Head On: A Novel of the Near Future

In the future, Haden’s Syndrome locks in 1% of the population. An illness that leaves sufferers without the ability to move their own bodies while retaining full consciousness, Hadens can move around in Threeps, their humanoid robot form, controlled by the afflicted’s own mind.

Chris Shane, FBI Agent and Haden, is called to investigate the suspicious death of athlete Duane Chapman, whose head was torn from his Threep during a violent game of Hilketa. It could be a simple accident, but Shane and his partner, Agent Vann, find that Duane may not be the first casualty of the game – especially when the body of Hilketa’s commissioner is found in his hotel room within hours of the athlete’s death. Is there a conspiracy to prevent the Hilketa League from expanding franchises into other countries? Was the death due to performance-enhancing drugs? Shane and Vann must find the answers hidden among the increasing number of players.

You don’t have to read Lock In , the first in Scalzi’s series of Novels in the Near Future to understand Head On. Head On is science fiction-meets-police procedural and offers a different spin on life and murder.