Idolon

by Mark Budz

Bantam Spectra, 448 pp, $6.99

Idolon is a new book by the author of Clade and Crache.

In a world where image is everything, the past more real than the present, the wealthy can reprogram the world, with themselves as stars..Pelayo is a test subject for the latest in skin imagery. His cousin works in a cinematique where she meets Nadice, an indentured worker smuggling illegal ware to escape hiding a forbidden pregnancy she can’t explain. When Marta tries to help, both women disappear. While Pelayo searches for his cousin, homicide detective Kasuo Van Dijk investigates a new kind of E-skin that leads him to the missing women and a plot to deliver humanity into a frightening new information age.

William Gibson move over. The post ecocaust world of Idolon is a virtual night mare that seems all too possible. Well written, with kaleidoscopic imagery that sets your head spinning like an action movie trailer, this is a book for those anticipating a virtual world. Enjoy. - Pam Allan