Green Valley

Greenberg (Dark Windows) broadly sketches a near-future world where low-tech reality and high-tech virtual reality live side by side. Police consultant Lucie Sterling is on the hunt for a killer who’s been dumping dead kids, all of whom have virtual reality enhancements, on the streets of Stanton. They can only be coming from one place: the last bastion of invasive digital surveillance technology, Green Valley, a concrete bunker that has housed Lucie’s beloved niece Kira all her life. When Kira is abducted, Lucie must venture inside Green Valley to uncover the dark secrets hidden beneath the enclave’s digital perfection or risk never seeing her niece again. Detailed characterization and worldbuilding take a back seat to the plot, and many elements strain credulity, but the taut technological mystery keeps readers on edge to the very end. While veteran SF readers may struggle to suspend disbelief, empathetic readers who care more about tension will be satisfied. Agent: Oli Munson, A.M. Heath. (June)