The Shift
By George Foy
*Nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award in 1997*
Divorced, disillusioned and drinking too much, television writer Alex Munn is on the edge.
For two years he’s been working on the ultimate drama series, a ratings-winning schlockfest of sex, adventure and violence that uses Virtix, a virtual reality technology so good the viewer won’t be able to tell the difference between real life and Real Life, the new show.
To get away from it all, Alex has written an altogether darker story of his own: a Virtix program he calls Munn’s World. It depicts New York in the 1850s, complete with horse-drawn carriages and its very own serial killer – the Fishman – who prowls the gas-lit, poverty-stricken streets, disembowelling his victims.
His nemesis is a lone cop called Alex Munn.
What happens next is impossible, unscripted, and utterly terrifying. For the Fishman has somehow escaped his virtual domain and followed Alex into the present, turning his world into a living nightmare . . .
Praise for George Foy’s The Shift
‘Fresh and powerfully imagined . . . One of the best cyberspace vehicles since Gibson’s Neuromancer and a deserving candidate for every major SF award’ – Booklist
‘An engaging cross-genre mystery . . . This is what both SF and the hard-boiled mystery were born to do, and Foy has done it well’ – Locus
‘A compelling noir mix of science fiction thrills, virtual reality wonders and 19th-century horror . . . Absolutely terrifying’ – Publishers Weekly
‘Something wholly new: a gritty urban science fiction noir’ Thomas H. Cook
‘A hip, scintillating, futuristic thriller; a blend of virtual reality and real horror’ – Janet Morris
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