When death becomes entertainment, every life has a price. And Cassie West is about to find out how much hers is worth . . . Ready Player One meets Black Mirror in this stunning speculative thriller set in a future world in which virtual reality isn’t just a game, it’s daily life.
‘Pinter’s accessible speculative story will appeal to fans of Ernest Cline’s enduring hit, Ready Player One’ Booklist Starred Review
‘A tense, unputdownable near-future thriller’ Guardian
‘Dark, gritty, and suspenseful . . . A spellbinding story’ Publishers Weekly on Past Crimes
‘Wow’ Lee Child on Hide Away
‘Absolutely addictive’ Lisa Gardner on Hide Away
‘You’ll burn through the pages’ David Baldacci on Hide Away
Welcome to Earth+. The year is 2037, and nearly all human interactions have migrated to the virtual world. Now, true crime fans don’t just listen to podcasts or watch documentaries – they participate in hyper-realistic simulations and hunt for clues to solve the most famous and gruesome crimes in history. Criminal entertainment is a multibillion-dollar industry, and at the forefront is Past Crimes: known by its millions of fans as the Disneyland of Death.
Cassie West licenses crimes for V.I.C.E, spending long hours convincing grieving families to allow her to sell their tragedies to the highest bidder. Life is hard, and the cost of living high, but she and her husband Harris have never been happier. After years of trying, Cassie is finally pregnant.
But leaving work late one evening, Cassie starts to worry. Harris isn’t responding to texts or calls. Even worse, dozens of emergency drones seem to be heading in the same direction as she is: straight to their home.
What she finds there changes everything. Soon, Cassie finds herself in a fight for survival, becoming a target in both the real and virtual worlds. But it’s not just her own life at stake. If Cassie can’t uncover the truth of what happened to her husband, thousands more may die . . .
Action-packed, satirical and beyond compelling, Past Crimes examines our obsession with true crime and how the pain of others has become a multi-billion-dollar industry, while also exploring the sinister possibilities of the virtual world.
About the author
Jason Pinter is the internationally bestselling author of the Henry Parker and Rachel Marin series, and the standalone thriller The Castle. He has been nominated for the Thriller Award, Strand Critics Award, Barry Award, and Shamus Award. Hide Away was named one of Library Journal’s Best Books of the Year, The Fury and The Darkness were Indie Next selections, and The Mark and The Stolen appeared on the Heatseekers bestseller list in The Bookseller. Jason is the Founder and Publisher of the independent publisher Polis Books, as well as Agora, an imprint launched dedicated to diverse and underrepresented voices in crime fiction. Prior to founding Polis he held positions in editorial and marketing at Warner Books, Random House, St. Martin’s Press, and Grove/Atlantic. He has written for numerous outlets including The New Republic, Esquire, Entrepreneur, The Daily Beast, and more. Visit his website at www.Jason Pinter.com and find him on Twitter and Instagram at @Jason Pinter.More ebooks from the same author(s) / Editor
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