Zuiker is already creator and executive producer of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, reportedly seen by two billion people worldwide in 200-plus countries, so why not write a novel, too? This first in a series features a special black ops element within the U.S. government whose leader can think himself into the minds of the serial killers he's chasing. Adding to the fun, each story will have 20 book-specific cyberbridges leading to videos, audios, and inter-active elements. The wave of the future? Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.
Zuiker, the creator of the television crime drama CSI, dubs this thrilling series debut the world's first "digi-novel." In an effort to inspire audiences not just to "read" the book but to "experience" it, the authors offer a unique, integrated mashup of both literary text and cinematic clips to tell the story of serial killer profiler and tracker Steve Dark. As the head of a highly classified governmental agency that hunts the world's most violent serial killers, Dark has the ability to assume the killers' mindset as he tracks them down and brings them to justice. Readers are encouraged to visit a web site (www.level26.com) where they can watch supplementary video clips. The three-minute clips, while not essential to the story line, are of high quality and designed to engage readers further in the novel. This forward-thinking blend of text and video risks coming off as gimmicky, but readers will find the meat of the story intriguing enough to stand alone without the online content. VERDICT Resembling the thrillers of Thomas Harris and Jeff Lindsay (see review on p. 69), this experimental crossover novel, coauthored with crime novelist Swierczynski (The Wheel Man), will attract a diverse following and could change the future of publishing with its interactive content. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 5/1/09.]—Carolann Curry, Mercer Univ. Medical Lib., Macon, GA
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CSI creator Zuiker teams with Swierczynski (Severance Package) to create what's billed as the world's first "digi-novel," involving a seriously weird serial killer and the tortured FBI investigator who's forced to hunt him down. There's nothing really new about the basic concept, but Swierczynski handles the writing with assurance and verve. The killer, known as Sqweegel, is "a psychopath who has shot, raped, maimed, poisoned, burned, strangled, and tortured upwards of fifty people in six countries over a span of more than twenty years." The investigator, Steve Dark, lives a quiet life with his beloved, pregnant wife, in Malibu, Calif. The digital concept kicks in every 20 pages or so when the reader is referred to a Web site containing 20 two- to three-minute professionally made film clips that bridge the action from one section to another. It's a bit like watching the extras on a DVD—fun, but not really necessary to the main event. 200,000 first printing.(Sept.)
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