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The co-op bookstore for avid readers
Head On
Reader Score
80%
80% of readers
recommend this book
Critic Reviews
Great
Based on 6 reviews on
"As much as Scalzi has the scientific creativity of a Michael Crichton, he also has the procedural chops of a Stephen J. Canell to craft a whodunit with buddy-cop charm and suspects aplenty--most of them in someone else's body." --USA Today
John Scalzi returns with Head On, the standalone follow-up to the New York Times bestselling and critically acclaimed Lock In. Chilling near-future SF with the thrills of a gritty cop procedural, Head On brings Scalzi's trademark snappy dialogue and technological speculation to the future world of sports.
Hilketa is a frenetic and violent pastime where players attack each other with swords and hammers. The main goal of the game: obtain your opponent's head and carry it through the goalposts. With flesh and bone bodies, a sport like this would be impossible. But all the players are "threeps," robot-like bodies controlled by people with Haden's Syndrome, so anything goes. No one gets hurt, but the brutality is real and the crowds love it.
Until a star athlete drops dead on the playing field.
Is it an accident or murder? FBI agents and Haden-related crime investigators, Chris Shane and Leslie Vann, are called in to uncover the truth--and in doing so travel to the darker side of the fast-growing sport of Hilketa, where fortunes are made or lost, and where players and owners do whatever it takes to win, on and off the field.
Book Details
- Publisher: Tor Trade
- Publish Date: Mar 26th, 2019
- Pages: 336
- Language: English
- Edition: undefined - undefined
- Dimensions: 8.25in - 5.38in - 0.76in - 0.90lb
- EAN: 9781250385529
- Categories: • Science Fiction - Action & Adventure• Science Fiction - Cyberpunk• Thrillers - Crime
More books to explore
About the Author
More books by John Scalzi
Critics’ reviews
Praise for this book
Praise for Head On
"New and fresh....Scalzi's smirking, impish voice is a nice touch." --NPR
"Particularly relevant....A fun, breezy thriller, one that showcases a world that carries with it some extremely astute commentary on some of the real problems that we face in our own. " --The Verge
"The Lock In universe is as fascinating as ever....Complex, expansive....Pretty damn cool." --RT Book Reviews, 4 stars
"Head On doesn't care if you've read Lock In or not, but it does care if you enjoy a mystery wrapped up inside a science fiction novel....This might even be one of the best introductions to Scalzi out there." --Culturess
"[Scalzi's] prose flows like a river, smoothly carrying us through the story; his characters are beautifully crafted; and his future world is impeccably designed, at the same time wildly imaginative and wholly plausible." --Booklist, starred review
"This taut mystery, filled with memorable characters in a well-constructed world, will keep readers on the edges of their seats." --Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Readers will definitely show up for the witty banter and smartass takedowns....Very clever, wonderfully satisfying fun." --Kirkus
"A snappy, cannily-driven police procedural in which Scalzi highlights and skewers contemporary issues and hypocrisies." --The Seattle Review of Books
"Scalzi is in good form again here with his usual rich blend of smart, rapid-fire dialogue and well-paced bursts of hard-hitting action." --Toronto Star
Praise for Lock In
"This is the kind of thriller that Michael Crichton, Lincoln Child, and James Rollins do so well. Add John Scalzi to that list." --Douglas Preston, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Kraken Project and Impact
"As much as Scalzi has the scientific creativity of a Michael Crichton, he also has the procedural chops of a Stephen J. Canell to craft a whodunit with buddy-cop charm and suspects aplenty--most of them in someone else's body." --USA Today
"Satisfying." --NPR
"Scalzi takes his work to an entirely new level." --Cory Doctorow
"A smart, thoughtful near-future thriller.... This powerful novel will intrigue and entertain both fans and newcomers." --Publishers Weekly, starred review
"John Scalzi may be the most entertaining writer in SF today." --Toronto Star