnel that murderers can be categorized on a scale of twenty- five levels of evil, from the naive opportunists starting out at Level 1 to the organized, premeditated torture- murderers who inhabit Level 25.

What almost no one knows—except for the elite unnamed investigations group assigned to hunt down the world’s most dangerous killers, a group of men and women accounted for in no official ledger, headed by the brilliant but reluctant operative Steve Dark—is that a new category of killer is in the process of being defined.

Only one man belongs to this group.

His targets: Anyone
His methods:Unlimited
His alias: Sqweegel
His classification: Level 26

Dear Reader,

Welcome to the Dark side.

The first television script I ever wrote was CSI. Almost overnight, the CSI franchise surpassed my wildest dreams and became a cultural phenomenon. And now, I am extremely pleased to announce my next project, Level 26: Dark Origins. Level 26 takes the best features of books, film, and interactive digital technologies and rolls them all into a unique storytelling experience we’re calling the world’s first “Digi-Novel™.”

Level 26: Dark Origins features Steve Dark, the ultimate crime scene tactician on the tail of a killer so brutal law enforcement has invented a new classification of evil to account for him. Dark Origins can be read on the beach or on an airplane without any digital access . . . but where the traditional story ends, a deeper level of immersion is available at www.level26.com, exclusively to readers of the book. About every twenty pages, you will have the option of logging in to experience a digital cyber-bridge—a three-minute motion picture scene with A-list actors you might’ve seen in blockbuster films and award winning TV shows. Before your eyes, the characters will spring to life, crime scene details will explode off the screen, and the Web site might even ask for a phone number—where the killer can reach you directly. You might call it CSI with an edge.

Level 26 is not just something you read. It’s an experience. Read, watch, log in. Enjoy!

Anthony E. Zuiker

From Publishers Weekly

CSI creator Zuiker teams with Swierczynski (Severance Package) to create what's billed as the world's first digi-novel, involving a seriously weird serial killer and the tortured FBI investigator who's forced to hunt him down. There's nothing really new about the basic concept, but Swierczynski handles the writing with assurance and verve. The killer, known as Sqweegel, is a psychopath who has shot, raped, maimed, poisoned, burned, strangled, and tortured upwards of fifty people in six countries over a span of more than twenty years. The investigator, Steve Dark, lives a quiet life with his beloved, pregnant wife, in Malibu, Calif. The digital concept kicks in every 20 pages or so when the reader is referred to a Web site containing 20 two- to three-minute professionally made film clips that bridge the action from one section to another. It's a bit like watching the extras on a DVD—fun, but not really necessary to the main event. 200,000 first printing.(Sept.)
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Adult (September 8, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525951253
• ISBN-13: 978-0525951254
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (101 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #94,314 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting concept that is damaged by a less-than-stellar plot..., September 27, 2009

By 

Thomas Duff "Duffbert" (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Level 26: Dark Origins (Hardcover)

Interesting concept, but a plot that left much to be desired... Level 26: Dark Origins by Anthony E. Zuiker and Duane Swierczynski. This book showed up at the local library, and the concept was enough to draw me in... The book is termed a "digi-novel", in that there are a number of website video vignettes that are supposed to add to the overall story. For instance, an international conference call is held to update the status on finding the killer. The web-based video shows the actual call as the author envisioned it. You can read the story without referencing the website at all, but it's supposed to add to the overall experience.

That's the "interesting concept" part of the book. The story itself is grotesque crime horror, but leaves quite a bit to be desired. Murderers are assigned a classification level based on the types of killers and their motivation. The high-end of this scale is level 25. But as the title would indicate, there's one killer who is more evil and horrific than any other in history, hence the level 26 classification. Many over the years have gone after this killer, nicknamed "Squweegel", but only one has come close... Steve Dark. But Dark lost his foster family to Squweegel in a particular nasty killing, so he's out of the picture. That is, until the secret government unit assigned to tracking down killers coerces him back into the game. Dark is pretty sure he's not going to cave into their demand, but Squweegel has different ideas. A few well-timed incidents proves to Dark that Squweegel is again after him, and Dark has no choice but to go back on offense to protect all that he's gained since his life was nearly destroyed the first time.

First off, a warning... If you don't like gruesome explicit violence, pass on this. It's graphic. With that out of the way, there are other reasons you may not want to read it. For instance, the plot has enough holes to drive a truck through. I never did learn *why* Squweegel had the mission and motivation he had for killing those he targeted. Childhood trauma? Who knows... if it was out there, I missed it. Next, there's no clue as to where Squweegel gets his money to support his crime habit over the years. He's able to go wherever he wants, plant electronic devices all over the place, monitor them 24/7, but how? And this dark agency that hunts down the killer... If someone fails on their mission or turns down an assignment, the head of the agency has him killed... say what? And the videos? Some are OK, but a few border on overly-ripe cheezy. Those issues, and a few others, made it difficult for me to really *like* the book. Yes, I did finish it in less than a day, as I wanted to know how it turned out. But did it have a compelling story and plot? Not so much...

Bonus star for the guts and effort to try something different. But it's not enough to bail out a plot that would be better suited for a 45 minute episode of a weekly crime series, not a full-length novel.

39 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A Major Disappointment, October 31, 2009

By 

CajunRazorback (Hot Springs, AR USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Level 26: Dark Origins (Hardcover)

This book was disappointing on several levels. First, it should be advertised as "produced by Anthony E. Zuiker" as it appears that the actual author is Duane Swierczynski. Mr Zuiker seems to be cashing in some of his TV credibility based on the success of the CSI franchise to create some sort of social networking site based on a series of books, this being the "pilot". Sorry Mr. Zuiker: after my initial order of one episode, you are on the cancellation list. As other reviewers have noted, following the links provided in the books to see the interactive/internet portions of the novel is not a simple matter of typing the address into your browser and going right to the material. You have to register with a valid e-mail address, and even then you aren't given access to the material: you have to join their community. Appears to be a marketing data mining effort.

Second, in my opinion, the book isn't well written. The 406-page book is chopped up into 107 chapters! Great for readers with attention deficit syndrome, I guess, but not so good for character and plot development (there was none). The main character, the serial killer nicknamed Sweegel isn't believable at all and you really learn nothing about the character that would explain his financial independence, technological expertise, or the reason behind his God-complex killing spree. You are asked to believe that this fellow jets around the world killing people with ease, physically overpowering and out-maneuvering victims and special agents alike, planting technologically advanced monitoring devices within the most elite government agencies, and physically fitting into and out of spaces and situations with ease, all while being described as an "emaciated, ghost-thin man" and "a five-foot, six-inch, 126-pound stick bug". There really is no mystery to solve; the reader just follows the run of the narrative that takes us through his killing spree based on some sort of competition with the hero Steve Dark. In stereotypical fashion, the hero is forced to deal with tragedy and loss while battling not only the serial killer, but the evil high-ranking government official who routinely orders the deaths of anyone that fails an assignment or displeases him. Gosh, a Secretary of Defense that uses the Vice-President's plane, has a secret team of government assassins at his beck and call and is overbearingly ruthless and evil - was Jon Stewart consulted on this?

Third, the book was poorly researched and edited. There are so many holes in the book that just defy common sense and mistakes that could have been easily corrected if ANYONE had bothered to review and check the material. The one that was the most glaring to me was the sequence in the United Methodist Church and the subsequent deaths of the "priests". The Methodist Church has ministers and pastors, not priests; I'll leave it at that. Another reviewer has done an excellent job of pointing these mistakes out.

Something non-related to the book also bothers me. On another site, there have been numerous over-the-top positive reviews in the reader/member review section that make me wonder if the reviews are not being salted by people associated with the book and site. Here is one example of a "member" review I found:

>>The story is not gorey but plays on your own imagination instead. It gives you just enough details to set your mind off on picturing for yourself what happened. The suspense, the story, the cyber-bridges, forum, and website all contribute to this not-to-be-missed edge-of-your-seat page-turner! Beware: you may want to read it near a computer so you can easily jump on to watch the video clips, but it IS NOT NECESSARY to watch the cyber-bridges in order to enjoy this book! They are meant to enhance the experience, not 'complete' it! But is strongly recommended that you partake :) (yes, there will be questions at the end of the book....book 2 is coming in 2010 and book 3 in 2011, so expect a cliffhanger and don't let that distract you from enjoying!)<<

Hmmmm, how would a regular reader know the rollout schedule of Book 2 and Book 3?

38 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars If The Hardy Boys Were Former Alcoholics and Chasing Murderers..., September 14, 2009

By 

J. R. Borntrager "<--- Likes ramen" (MN) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Level 26: Dark Origins (Hardcover)

Allow me to start by saying two very crucial things: The first being, I will be spoiling parts of the so-called "plot". The second being, I am very tired and sleep deprived from working all night (god bless 3rd shift), BUT LET IT BE KNOWN MY HATRED OF THIS BOOK OUTWEIGHS MY NEED OF SLEEP.

*SPOILERS AHEAD* (I'm saying it twice to be thorough)

*ahem*

So, to start-I REALLY wanted to like this book. To such an extent, I was telling family and friends about it's upcoming release. The story sounded awesome and the online media seemed to be a swell idea. NOW, I have to apologize to every person I hyped the book to (my bad), because it is a far cry from what I expected.

For starters- let's examine the biggest cliche in the book: OUR MAIN CHARACTER. Steve Dark, a (former) "special" agent who loses it all, goes mildly insane, goes rogue, battles booze, blah,blah,blah...Can I be the first to say, Mr. Zuiker might as well have called him Doomy McDoom n' Gloom? Seriously, everything about Steve Dark made me hate him, even his name. Why? Because this type of character has appeared in stories of this genre for YEARS. (Max Payne?) The tortured soul, we get it. It's overdone. And to make matters worse, he's the only agent who ever got close to catching the villain a few years ago, nobody else in the present day wants to attempt catching him, and they pull the "nobody-else-will-do-it-Steve,-please-come-out-of-retirement-and-alcoholism-and-find-the-killer" card.

Next, we have the relationship between the killer (I'd spell his name but for the life of me can't remember how-oh well), Schqweguall and Dark. Have you ever heard the term Cat and Mouse? Good. Well, let's take that term, and BEAT IT TO DEATH WITH A RUBBER MALLET. Seriously, Dark is always one step behind, and Sasquatch is always two steps ahead with impossible technology, Cirque De Soleil escapes, and a knack for tacky buisness attire. After SO MANY PAGES of Swiffer escaping or evading or whatever he does, it got old. And of course, Dark LOSES HIS MIND AND SELF-ESTEEM (sort of).

*Plot spoliers! WOO!* You ever see the movie Seven? Oh, you didn't? Well-there's a killer goin around (played by the wonderful Kevin Spacey) and he's murdering people based off...the seven deadly sins! GREAT MOVIE (but that's a review for another day). Well, not to be outdone by such genius ideas, Mr. Zuiker takes it upon himself to have the killer have his artwork framed upon the 7 Virtues...I'll let that soak in. And in case you're wondering, the murders/crimes/etc... are very LOOSELY based on them. I understand, nearly every idea under the sun has been done, but this was inexcusable. Did he think we forgot that movie was ever around? THE ENDING IS THE SAME FOR CRYING OUT LOUD (save a few minor differences...and I mean VERY MINOR),

HA! Speaking of me spoiling plot (this will be humorous, because I'm spoiling Zuiker's plot spoiler!), I want to take a moment to mention, if you are writing a book and have a HUGE plot twist NOBODY is gonna see coming *clears throat* DON'T FRIGGIN' HINT TOWARDS IT IN THE FIRST FIFTY PAGES! Seriously, I nearly threw the book across the room when I read a certain line in the first portion of the book. *SPOILER* When it is hinted that Smiegel impregnated Dark's wife, I was OUTRAGED. Why? Because that was such an AWESOME twist, no matter the outcome, but he used it so dang early in the book! Had that occurred later on, say two-thirds of the way through, I would have been FLOORED. But, Mr. Zuiker thinks this is an episode of CSI and all cards have to be on the table in forty minutes before the last commericial break.

The Internet videos...what can I say? They were kinda creepy at first, but about five videos into the story, they progressively get worse and worse and OH MY GOD THEY GET WORSE. (Note-when I say worse, I don't mean gruesome or graphic. I mean, the acting is bad. The graphics are cheesy. And if you can't do it right, don't do it.) BUT, the first few videos are cool...so, I guess that's good right?

Okay, now to the main heart of my blood curdling scream of an argument against this book: the idea of content vs. writing style. When I spotted this book on amazon a few weeks before it's release, it seemed like a fairly adult book. I wasn't expecting something TOO difficult to read, but I was expecting at the very least, a challenge. Let me put it this way- it is a very accessible book. The reading is very easy- 12 to 13 year olds could read this (god forbid). HOWEVER, my complaint is that the content of the book is very adult. So, you have a writing style that doesn't mesh with the content. (As my title states-) If the Hardy Boys were former alcoholics and chasing murderers, THIS WOULD BE THEIR BOOK. I felt confused. Is this intended for adults or kids? If it's adults-fix your dialogue, up the ante when it comes to vocabulary, and make it longer. If it's kids, take out the scene with three teenage boys and make Dark wear a leather jacket.

Overall, this book failed to meet any expectations I had. I wanted to like it so badly, but it's like the author had a bunch of "yes-men" telling him he's a literary genius...there are so many things wrong with this book, and trust me, if I could write another fifteen paragraphs, I would. BUT, I'm tired and Amazon won't let me.

The saddest part about the whole darn thing, Zuiker's coming out with two other books in this series, and I'll still buy them, read them, (probably) hate them, and return them two days later. Because I, much like Steve Dark, have a knack for torturing myself.