While dining out with his family, an ex-marine goes berserk and violently kills a congressman. Detective Cliff Ambrose and his partner from LAPD VR (Virtual Reality) investigations department are assigned the case. It is like nothing they have ever encountered before.

The founder of Virtual Perfection, Brad Dixon, is rushing to release radically new technology. It allows the human brain to interface directly with the VR world. The technology creates extremely realistic simulations that do away with awkward devices needed to interact with the senses. This makes the whole experience indistinguishable from reality itself.

Brad implements a scheme to drive his wife Audra insane by using his new technology. Audra, Brad’s wife and part-owner of the company is having an affair with Martin Cooper, the senior engineer at virtual perfection.

While this is going on, Audra’s uncle and Chairman of the board for VP is working on a deal to sell an Artificial Intelligence system to the Army. It will integrate all commands and remove the human decision from the command structure, making it entirely run by computers. Army command, as well as government, is resistant to this idea. A secret group is working to eliminate the opposition through perfect crime. This is achieved through the use of VR technology.

Several other characters and subplots interact with these to create a murder mystery story fused with virtual reality. Who is responsible for what? What is the real plot remains elusive throughout? What is really happening and what is virtual reality remains an intriguing and captivating mystery throughout the entire story.

The Virtual Soul of the City is a technothriller set in the near future. It goes to great lengths to display likely technology and interesting characters along with several intermeshed and intricate pots. The result is a captivating mystery that should appeal to many people.

Adam Dieringer