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Lock In (Narrated by Amber Benson)

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Lock In (Narrated by Amber Benson)

By: John Scalzi
Narrated by: Amber Benson
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About this listen

Two editions. Two narrators. One thrilling story. You can also choose to download Wil Wheaton's narration.

"I love working with Audible, in no small part because they’re committed to doing what’s right, both for my books, and the people who listen to those books. There's a really excellent reason for Lock In to have two entirely different versions, so when it came time to make the audiobook, Audible did an ingenious thing: they asked both Wil Wheaton and Amber Benson to record entire versions of the book. As the author, I’m impressed with Audible’s commitment to my narrative - and I’m geeking out that both Wil and Amber are reading my book. This is fantastic." (John Scalzi)

A blazingly inventive near-future thriller from the best-selling, Hugo Award-winning John Scalzi.

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.

BONUS AUDIO: Audible's audio edition of Lock In contains the bonus novella, Unlocked: An Oral History of Haden's Syndrome, written by John Scalzi and narrated by a full cast.

©2014 John Scalzi (P)2014 Audible Inc.
Genre Fiction Medical Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction Thriller & Suspense Exciting

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Editor reviews

Editors Select, August 2014 - I'm a huge sci-fi listener, and when I heard that John Scalzi was coming out with a new novel in August, there was no question that it was going to be my pick for the month. The premise: In the near-future, a mass contagion called Haden's Syndrome sweeps the world. 99% of those affected experience normal flu-like symptoms, but 1% of the world is left "locked in" – trapped with a fully functional mind inside a non-functioning body. Technological advancements have made it possible for these people to move through the world using artificial android-like bodies but often at the sacrifice of being viewed as less than human. Lock In takes place about twenty years after the outbreak, and focuses on Chris Shane's first day on the job as an FBI agent (Chris is one of the world's most famous victims of the disease). I've always admired Scalzi for is his ability to write compelling, multi-dimensional characters of all genders, and in this book, he does something truly novel: he never specifies a gender for Chris. As a result, we're rewarded with two great versions of this audiobook - one narrated by Wil Wheaton, and one by Amber Benson ( Buffy the Vampire Slayer). This is a thrilling, highly original, genre-bending story that will appeal to mystery & thriller and sci-fi fans alike. —Sam, Audible Editor

Critic reviews

"Hugo-winner Scalzi successfully shifts away from space opera with this smart, thoughtful near-future thriller resonant with the themes of freedom, ethics, and corporate greed….This powerful novel will intrigue and entertain both fans and newcomers." ( Publishers Weekly)
"The novel--which contains plenty of action, great character development, vivid and believable worldbuilding and a thought-provoking examination of disability culture and politics--is definitely worth the ride." ( Kirkus)
"Another brilliant novel from a writer who has quickly become one of the genre’s most successful and intriguing practitioners." ( Booklist)
All stars
Most relevant
I have often considered what it would be like to be truly locked in and sensless. This story deals more with the technology used to overcome the problem but I still enjoyed the story and ideas.
The main characters are female. Not being female I am unsure of how well written they are and felt they could just as easily be male. I am easily put off by a narrator but no issues there at all. The bonus novella was a surprise although it was obviously coming with several chapters remaining at the end of the main story. This was a good addition.

not fully what i expected but good story read well

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The ending should have been first. The story was good as a whole but the explanation into the virus and the effects it had on the world should have been read at the beginning.

An ok book!

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The audible book badly let down in parts by poor narration.

Some of the characterisation was mumbled in distinct and very unclear.

Good story but poor narration

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Good story and very interesting, only drawback was the voice acting got annoying sometimes but it wasn't something that would put you off listening

enjoyable, voice acting was a bit off

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not a fan of the narration, maybe is just the overly American-ness of it all. I feel a bit short changed by the lenght of the book (i usually go for the double digit time) especially as the appendice novella takes up an hour and half. it would have been a nice edit if it was broken up and interposed to the chapters. I enjoyed the premise and the idea of the story, just too many things just happen to line up perfectly for our protagonist to solve the mistery in record time. it could have gone deeper as a social commentary.

meh

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First of all I read the second book before this one and did not notice.
It is a good stand-alone book.
It was not something to knock my socks off like Hyperion or Daemon but it was good.
The only problem is that since you do not know the settings many "revelations" can also be "inventions".

Most interesting is the novella at the end that describes the global pandemic leading to the story and it is pretty spot on. The book was released in 2014.

And if you have seen the movie Surrogates (2009) you get the gist.
Anyway, give it a chance, I liked it.

Solid detective novel with SciFi setting

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The story is awesome, a great near future detective story with a great "what if" premise.

The narration however... It's terrible.
Can barely tell the difference between the characters but the worse... Is the "i said" & "she said" EVERY OTHER LINE.
(except one of the episodes, where's there's a conversation between 3 characters where it's in EVERY LINE OF THE CHAPTER)
It's completely takes you out of it.
Will avoid books by Benson in the future.

Great book, terrible narration

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Really interesting plot and concept which I think the author really explores very well.

However the dialogue is pretty poor, and the constant (CONSTANT) use of "I said, Schwartz said, I said, Schwartz said, Venn said, I said" is so grating that I was tempted to stop listening.
If I was actually reading it I probably wouldn't have noticed it, but it really distracted from the conversation when the narrator had to actually say it each time. Even if they sighed, grunted, whispered, lisped, groaned, shouted, replied occasionally or gave a description of HOW the thing was said it would have been more interesting.

Benson's voices for the different characters also got to me at times, but overall she was good, and I'd probably listen to something read by her again.

I said, he said, she said

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Where does Lock In rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is my favourite of the Scalzi stories I've listed to. Mostly due to the awesome reading by Amber Benson.

What does Amber Benson bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Amber Benson manages to create a dramatic story where you can almost forget the descriptive prose.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Lock - In - Threepio FBI

Any additional comments?

Scalzi appears to have a verbal tick, which is noticeable when read, of using "said" a lot. When reading a book you can skim this but when it's read it jumps out (at least to me).

The appended full cast novella "Unlocked" was awesome!

A Novel approach

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Story shorter than run time, but bonus novella at end is very good (better then main story in my opinion )
Narrator Amber Benson gives a nice clear reading however the "I said" "she said" "I said" does end up being a bit of a word whisker and a little annoying, though this is the writting not allowing for contextual narrative rather than Amber. I love the fact the gender of main character is not given and this is a nice touch. All in all worth a listen.

A good storyline for sci-fi fans.

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