Blurb:
The extraordinary new novel from the incredible author of SOCKPUPPET. Perfect for fans of BLACK MIRROR.
Early one morning, blogger Alex Kubelick walks up to a total stranger and slaps him across the face. Hard.
He smiles.
They’ve both just earned Emoticoin, in a new, all-consuming game that trades real-life emotions for digital currency. Emoticoin is changing the face of the economy – but someone or something is controlling it for their own, dangerous ends.
As Alex picks apart the tangled threads that hold the virtual game together she finds herself on the run from very real enemies. It seems only one person has the answers she seeks. Someone who hides behind the name ‘Lucky Ghost’.
But Lucky Ghost will only talk to a young hacker called Thimblerig – the online troll who’s been harassing Alex for months.
Will Lucky Ghost lead Alex and Thimblerig to the answers they seek – or to their deaths?
I may have embellished the cover with a few of the novelty buttons I sell. Doesn’t it look cute 😉
My Review:
I’ve been really looking forward to reading Lucky Ghost since winning it in a giveaway a few weeks ago. It’s a little different to my usual reads, but it had me intrigued, so I wanted to give it a try. I’m pleased to say I really enjoyed it.
I think the best way to describe this book is a cyberpunk thriller, but the kind of science fiction that feels like it is already becoming all too real, and not so very fiction at all.
At first I was fascinated by the virtual reality game, known as the Strange, where people placed a mesh on themselves and got to see a slightly different world to the real one. I felt lured in by the excitement of this game, although I’d personally use it to ensure I experienced at least five sunny days a week, especially during the winter months, as I’m sick of dreary Cornish mizzle.
As the story progressed, my excitement at such futuristic and fun technology started to waver, as I started to feel a little uncomfortable about the idea of being able to trade human emotions, as if they had monetary value. I realised the downsides to our obsession with such technology and the intense way much of it can impact on our lives personally, or how it can be used by those with great knowledge of it or those in power to manipulate others.
This book is thought provoking, tense, sometimes violent, and as the story progresses it becomes more and more action-packed.
On the subject of futuristic technology, I’d struggle to live without my Kindle, so I did find it entertaining that I was reading a high-tech novel in traditional hardback format. The hardest part about reading this book was coping with balancing a big book, turning pages, not losing my physical bookmark, and trying not to laugh at myself each time I tapped the bottom right corner of a page, expecting it to automatically switch pages for me. Yes, I did that numerous times while reading this book!
Lucky Ghost really made me think about my online interactions and consider how well I actually know some people. I would often dream of a life of virtual reality as a young girl, but I think for now, when I feel the need to escape reality, I’ll just stick to reading (mostly on my Kindle), as that seems to keep me out of trouble.
Having enjoyed Lucky Ghost, I’m looking forward to readingSockpuppet, which is the first book in this series.
4 Stars
Where to find this book:
Popped into Waterstones in Truro (Cornwall) a week ago, and spotted Sockpuppet on ‘the newest, the brightest, the best’ table. Notice whoever wrote the sign misspelled ‘brightest’. It made me chuckle 🙂
LittleMissNoSleep Daydreams of Books 
This has been on my TBR for a while, I need to pick up a copy because it looks really good and yours is the second positive review I’ve read.
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It’s the usual case of so many good books to read, not enough time to read them all 😉
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