Book Review: The Eye of Minds by James Dashner

The Eye of Minds, by James Dashner
2013, 323p, YA, Science Fiction
My Rating=4 Stars
Source: Borrowed audiobook from the library

An all-new, edge-of-your seat adventure from James Dashner, the author of the New York Times bestselling Maze Runner series, The Eye of Minds is the first book in The Mortality Doctrine, a series set in a world of hyperadvanced technology, cyberterrorists, and gaming beyond your wildest dreams . . . and your worst nightmares.

Michael is a gamer. And like most gamers, he almost spends more time on the VirtNet than in the actual world. The VirtNet offers total mind and body immersion, and it’s addictive. Thanks to technology, anyone with enough money can experience fantasy worlds, risk their life without the chance of death, or just hang around with Virt-friends. And the more hacking skills you have, the more fun. Why bother following the rules when most of them are dumb, anyway?

But some rules were made for a reason. Some technology is too dangerous to fool with. And recent reports claim that one gamer is going beyond what any gamer has done before: he’s holding players hostage inside the VirtNet. The effects are horrific—the hostages have all been declared brain-dead. Yet the gamer’s motives are a mystery.

The government knows that to catch a hacker, you need a hacker.
And they’ve been watching Michael. They want him on their team.
But the risk is enormous. If he accepts their challenge, Michael will need to go off the VirtNet grid. There are back alleys and corners in the system human eyes have never seen and predators he can’t even fathom—and there’s the possibility that the line between game and reality will be blurred forever.

I listened to this on audio and enjoyed it! James Dashner's books are always full of adventure and plenty of twists and turns. Michael and his friends, Bryson and Sarah, are given incentive by the government to go deep into the VirtNet and locate a hacker who is wreaking havoc. Their adventure starts with a lot of action and doesn't let up. Because there's so much going on, I don't feel that I got to know a lot about the characters outside of their hacking skills. There's a hint of romance for Michael and Sarah but nothing happened between them in this book.

As the story progressed, I wasn't sure who to trust and the revelation at the end was surprising. I'm looking forward to reading more in this series to see what will happen next! (Coming Aug. 2014)

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James was born and raised in Georgia but now lives in the Rocky Mountains with his family. He has four kids, which some might think is too many but he thinks is just right. Once upon a time, James studied accounting and worked in the field of finance, but has been writing full time for several years. (He doesn’t miss numbers. At all.)

In his free time, James loves to read, watch movies and (good) TV shows, snow ski, and read. (Reading was mentioned twice on purpose.) Most of all, he’s thankful that he gets to make a living writing stories and considers himself pretty much the luckiest guy on the planet.

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