24/7

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 17 SEPT 2001

Cobbling together elements of TV reality shows and a few Blair Witch Projecthijinks, this debut novel turns the camera on 12 contestants on a Caribbean island as they square off to solve clues and face their worst fears before a TV audience vote exiles one of their number. Dana Kirsten, a last-minute stand-in, is more than ready to fight for $2 million and "her heart's desire." As the cameras roll on the premiere, however, the host and crew collapse and die an agonizing death from an Ebola-like virus. A voice announces that "Control" has taken over the game, and each contestant is infected with the same virus and must receive an automated daily serum injection at noon to stay alive. The exiled player gets no serum and dies the same horrible death. The network yanks the show, but can't knock out the island broadcast, and the Internet runs the action while government "rescue" attempts are electronically thwarted. Dana bonds with sexy Justin Rourke as they struggle to stay alive and ID the mole in the group helping Control. Can Dana and Justin outsmart Control and escape the navy, which is trying to kill the contestants to prevent spread of the virus? Who is Control, and what are his motives? Brown stirs a busy pot with a surfeit of story lines, but keeps his tale more or less on track as contestants rip each other apart and the TV audience faces an ugly truth. Motivations are less than credible, and solutions are just short of miraculous, but the solid ending and likable, feisty characters should appeal to reality show addicts though they may underwhelm nonviewers.