Review: A thinking reader's thriller
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 20, 2012
What would happen if the crime-fighting agencies had the ability to see the last moments of the murdered person's life through the eyes of the victim? Surely, this technology would be a major step in crime prevention - if everyone knew about it, no one would dare to commit murder anymore. Right?In ideal world - yes. In the real world, or in the fictional world of "Thirty Four Minutes DEAD", which, while based on this fantastic premise, is not too far from what you'd read in a newspaper, perhaps not. Those in power would most likely find a way to use this invention to get their hold on that power much stronger. Especially considering that the extensions of the "Mind Camera" research could be used for much more than solving crimes. Without giving away the spoilers, let's just say that the dystopian future of total government control would not look too out of reach.The book starts fast, with an unexpected murder of a business woman by a psychopath that leads to the field test and demonstration of this "Mind Camera" technology to the "interested" parties - name a secret agency, they were there. Then the story goes into setting up the world and the characters of the MC for a while but don't worry, about chapter five it picks up rather nicely and moves fast from that point on.The violence seen through the MC is pretty graphic and very disturbing - just a fair warning. There's also some pretty explicit sex later on - the "Cherry Scene", that I am sure more than one reviewer will mention. The character development and exposition are tied up to the story progression - especially those of Gregory Vain and Marcia Levene. All in all, this is a thinking reader's thriller that makes one consider the social and political implications of modern developments in neuroscience and the tightening government control. Good read.