Book Details:
Print Length: 479 pages
Page Numbers Source ISBN: 172961597X
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Publication Date: October 8, 2018
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
Language: English
ASIN: B07J9PHFYS
About the Book:
“I can’t believe we’re even having this conversation!” I shouted. “You’re not even real!”
Thorsten was quiet for a moment, thoughtful almost. When he replied, his voice was low and soft, “I am as real as you.”
I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. “Ok,” I said flippantly.
“I don’t understand why you say these things,” Thorsten continued, looking down at me in a way that was too human for comfort. “Do I not feel as you feel? Hurt as you hurt? I crave and I hope and I want just as you do. I feel a knife to the skin just as you would...”
As the top detective in her small Alaskan town, Claire Darrow has seen her fair share of cases. But when a distraught widow comes to Claire with the suspicious details of her husband’s death, Claire is forced into new territory—virtual reality gaming territory.
Following the trail set for her by billionaire playboy, Seth Channing (the owner of NuLife, an exclusive VR gaming company), Claire goes on the adventure of a lifetime into the Viking world of Valhalla.
Caught in a web of secrets, lies, and skeletons from her own closet, Claire heads into a world she never knew existed. Braving treacherous quests and dangerous computer-generated characters is only half the battle as she sets out to collect the details of the case to decipher whether NuLife is behind not one, but three murders.
The line between what's real and what's simulated starts to blur once Claire meets the Viking King, Thorsten, a man so real she has to remind herself he's nothing more than programmed code. And yet Thorsten's emotional compass is so vast, she can't deny her attraction to him. Pretty soon, Claire starts to wonder if she’s playing the game… or if she’s the one being played.
My Review:
NuLife is an up-and-coming virtual reality (VR) company on an island in Alaska. After one of their prestigious clients, Philip Tatenbaum, dies shortly after his latest trip to the isolated and secretive island, his widow turns up at the police station crying foul play. Detective Claire Darrow is wary at first about NuLife being responsible for her husband’s death. To appease Mrs. Tatenbaum, Claire takes a crack at investigating the company. She soon learns that there have been several deaths of NuLife’s customers.
One of her investigative methods takes her to the island where NuLife is headquarter only to learn nothing. Stonewalled at every turn, Claire is all but sure something funny is going on and is determined to figure it out. In trying to learn more about NuLife, and its illusive owner, Seth Channing, Claire realizes that both the company and Seth are not on anyone’s radar. There aren’t articles, news stories, interviews, or a social media. Somehow, Seth discovers Claire is searching for him, contacts her, and offers her a tour of the facility. That is how Claire eventually ends up at NuLife, a willing but hesitant participant in a VR trip to the Viking town of Valhalla.
NuLife: Valhalla is my first experience with a LitRPG book. I have a few on my TBR list but I’ve only read Valhalla so far – and loved the book. The concept and ideas brought forth by the author into Valhalla kept me engaged and interested. Claire her boss, Grant’s characters are fantastic. They have comfortable banter between them and a delicious, low-key tension that culminates into a powerful kiss only, both continue to pretend it didn’t happen.
The book ends without satisfying the main storyline, or any storyline yet, but not on such a cliffhanger that frustrates the reader. I’m anxious to read Gangland, book 2 and see what progress Claire makes in the case and whether the author brings Claire and Grant together.
My Rating:
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