The Pixel Eye (Phil D'Amato) [Hardcover]

Paul Levinson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2, 2003

The future is always shaped by the present.

New York City, the next decade: terrorism is more threatening than ever; skyscrapers are a cherished, defiant statement; underground concourses have multiplied because of the sense of security they provide; law enforcement and civil liberties groups clash over the proper boundary between public safety and personal freedom. That's the tenor of the times when NYPD forensic detective Dr. Phil D'Amato is called in to investigate an urgent case--squirrels missing from Central Park!

It sounded like a joke, but Phil soon discovers it's anything but. A new telecom technology can put implants into the brains of living squirrels to translate what they are seeing into computer-viewable images. But who's behind this surveillance breakthrough? Federal agencies or terrorists?

Phil's latest adventure pits personal loyalties against public responsibilities, privacy against freedom, security against animal rights, all against a backdrop of a near-future, post-9/11 New York City that is completely recognizable, even with its new generation of advanced cellular phones, free-standing holograms, tunneling technologies, transport systems, and forensic computers. The Pixel Eye offers a vision of a future we may all soon be living in.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this breezily chilling story, Levinson's latest near-future SF thriller to feature NYPD forensic detective Dr. Phil D'Amato (after 2002's The Consciousness Plague), D'Amato gets sucked into the Department of Homeland Security's national war on terror after he starts investigating missing and drugged squirrels in Central Park. In an attempt to gather information as unobtrusively as possible, research into using squirrels and hamsters as recording devices is underway at labs across the country. Yet if recording devices can be implanted in animals, can't they also be used as bombs? And if so, how do you stop, say, a squirrel bomber when you don't know if any of the squirrels is actually wired to explode-and even if you know one is, how do you identify it? These are the questions on D'Amato's mind as he races from New York to Boston to exciting Wilmington, Del., attempting to put the pieces together before catastrophe strikes. If the characters aren't all that three-dimensional, well, maybe that's a good thing. In this age of heightened security, the thought of keeping an eye out for suspicious-looking rodents is enough to send a shiver down most readers' spines.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"The nuttiness of the premise and the grittiness of the near-future New York ambiance are equally appealing." --The New York Times

"Long time readers of science fiction should consider him [Levinson] their first choice when it comes to spreading the word of sf." --SF Revu

"The Pixel Eye is a thoroughly enjoyable book, extremely readable, and brave in confronting the consequences of September 11." --SF Weekly

"Levinson's latest novel featuring the resourceful and wise-cracking D'Amato delivers another satisfying mix of hard sf intrigue and detective story set against a 21st-century New York City."--Library Journal

"breezily chilling story" --Publisher's Weekly --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; First Edition edition (August 2, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765305569
• ISBN-13: 978-0765305565
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,273,261 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

My novel The Silk Code won the 2000 Locus Award for Best First Novel. I've since published Borrowed Tides (2001),The Consciousness Plague (2002), and The Pixel Eye (2003). The Plot To Save Socrates published in 2006 - Entertainment Weekly called it "challenging fun". My science fiction and mystery short stories have been nominated for Nebula, Hugo, Edgar, and Sturgeon Awards. Nine nonfiction books, including The Soft Edge (1997), Digital McLuhan (1999), Realspace (2003), Cellphone (2004), and New New Media (2009) have been the subject of major articles in the New York Times, Wired, the Christian Science Monitor, and have been translated into Chinese, Japanese, and eight other languages. I appear from time to time on "The O'Reilly Factor," "The CBS Evening News," "Nightline," "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer," and other TV and radio programs - I like talking just as much as writing. I'm also a songwriter, and have been in several bands over the years - one had two records out on Atlantic Records in 1960s. My 1972 album Twice Upon a Rhyme (on HappySad Records) was re-issued on CD by Beatball/Big Pink Records in 2009, and on re-pressed vinyl by Whiplash/Sound of Salvation Records in 2010. I was listed in The Chronicle of Higher Education's "Top 10 Academic Twitterers" in 2009. And last but not least: I'm Professor of Communication & Media Studies at Fordham University in New York City.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars D'Amato on the Job, March 28, 2004

By 

Jack McDevitt (Brunswick, GA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Pixel Eye (Phil D'Amato) (Hardcover)

Paul Levinson's very human forensic detective, Phil D'Amato, is on his way to becoming one of the more memorable characters in detective fiction. This one puts Phil squarely in the path of a nightmare scenario which, one can only hope, is still a long way off. Watching him maneuver in, under, and around is pure joy.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing, August 5, 2003

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Pixel Eye (Phil D'Amato) (Hardcover)

The NYC Parks Commissioner reported that squirrels seem to have vanished from popular locales like Central Park, Prospect Park, and Van Cortlandt Park. Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Jack Dugan, not willing to ignore anything since 9/11, assigns NYPD forensic detective Phil D'Amato to investigate. Phil interviews park workers who insist there is a dramatic drop in population without a rise in corpses. The cop also visits a few parks, but sees nothing out of the ordinary. He wonders if perhaps it is like the 1980s restaurant case involving cats as chicken.

However, Phil soon learns that serendipitous research into using squirrels and hamsters as recording devices is underway at labs across the country. He becomes concerned that if rodents can be used as recorders, can they also be used as terrorist bombs? Perhaps it is part of the post WTC syndrome, but a panicky Phil begins a search of the eastern seaboard in an attempt to insure squirrel-carrying bombardiers don't lead to WTC II.

THE PIXEL EYE is a frightening scenario as Paul Levinson makes a strong case that nothing is safe in a world in which personal values push a cause as more important than people are. The story line may sound satirical and inane, but is far from it as the audience will quickly become as convinced as the hero that this squirrely technology can happen. Though the characters except for Phil are never fully developed, readers will be extra careful before feeding the birds and other creatures as that animal might prove to be the one that bites the hand that feeds it.

Harriet Klausner

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars best D'Amato yet!, October 27, 2003

By 

Charles Steinitz - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Pixel Eye (Phil D'Amato) (Hardcover)

Lean, mean, and funny. This mystery/sci-fi concoction got it just right -- had me page-turning, chilled, laughing, contemplative about our future, all at the same time. And the New York City ambience is top-drawer. I could feel the energy of the city -- the music, the traffic, the crush -- on lots of pages (I've been to NYC many times, and love it). Eagerly looking forward to Levinson's next.