Veronica picks up an ancient VR headset to please her little brother who is critically ill in hospital, but as soon as they start playing she finds herself inside a different world. It is ‘The Game’ – an urban legend in VR gaming circles that turns out to be true. The Game is an incredibly realistic and immersive murder mystery. None of the players can leave until they’ve solved the case and the winner will receive a huge cash prize.
But soon after they start to play, the game takes a deadly turn. All of the players are concealing something from their real lives and all of them have a motive for murder. And the game itself is also out to get them – will any of them make it out alive?
VR is a tricky proposition to write (I know, I’ve tried!) because it’s difficult to raise the stakes in an environment that is all in your head – the contemporary version of it was all a dream. Except in this case it isn’t, and the virtual world starts to bleed into the real world.
‘Let’s Play Murder’ is a mash-up of locked-room murder mystery, horror, ghost story and thriller, and the whiplashing twists and turns of the plot kept me guessing. A fast-paced, gripping and terrifying read.
Swimming in Books 