{"product_id":"head-on-a-novel-of-the-near-future-9781250385529","title":"Head on: A Novel of the Near Future","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"As much as Scalzi has the scientific creativity of a Michael Crichton, he also has the procedural chops of a Stephen J. Canell to craft a whodunit with buddy-cop charm and suspects aplenty--most of them in someone else's body.\" --\u003ci\u003eUSA Today\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eJohn Scalzi returns with \u003ci\u003eHead On, \u003c\/i\u003ethe standalone follow-up to the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003ebestselling and critically acclaimed \u003ci\u003eLock In\u003c\/i\u003e. Chilling near-future SF with the thrills of a gritty cop procedural, \u003ci\u003eHead On \u003c\/i\u003ebrings Scalzi's trademark snappy dialogue and technological speculation to the future world of sports. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eHilketa 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. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eUntil a star athlete drops dead on the playing field. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIs 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.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Tor Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50459798012178,"sku":"9781250385529","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_50689c38-cff1-44d8-963e-705fcf701ced.jpg?v=1730006785","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/head-on-a-novel-of-the-near-future-9781250385529","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}