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Virtual Strangers (Love and murder in cyberspace) [Kindle Edition]

Ola Zaltin , Susanne O'Leary
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)

Digital List Price: $3.99 What's this?
Kindle Price: $3.99 includes free wireless delivery via Amazon Whispernet

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Book Description

Did you ever want to cast off, to sail into the sunset with someone you just met, a kindred spirit, a twin soul, leaving everything behind? It is possible in the virtual social world of the Internet, which can become a comfort zone you’ll never want to leave. You might, one day, want to meet that person with whom you have become strangely intimate. But reality is never as lovely as the dream. Be careful what you wish for…

A man and a woman - Seabee and Annika - hook up on a wannabe authors' site where they flirt, banter and play around. Just like you and me and everyone else these days. Don’t we all spend part of our day on the Internet? On a forum, a blog, Twitter or Face Book. It’s all innocent fun, isn’t it? But for Annika and Seabee it became a chilly reality. After having joked around openly about killing off their significant others, both their partners actually do die in what seems to be unrelated freak accidents – or are they? The dark realisation begins to dawn on the uneasy duo that their murderous joke fantasy has become all too dangerously real and that the deaths were no random accidents. Someone is watching them.

Seabee and Annika find out in a hurry that cyberspace makes strange bedfellows and, if it's not he or she who did it, then who has done the killings? The two team up to find out who has hijacked their fantasy and turned it into a frightening nightmare.

Join the endearingly mismatched would-be detective duo Annika and Seabee as they investigate the deadly mystery of how the seemingly innocent cybernetic world of two virtual strangers was hi-jacked and transformed by an unknown faceless killer into real-life hell, where “homicide” isn’t just a word highlighted harmlessly on a computer screen.

With more than a passing nod at the classic ‘Strangers on a Train’, Virtual Strangers is a darkly humorous, romantically witty-edged adventure that will take you into the deep, dark and sometimes deadly uncharted wilderness which lurks beyond the fringes of the strange and unpredictable netherworld that we casually call…CYBERSPACE.

Don’t read it if you don’t want to be jolted out of your comfort zone. Keep the lights on, change your password, use a pseudonym and never, ever give out personal information on the Internet…

Contains strong language


Product Details

  • File Size: 519 KB
  • Print Length: 239 pages
  • Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
  • Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B004PYDIFG
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • X-Ray: Enabled
  • Lending: Enabled
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #384,370 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
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Customer Reviews

The writing is fluid and tight, the characters interesting. ~DJ Faz~  |  6 reviewers made a similar statement
It kept the story moving along at a very nice pace. Bichon Mom  |  3 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 23 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Virtual Perfection March 19, 2011
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Internet forums gone wrong... That is the best way I can describe this fast-paced story by authors O'Leary and Zaltin.

Is anyone like whom they seem to be online? Who can you trust? Who should you fear?
A world where nothing is private and everything can be used against you.

I was immediately drawn into the story in the first chapter and the story held my attention until the final, surprising ending. Most chapters are split into the two viewpoints of the main characters. Reading each of their "take" on the situation at hand gave the story much more depth than what I was expecting.

A fresh, modern take on the movie "Strangers on a Train". I look forward to more collaborations between these two authors.
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13 of 15 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars The best and worst of both worlds March 1, 2011
Format:Kindle Edition
"Seabee" from England and Annika, the knockout from France, are two strangers, both in difficult relationships. They meet online at a site for wannabe authors and engage in some witty banter, a little harmless flirtation - no big deal. It's innocent fun until one jokes that killing each other's partner would solve all their problems. Reminiscent of the premise behind Alfred Hitchcock's classic movie Strangers on a Train, Virtual Strangers goes its own way when both partners die in what seem to be freak accidents the same weekend. When evidence indicates both were murders Seabee and Annika each deny responsibility. But, if not them, who did it?

Virtual Strangers operates in two worlds, the real world and cyberspace. The real life murder-mystery portion of the book has plenty of unique twists; many of them work because of the uniqueness of the tie-in to cyberspace. The real world portion also has the stereotypical murder mystery device of strangers (okay, Virtual Strangers) stuck together in a big house trying to solve the murder. However, this has the variation that the murder(s) didn't happen in the house, instead they're together specifically to solve them.

However, what sets Virtual Strangers apart is how well O'Leary and Zaltin capture the dynamic of life in cyberspace and the potential for the two worlds to collide. Anyone who spends much time online should relate. How often have you seen someone on a forum behave in ways they never would face to face? Is a friend on Facebook who lives halfway across the world the same as your friend who lives next door and does it feel different? How much is real and how much is something else? When you think you're anonymous, are you?

This review is based on a pre-release copy obtained for free from the author.

**Originally written for "Books and Pals" book blog.**
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Could this happen to you? June 6, 2011
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
This highly entertaining story is about a group of people who meet via an on-line discussion forum much like the forums at Amazon. I might not have found this story plausible had I not seen/read the nefarious antics on the discussions boards I have frequented.

The writing is fluid and tight, the characters interesting. I recommend Virtual Strangers to anyone who likes suspense/murder mysteries.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Loved It!
As I first started reading this I wasn't so sure, but in no time I really got into it. I wish everythign I read grabbed my attention like this book did.
Published 11 months ago by June A Bendrim-Bennett
5.0 out of 5 stars If Agatha were here today ...
It's not often that I give a book 5 stars but this one pushed all the right buttons for me. Maybe because I've been on those sites for would be writers, although I've never had any... Read more
Published 11 months ago by P A Lanstone
1.0 out of 5 stars Good Start - Lousy Finish
I agree with the one and two star reviewers. The start of the book is lively, fun, different with some interesting supporting characters. Read more
Published 12 months ago by GG
5.0 out of 5 stars It's got it all...
Virtual Strangers (Love and murder in cyberspace)

This book has it all. Humour, suspense, romance, erotic adventures, Cyberspace, interesting characters, not too many,... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Ullrich Fischer
4.0 out of 5 stars Virtual Strangers
An interesting book from page one & although I thought the killer was obvious I found it interesting to how it was to eventually end................ Read more
Published 14 months ago by ROSSC
4.0 out of 5 stars Impressive! (caution-spoilers)
I really enjoyed this one! I felt like the pacing was 'off', especially through the beginning, but it could have been that I was really busy and didn't have time to give it the... Read more
Published 18 months ago by sarajane82
4.0 out of 5 stars Too True For Comfort
As someone who watched, vastly entertained, the shenanigans on the A*******y Forums a year or so ago, I'm so pleased I stood on the sidelines and didn't get involved. Read more
Published 19 months ago by E.Jasper
4.0 out of 5 stars An entertaining read in a new Scandinavian vein
Susanne O'Leary and Ola Zaltin have taken a novel approach to novel writing. Having met in the HarperCollins website Authonomy, they've created a very readable double murder... Read more
Published 19 months ago by Hietala Heikki
4.0 out of 5 stars A romping good read!
If Susanne O'Leary and Ola Saltin wrote this as an experiment, I have to say it was a huge success. Their writing styles are as opposite as the characters they portray, and yet... Read more
Published 19 months ago by Pete Morin
3.0 out of 5 stars Virtual OK
This book was just ok for me. I did figure out the end way before it happened and there were a lot of lulls during the story. Read more
Published 22 months ago by avid
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