Looking Glass
by James R. Strickland
Published by Flying Pen Press
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Reviewed by Peg Brantley
Shroud lives and works in the year 2025. Otherwise known as Dr. Catherine Farro, her job is overseeing the security for OmniMart, a large chain of discount stores. A paraplegic, she spends here workdays in a virtual reality tank, communicating with her team.
On Friday morning, her group suffers an attack by hackers, and each member is brutally murdered. It’s up to Shroud to exact justice.
Strickland has built a story world that’s consistent and connective. You know there’s a brilliant plan and pattern playing out before your eyes, and you can appreciate the author’s high-tech background.
The only thing that disappointed me, with respect to character development, is that our language, even in 2025, doesn’t appear to have evolved much beyond our reliance on four-letter words for descriptive emotion. Not a big enough issue to thwart the story—just an interesting societal development question that nagged at me a bit.
I felt decidedly dense reading this book, but anyone more cyber-savvy is going to love it. I appreciated the movie, The Matrix, but didn’t understand the details. The same goes with Looking Glass. But here’s a tip: there’s a Glossary at the end. Of course, I didn’t find it until I got there.
James R. Strickland is a new author with potential for great success in this genre. If you (or someone you know) enjoy high-tech fantasy with the ring of reality, get your cyber hands, or hands with actual fingers, on this book.
Armchair Interviews says: This is a good book for the right readers.
Author’s Web site: http://www.JamesRStrickland.com