NOT SO DONE

A virtual computer whiz hopes that the third time’s a charm as he again faces a vicious family of terrorists in this techno-thriller.

In this third installment of his Sam Sunborn series, Levin has the hero making more hard choices. As the first chapter opens, Sam is pining to his virtual partner, genius Frank Einstein, about needing a physical body again. They had developed “re-instantiation,” which allowed virtual identities to be injected into physical bodies. That technology was stolen by a terrorist called The Leopard, who is also virtual. He may be running a “bodyjacking” operation in Paris. But events dictate that Frank return Sam to a physical form. Rich Little, Michelle Hadar, and Renata Fermi, Sam’s allies at the Department of Homeland Security, need his help in solving a mass attack on the Congressional Black Caucus and a poisoning of everyone at an Indiana grocery store. To solve these crimes, they need to track down The Leopard; his sister, Ashaki; and a cell of White nationalists. Meanwhile, Sam’s wife, Monica, leaves him. Complicating matters for Sam is that parts of the body Frank created for him using quantum objective reduction keep fading in and out. So Sam is greatly challenged while attempting to save both his country and his marriage. Levin certainly wants to create a stir, jamming all sorts of characters and action into this book. He presciently includes a pandemic and updated his manuscript after Covid-19 hit. It’s not essential to have read the previous two entries, Not So Dead (2017) and Not So Gone (2018), but it helps, as many characters in those novels make appearances here. The quick-paced narrative of this installment is primarily a battle of wits between Sam and Ashaki, with The Leopard causing chaos as well. The author’s battle with cancer while writing this thriller informs Sam’s thoughts on his mortality. Sam is forced throughout to choose between personal aims and the public good, and the question is whether he can have it all. The conclusion leaves that answer in doubt, with an opportunity for the series to continue should Levin decide to do so.

This riveting series installment continues to ask if eternal life is worthwhile after all.