Virtual Death

By Shale Aaron

Book Overview

Giving up her career as a near-death experience performer, celebrity Lydia Melmoth is unwilling to subject herself to another brush with death, until her mother's pressing need for money pushes Lydia into a comeback. Original.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061054305
• ISBN13: 9780061054303
• Release Date: January 1995
• Publisher: HarperPrism
• Length: 293 Pages
• Weight: 0.36 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.0" x 1.0" x 4.5"

Customer Reviews

An interesting novel.

An interesting story, to say the least. As others have mentioned, its a slow read from the start. Once it gains momentum, it's a pretty wild ride. I'd recommend it for a weekend read, for sure. A prior poster (Mr. Tillman) mentioned seeing a picture of "her". Sadly, Mr. Tillman is incorrect. Shale Aaron is none other than Robert Boswell, a faculty member of New Mexico State University.

An entertaining noir satire - think Serial Mom

_________________________________________ Lydia Melmoth is a Death Artist - she died 7 times before she was 18, still the world record. Now retired, she's being pressured to die again - by her Mom, who's raising money for the Banjos, a terrorist group that assassinates gun-shop owners: "For every 1 of them we get, we save 100 others. I can show you our stats. A net saving of 99 lives." "How do you figure this?" "It's a complicated formula," Mother told us. "It has to do with both the actual sales lost from having a dead salesperson, and the more generalized slowdown that comes from people being reluctant to be associated with guns." "Plus we often get to take all the guns in the shop for our own use..." "Let me give you the rest of our figures, Lyddie," Mother said. "Now, each of our actions --" "Assassinations..." "Yes, dear, each costs us roughly $10,000. I know that sounds like a lot, but think of all that goes into it - the travel, the surveillance, & you wouldn't believe our overhead! Now each $10,000 action, we estimate, saves 100 lives... Now, Lyddie, we believe that your event will earn us at leat ten million dollars." She glanced at Blu Fen. "Minimum," he said. "That means you could be responsible for saving 100,000 lives..." * * * Blu Fen, Lydia's latest lover, secretly filmed the two making it as he slipped her the death-drug, and then released the results as a wildly- popular snuff-porn video, with all the profits going to him... "It's true that I behaved badly, not telling you about the camera - or the die - but I asked you 1st if you'd do it willingly, and you refused. Sometimes a person has to take fate into their own hands. That film is going to make *millions*... "Virtual Death" starts slow, and it has some first-novel rough spots, but Aaron hits the mark more often than not. She kept me smiling. Shale Aaron is something of a mystery-woman. "Virtual Death" is her first novel, and first fiction I can recall seeing. I've seen her photo in Locus - a distinguished-looking middle-age woman, and that's all I know about her. VIRTUAL DEATH was a PK Dick award nominee in1996. Recommended. Happy reading-- Pete Tillman

Great book, lots of Jewels

Great book. Has lots of excellent ideas and words of wisdom. Highly recommend reading this one.

A gripping book that does not let you put it down

This is one of the best books that I have ever read! I can not say enough good things about it. AAron has a wonderful imagination. I would like to hear more form him.

An entertaining noir satire - think "Serial Mom".

"Virtual Death" starts slow, and it has some first-novel rough spots, but Aaron hits the mark more often than not. She kept me smiling.Rating: "A". Recommended. PK Dick award nominee, 1996. I'm looking forward to her(?) next book.