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  • Head On (Narrated by Wil Wheaton)

  • By: John Scalzi
  • Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
  • Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (1,405 ratings)
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Head On (Narrated by Wil Wheaton)

By: John Scalzi
Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
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Summary

"As much as Scalzi has the scientific creativity of a Michael Crichton, he also has the procedural chops of a Stephen J. Cannell to craft a whodunit with buddy-cop charm and suspects aplenty - most of them in someone else's body." (USA Today)

John Scalzi returns with Head On, the stand-alone follow-up to the New York Times best-selling and critically acclaimed Lock In. Chilling near-future SF with the thrills of a gritty cop procedural, Head On brings Scalzi's trademark snappy dialogue and technological speculation to the future world of sports.

Hilketa is a frenetic and violent pastime where players attack each other with swords and hammers. The main goal of the game: obtain your opponent's head and carry it through the goalposts. With flesh and bone bodies, a sport like this would be impossible. But all the players are "threeps", robot-like bodies controlled by people with Haden's Syndrome, so anything goes. No one gets hurt, but the brutality is real, and the crowds love it.

Until a star athlete drops dead on the playing field.

Is it an accident or murder? FBI agents and Haden-related crime investigators Chris Shane and Leslie Vann are called in to uncover the truth - and in doing so travel to the darker side of the fast-growing sport of Hilketa, where fortunes are made or lost and where players and owners do whatever it takes to win, on and off the field.

©2018 John Scalzi (P)2018 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about Head On (Narrated by Wil Wheaton)

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Not as good as Lock In

Still a great at story which makes great use of the Haden's premise which gives Scalzi great scope for some otherwise impossible action.
Another great performance by Will Wheaton.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Don’t loose your head!

John Scalzi has almost created a recipe for the perfect book in here. FBI agents: Chris and Vann are running an investigation looking into a mysterious death that would make Holmes and Watson proud. It all takes place in the near future, with just a few sci-fi themes. The book focuses on the interrrogation of witnesses and explores your moral views through the ‘Haden’s syndrome’ concept, letting your imagination run wild. If that isn’t enough, the sarcastic humour and interactions between the agents show a character and skilful writing style of the author. Truly entertaining.

Wil Wheaton’s narration is splendid. The charisma he puts into the story is rare and makes a fantastic audiobook. Perhaps he draws his energy from his beard... and I hope he keeps on performing more books.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Who dunnit with a defference

@Scalzi is a gifted story teller and has devilered some hard-hitting social commentary in this book. I personally didn't like the premise of the game. However this does not distract from a well spun yarn. Listening to the book and keeping track of all the small yet vital characters was a bit like extreme listening.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Did not enjoy this sequel.

It became a sports thriller very quickly. The minutiae and background of the sport lost my interest. Some idiosyncrasies with the manner and participants of the sport from the first novel (trying hard not to spoiler here!) but at the end of the day could have been a murder mystery based on football (or Rollerball if you want to keep it Sci-fi..). Not for me. From what I listened to, also felt Will was phoning it in.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Still good. but not as good as Lock in

Enjoyed this but it felt quite derivative, compared to Locl In which felt fresh. Well read, worth reading.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Funny, original and fantastic narration

really enjoyable, the main characters are sarcastic and funny and Wil Wheaton is brilliant as ever ❤️

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Hooked from the start

Second book in what I hope will be a long series also hope Will Wheaton stays as narrator

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

good follow up

found this second book entertaining. not loads of progression on the tech from the first book but an engaging story and still enjoy the characters. good narration performance.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent-again!

Sequel that is just as cool and gripping as the first (lock in)
Wheaton narration is quirky and sassy, perfect.
Loved it.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

I enjoyed this book

I felt the first book had a better plotI enjoyed it, but not as much as Lock In

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