Looking Glass (Kindle Edition)

by James R. Strickland (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

A little heavy with computer jargon at times but that only makes for small glitches in a fast paced thriller. -- The Denver Post, Fred Cleaver, Science Fiction Reviewer, Dec. 28, 2007

Product Description

Looking Glass is set in the not too distant future, in a gritty, unrefined, shattered North America. Hackers and IT security technicians fight a different kind of war in cyberspace. A serial killer has found a way to use the network to reach inside his victim's brains, and use these brains as his weapon. "Shroud" is a security network team leader for a large retail company. In the realm of cyberspace, inside a sensory deprivation tank and "jacked in" to the network, she is fast, nimble, and ruthless. She is just beginning her shift when the killer strikes for the first time. She survives, but her entire team is dead or missing. She is exiled from her corporate resources, and her search for the killer is fraught with peril and overwhelming odds.

Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 423 KB
• Print Length: 308 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: Flying Pen Press LLC; 3 edition (May 29, 2007)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0013FCU22
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #18,775 in Kindle Store (See Bestsellers in Kindle Store)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must read cyberpunk, July 2, 2007

By	Thomas Dye (Florida, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Looking Glass (Paperback)

James, R. Strickland and Scott Humphries have just been added to my `must read list'. Apparently this book is from a startup publisher called "Flying Pen Press". I rather like their tagline of "Giving flight to great books." I went through their web site and found that their intent is to only publish the best of the best, so if it says 'flying pen press' it has been vetted by multiple editors and found not just print worthy, but damn good. (and it WAS!)
I read it in three days flat! Great book that I could not put down. This is an excellent first publication from this press. I will certainly buy the next few books that they publish, in the hope that they are even remotely as good as this one. I found this book to be fast paced action throughout in the cyberpunk genre' and loved it. An absolutely wonderful future look at where our technology is going and what eventually will happen when the line between technology and our brains blurs.
It took me a bit to realize that the lead character was a wheelchair bound paraplegic! The author gives us snippets and bits of background to help develop his world as he tells the story, rather than the huge information dump up front of which I am familiar. (And which I detest!) I gather this is also James Strickland's first novel; and that too is hard to believe. This would be a great novel from someone who is well established in the field. I sincerely hope that these two people have more stuff in the pipe for me soon.

This is a very well-told story with plenty of action and good character interactions as well. The back and forth play between the online virtual world and the real world I found to be quite entertaining, and while I did have an inkling of what the finale was going to be by about halfway through the book, I was not at all disappointed in how it turned out and how the author brought it to a climax.

This book is easily worth reading more than once, (and I like to read a lot!) My only pause in thought through out the book was the 6 by 9 format. How are you going to get shelf space with something that is slightly larger than the normal 'pocket book' of the mass media addition?
Great read though; I am absolutely sure you're going to find this book fun.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book, July 4, 2007

By	T. Miller "stitchesonquilts" (Silicon Valley, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Looking Glass (Paperback)

I have been disappointed by a number of new authors who have clearly used some sort of formula to write their book. This book is not like that - it has its own style. It's absorbing reading: it draws you in effortlessly. Details appear where needed, and not as a "scene setting" first chapter. I have reread it twice now, and it gains more depth with each reading. It's going to be really hard to wait for James' next book! I highly recommend this book.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book & won't upset the techies., March 24, 2008

By	S. Granger (Los Angeles, California United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    (VINE VOICE)

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Looking Glass (Paperback)

________________________________________
This book is full steam ahead cyber punk goodness. I think there is a misstep at 3/4 of the way in. At that point some of the reveals felt more like tricks to me and I started to get disappointed. Before I could flip the off switch, "Looking Glass" revved back up. I really enjoyed the ending. A tough-as-nails female protagonist, secret conspiracies that make sense, and a future world that I can almost touch. Wonderful debut by James Strickland.

The story is basically about a female network administrator who fights hacking of the worst kind. If you fail, you die. And if you succeed then you wipe someone's mind away. It's a terrible case of job burn-out. Everything is going normally, burning the baddies until one day someone appears that can read their minds. At least it seems that way. Jump left, get burnt. Jump right, already waiting there for you. What do you do? And the worst part is that it's hard to tell what/who is real anymore.

It might seem like a retread of older cyberpunk novels if you're looking just on the surface, but "Looking Glass" is not. This reflection goes much deeper.

Overall one of the most satisfying reads in a long time. I really do recommend this book, even to non-techies.