Customer Reviews

Mirage (G K Hall Large Print Book Series)

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

 

 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I read about 100 pages of this book and gave up. I couldn't bring myself to sit down and read it, plus it had some inconsistencie with the memoryscape that drove me crazy. No thanks. Great idea, but not executed well.

While the plot moved along pretty well, the whole concept of this book just seemed too far out of the realm of possibility for me to enjoy it. The story is about a young woman who is in a coma and her identical twin sister who just happens to be working on a machine that lets one person enter the mind of another and view memories, kind of like strolling through a mall or a town and choosing what doors to go into. While they are linked together in the machine, others can view what is going on and videotape the memories being viewed. Really? I mean this is like something you might see on the Sci Fi channel on a Saturday night. The twins are daughters of twins and there is a twist at the end that I saw coming very early in the book. In fact, I saw it coming so early and it seemed to continue heading in that direction for so long that I would have been disapointed had it not happened. I actually think this was pretty well written but just did not suit my taste in the 'Could this really happen' department.

Mirage tells the story of Julie Gordon, a research scientist who, by means of virtual reality, has made great inroads into mapping human memory. Julie is forced by circumstances to delve into the memory of her twin sister Samantha, who is in a coma as a result of a mysterious bomb blast. Julie's trek into her sister's mind brings her closer to understanding both her estranged sister and the truth about a tragic event from their childhood. Messrs. Wilson and Costello deliver a solid piece of work, which will please fans of both authors.

First, let me begin by saying that I love almost everything written by F. Paul Wilson. He is consistantly good! With that being said, I wonder if co-author, Matthew Costello, didn't have too much to do with the authoring of this book because "Mirage" is probably my least favorite Wilson novel.

The premise (estranged twin sisters are reunited when one of them is stricken with a mysterious ailment sending her into a coma) is certainly interesting enough, but there was something about the flow of the book that just didn't cut it for this reviewer. Wilson and Costello stick the reader in the world of "memoryscaping" or linking with the mind of another human being in order to be able to experience the memories and experiences of that person. "Mirage" is definitely more sci-fi than medical thriller, no matter what it states on the front cover of the book.

I just couldn't get into a rhythm with this book. Much of it was spent inside the memory of the ailing twin sister and appeared to be something out of a cocaine-induced dream. Slightly too weird and disjointed for this reader. There are a few satisfying plot twists that keep it from being a total disaster, however.

Fans of Wilson should make their own evaluation of "Mirage". The book has received some very good reviews and will probably appeal to a number of people. In this humble reviewer's opinion, however, stick with almost anything else that the man writes and you won't be disappointed! 2 and 1/2 stars!

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