There are worse fates than death.
There was Mike, who had ‘died’ three times, and he didn’t want to do it again.
There was Maria, who was struggling to distinguish between virtual deaths and the real thing.
Then there’s Juan, a man who salvages the ‘dead’ only to see them sent back to the front. He’s unsure how much longer he can bear this.
Christian McCloud was a cyberpunk journalist, but he was no soldier. He fashioned downloads from celebrities’ memories. People worldwide paid good money to experience someone famous for a few hours. Now, he was in the middle of a war. Instead of celebrities’ memories, he downloaded the memories of the young men and women fighting this war, but technology changed the rules. War had always been about living and dying. Now, technology was blurring the lines between the two.
Christian found himself straddling that line with these young soldiers, trying to tell their stories. As he downloaded their memories, they were changing him in ways he couldn’t comprehend. He was becoming one of them. He wasn’t sure he could survive their memories.
Readers agree:
“Having been in combat, I could relate to being at “the dance”…It was like a futuristic version of Apocalypse Now.”
“This book blew me away…the one I use to judge other books and stories…”
“Dark, poignant, visceral, it has it all. You can feel the humanity and despair in every character.”
“It could be this century’s version of All Quite on the Western Front. Not for the timid or weak readers.”
“Mr. Carstens has written a story that grabs ahold of you and doesn’t let go. Buy it and read it if you dare.”
