Reading While Locked In: Lock In by John Scalzi

Welcome to another post involving Books Nicole Owns But Hasn’t Read Because She, Like Many, Is Actually A Book Dragon. So because of all this hoarding, I made my 2020 resolution to read most of the speculative books that I own. I’ve had Lock In for a few years because everything I’ve read by John Scalzi so far is a delight, so I wasn’t going to turn down something of his. Granted, it might take me a while to get to it, but that’s another story. I figured, being in quarantine and all, what better time was there to read a book about being locked in? So here we are, book four of twenty.

Lock In (2014)
Written by: John Scalzi
Genre: Science Fiction
Pages: 334 (Mass Market Paperback)
Series: Lock In #1
Publisher: Tor

The Premise:

Not too long from today, a new, highly contagious virus makes its way across the globe. Most who get sick experience nothing worse than flu, fever and headaches. But for the unlucky one percent — and nearly five million souls in the United States alone — the disease causes “Lock In”: Victims fully awake and aware, but unable to move or respond to stimulus. The disease affects young, old, rich, poor, people of every color and creed. The world changes to meet the challenge.

A quarter of a century later, in a world shaped by what’s now known as “Haden’s syndrome,” rookie FBI agent Chris Shane is paired with veteran agent Leslie Vann. The two of them are assigned what appears to be a Haden-related murder at the Watergate Hotel, with a suspect who is an “integrator” — someone who can let the locked in borrow their bodies for a time. If the Integrator was carrying a Haden client, then naming the suspect for the murder becomes that much more complicated.

But “complicated” doesn’t begin to describe it. As Shane and Vann began to unravel the threads of the murder, it becomes clear that the real mystery — and the real crime — is bigger than anyone could have imagined. The world of the locked in is changing, and with the change comes opportunities that the ambitious will seize at any cost. The investigation that began as a murder case takes Shane and Vann from the halls of corporate power to the virtual spaces of the locked in, and to the very heart of an emerging, surprising new human culture. It’s nothing you could have expected.

No spoilers

Discussion: For some reason it didn’t quite click in my brain that this would be a murder mystery story, and not have anything to do with the contagious virus that leaves people “locked in” — or at least, not completely. I kept dwelling on that part of it, thinking the active virus would play more of a role despite having read the blurb where it very clearly says, “A quarter of a century later.”

I seem to do that a lot.

Even so, the book very clearly spells out in the first handful of pages that this is a murder mystery. It’s just set in a world where locked in people use robots — nicknamed threeps — to continue functioning in society, among other differences. I made another giant leap when I read the blurb again, and guessed that maybe the crime actually going on is “bigger than anyone could have imagined.” That’s what it says on my book anyway. I guessed maybe they discover the virus was engineered and it escaped and there’s a big cover-up and — nope I was wrong. Extremely wrong. To be honest, I was kind of disappointed in what the real crime turned out to be, and was actually more intrigued on knowing just how the hell a loveseat ended up out a window and onto a car — the very thing that tipped police off that there had been a murder in the first place.

Despite the misdirection that I gave myself, it was an entertaining ride. Agent Shane is pretty chill about almost everything. He doesn’t even flinch when encountering a dead body on the first few pages. Then again, in this universe I don’t know what kind of FBI training there is or how being locked in might affect someone’s perception of a lot of things. Sometimes he felt a little too chill, but I chalked it up to living through a threep. Threeps do still include things like pain receptors, but when you can literally dial those down and still can’t get hurt anyway since it’s a robot, I imagine there’s a weird sort of detachment. Maybe I’m reading too much into this. Bottom line, Shane’s a okay dude and it was interesting to watch the world through his eyes. Especially when having to deal with renting threeps and fighting in them.

His partner, as well as the other characters that help them out, are all cool in their own way. I like how distinctive Scalzi gets when it comes to every character. I realize that’s the whole point in character creation, but someone Scalzi does it so well that I always notice it — and I always appreciate it.

An interesting concept arose around people with Haden’s (locked in) versus people who weren’t. Similar to how people today with various disabilities have to fight for sometimes even the most basic of rights. Elements regarding the care, support, and even curing of those with Haden’s. I think that piece alone would make for some interesting discussions for a book club.

On the back of my book, USA Today likened his scientific creativity to Michael Crichton, and I’m inclined to agree. The kind of tech he was toying with here sounded wholly plausible and very interesting. I love fun future-tech woven neatly into a good story. Crichton’s Prey, which features nano tech gone awry, is one of my favorites. Maybe that’s also why the crime reveal was a bit of a letdown. It felt…basic. Though humans are, in the end, pretty basic, so another part of me thought I shouldn’t really be surprised. 

In Conclusion: It’s a mellow science fiction read, perfect for anyone who likes murder mysteries with some extra techy spice thrown in. It wasn’t 100% my style so I’ll probably pass this book on to someone else who might enjoy it more. Rather, I’m far more excited about the moment my turn for The Last Emperox comes around via the library.