Book notes: Head On by John Scalzi

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Head On: A Novel of the Near Future by John Scalzi

Synopsis:

“John Scalzi returns with Head On, the stand-alone follow-up to the New York Times best-selling and critically acclaimed Lock In. Chilling near-future SF with the thrills of a gritty cop procedural, Head On brings Scalzi’s trademark snappy dialogue and technological speculation to the future world of sports.

Hilketa is a frenetic and violent pastime where players attack each other with swords and hammers. The main goal of the game: obtain your opponent’s head and carry it through the goalposts. With flesh and bone bodies, a sport like this would be impossible. But all the players are “threeps”, robot-like bodies controlled by people with Haden’s Syndrome, so anything goes. No one gets hurt, but the brutality is real, and the crowds love it.

Until a star athlete drops dead on the playing field.

Is it an accident or murder? FBI agents and Haden-related crime investigators Chris Shane and Leslie Vann are called in to uncover the truth – and in doing so travel to the darker side of the fast-growing sport of Hilketa, where fortunes are made or lost and where players and owners do whatever it takes to win, on and off the field.” -Audible

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Opening thoughts:

I really enjoyed this author’s other book Lock In before this one, so I was excited to continue the series. I have high hopes but I doubt I’ll be disappointed. Lock In was such a unique and fun book! I could totally see these be turned into a movie or two.

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Key notes:

The Death of Duane Chapman

• By the end of this exhibition game, Chapman had died after being beheaded for the 3rd time
• Nobody knew how that happened, and there would be an investigation

Chapter 1

• Chris went to the game and met up with his mom who was watching the match
  • She didn’t like the sport very much and neither did he. They actually saw the moment Duane Chapman died via decapitation
• Hilketa is a sport played by people operating Threeps
• 95% of the sports spectators are non-Hayden’s and have made the players megastars and celebrities outside of the Hayden circle
• Hilketa is simultaneously representation and alienation for Haydens

Chapter 2

• Chris and Leslie wanted to get all of Chapman’s player data for their investigation

Chapter 3

• They found the commissioner’s body in his room

Chapter 4

• He talked with Chapman’s wife and found out he was generally straight-edge when it came to his performance and not using any enhancements
• However, she told Chris that Duane was cheating on her before he died

Chapter 5

• Duane’s secret apartment where he had his affairs was on fire and Chris had to save a woman and also a cat before his Threep ran out of battery

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

• There was a startup founder who was pitching the idea of having a Threep rental subscription business for Hayden’s because the costs to own one have gone up since the passing of AK, the bill that reduced government support to Hayden’s

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

• Chris and Van visited the factory that build the sex-oriented Threeps

Chapter 10

• Chris brought the cat back to his flat to give Tony the data vault to hack
  • The twins took the cat in their possession

Chapter 11

• Parker gave Chris the proposition to become a shareholder in the company by being involved in helping them take the market for the rental Threeps industry
  • His reputation and image would be good for them and could make him a billionaire when they go public

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

• He discussed the business proposition he was offered with his parents

Chapter 14

• Kim Sylva had a mock battle against Shane in a scout and tank Threep
  • These were used for practice matches as a fun way to kill time before their formal interview, and it also give him a unique experience

Chapter 15

• The team manager and league council met with Shane and Kim
• The counsel also said he wouldn’t let Shane meet with Ortiz yet, the other player who suffered a similar seizure during a match a while back

Chapter 16

• He met and interviewed Salsito, who told Chris that he suspects his supplements were drugged for whatever reason because he never had seizures before or after that incident

Chapter 17

• Tony discovered that the cat was the encryption key and the tank Threep came to kill it to prevent them from accessing the data vault
• Marla Chapman tried to kill Kim Sylva
  • She failed but Kim is in the ICU and wants to talk to only Chris 

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

• They confronted another FBI agent named Ramsey who admitted to being bribed to help cover up the supplement evidence

Chapter 20

• Chris and Van set up a sting to track the handoff of Ramsey’s package to the drop-off point
  • Then a Threep shot her and shut down
  • Chris went after the man who took the package
• They exposed the league lawyer for setting up Ortiz to take the fall for Chapman’s death
  • Ortiz admitted he was sleeping with Marla, Duane Chapman’s wife, and knew about Chapman and Sylva’s affair
  • Chris told Ortiz that even though they got away, they saved some of the supplements for testing

Chapter 21

• The junior counsel (Sandburg) admitted to leaking information that led to Ramsey’s death

Chapter 22

• Amalie was on the run after they discovered the house full of the dead operatives

Chapter 23

• Chris confronted Amalie and told her everything they had on her and how she’ll be arrested shortly once the plane lands

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Closing thoughts:

I really enjoyed this book and it met my expectations for being a great sequel to Lock In. It was very entertaining from start to finish, and does a great job recapping the previous book and context so that a new reader can pick this book up independently without having to read the previous book.

In the sci-fi genre, this is a solid book. It has an interesting premise, great character development, and unique storytelling with solid plot twists and reveals. As I’ve mentioned, I bet it would be a very good movie if they decided to adapt it for the big screen.

Overall, would recommend this book to anyone who either loved the prequel or is simply a fan of sci-fi or murder mystery type books.

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Nutshell:

The exciting sequel to Lock In, Head On follows FBI agents Chris Shane and Leslie Vann unraveling a string of mysterious Hayden-related deaths around Hilketa athletes, a sport that exclusively uses robotic Threeps.

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Similar books:

• Lock In by John Scalzi
• Recursion by Blake Crouch
• Artemis by Andy Weir
• Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
• We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis E. Taylor
• Off to Be the Wizard by Scott Meyer

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Rating:

3.5/5

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