Virus [Hardcover]

Graham Watkins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1995

In a large hospital, a diagnostician and a psychologist investigate a bizarre and dangerous new disorder that is somehow connected with computers, which possesses no physical symptoms but leads its victims into such severe self-neglect that some are dying. At the same time, others are discovering--usually too late--that, when playing a video game on a machine running a program called Penultimate, losing can be fatal--literally.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

An addictive computer program proves deadly in Watkins's latest thriller.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

YA?Drs. Mark Roberts and Alexandra Walton's patients are addicted to their computers, and no one knows what could cause such an unusual number of educated, generally affluent individuals to succumb to the exhaustion and malnutrition this addiction has created. Crime is on the increase, and the doctors' own families are involved. Acting as sleuths, the physicians discover that a computer virus compels its victims to continue online. Chapters are short and alternate between victims, doctors, and technicians. These shifts can be confusing until readers are thoroughly familiar with the characters. Technical terms are often explained by the hospital's computer specialist, who also gets the virus. The element of potential realism in this sci/fi adventure is wonderfully, frighteningly present.?Claudia Moore, W.T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VA
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 413 pages
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf Pub; 1st edition (August 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786701943
• ISBN-13: 978-0786701940
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,540,208 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Realistic and an Excellent Novel, February 29, 2000

By 

Chris (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Virus (Mass Market Paperback)

I am currently reading the book and am more than half way done with it. This is by far one of the best books I have ever read. It is very descriptive in details and has very realistic characters. The book makes you think that the characters are real and the story really took place. This is a page-turner that will be so enjoyable to read that you won't be able to put down until you finish it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Believe it or not, December 23, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Israel) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Virus (Mass Market Paperback)

A great book to read.

Indeed, Graham Watkins has braught us to the future.

With all the Y2K around us, his story is indeed a great true and original script.

So why the four stars? The rapid going book brings us to a falling end. The book ends too quickly and with no more room to be mistaken, the writer was eager to end it, so he ended it. I would have preferred the end to end alternetavilly. The human race should not always win.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A truly amazing, non computer geek, book., March 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Virus (Mass Market Paperback)

A book that bases itself around a computer may at first seem geeky and boring. Not so. Watkins uses a form of language that helps you to understand all of the technical babble that is needed for the story. Along with the amazing intricacies of the computer side there is the non sentimental human side. A love story that isn't really love but more lust, and small touches of human suffering and pain which add and enhance to this original novel. I had to keep reading the book as each page left me in suspense. There were no boring parts and no slow paced bridges between stories. Truly mesmerising and amazing.