Bart Minnock, founder of the computer gaming giant U-Play, enters his private playroom, and eagerly can’t wait to lose himself in an imaginary world, to play the role of a sword-wielding warrior king, in his company’s latest top-secret project, Fantastical.
The next morning, he is found in the same locked room, in a pool of blood, his head separated from his body. It is the most puzzling case Eve Dallas has ever faced, and it is not a game…
Lt. Eve Dallas is having as much trouble figuring out how Bart Minnock was murdered as who did the murdering. The victim’s girlfriend seems sincerely grief-stricken, and his quirky-but-brilliant partners at U-Play appear shocked as well. No one seemed to have a problem with the enthusiastic, high-spirited millionaire of course, success can attract jealousy, and gaming, like any business, has its fierce rivalries and dirty tricks—as Eve’s husband, Roarke, one of U-Play’s competitors, knows well. But Minnock was not naïve, and he knew how to fight back in the real world as well as the virtual one.
Eve and her team are about to enter the next level of police work, in a world where fantasy is the ultimate seduction—and the price of defeat is death…
I love a good mystery and this is one that kept my guessing all the way up to the end.
One of the things that I love about this series is that we get to see the development of all the relationships in Eve’s life.
As Eve investigates a truly bizarre murder, we get to see as she doesn’t bitch as much about Roarke helping with the investigation as an e-man, which is some of my favorite parts considering that he is a former criminal. She also looks at friendships, and how they influence and impact peoples lives, as this case looks to be all about friendship.
As I was talking with my sister about this book, we discussed the murderer and who we initially thought it was, and she said that she thought she knew who did, but as the book went on she wasn’t sure, but decided to stick with who she thought, and was really glad that she had as she was right. I told her that I had my suspicions but wasn’t a 100% sure. We both agreed that our favorite part aside from Peabody and McNab at comiccon like convention for videogames undercover, was when Eve set her trap, and knew that she had the murdered even though she doesn’t say who it is, until later, but the look on her face, and her attitude were great.
Yet another great installment in this series, I personally can’t wait to read the next one and neither can Kim (maybe I can get her to write that review).
I give this book a 4.5 out of 5
