Not So Dead: A Sam Sunborn Novel

by Levin Charles

Overview

In NOT SO DEAD, our technologist hero and his quirky team achieve immortality by digitizing their personalities. What could go wrong? Clever and ruthless terrorists want it at any cost. A high-stakes cat and mouse game ensues with apocalyptic danger at every turn.

Follow Sam Sunborn as he teams up with a real Einstein to give birth to an invention that could change the lives of everyone on the planet forever. Sam wants to help people through his invention, but lands up having to defend it and his family from the Leopard, a driven and demented terrorist, whose mission is to rein chaos and destruction on the Western World. Using the latest technology and a battle of wills and wits, Sunborn and the Leopard engage in an epic global clash. What disasters befall the innocent in the Leopard's wake? Can Michelle Hadar, a lowly grad student, and Rich Little, a talented Homeland Agent, possibly come to the rescue? Mysteries and surprises abound in this fast-paced thriller.

Charlie's 20 year background in tech, degree in philosophy and love of fast-paced thrillers are the brew that created NOT SO DEAD. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, Amy, and has two sons, too far away in California.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780692914168
Publisher:	Charles Levin
Publication date:	07/26/2017
Series:	Sam Sunborn , #1
Pages:	314
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Charlie is an emerging author who has written his first novel, Not So Dead. Charlie's 20 year background in tech, degree in philosophy and love of fast-paced thrillers are the brew that created NOT SO DEAD. The following gives you more of a sense of Charlie's history than you probably care to know: As founder of Pathfinder Consulting Group, L.L.C. in 1995, Charlie has directed his efforts towards business consulting and growing businesses on the Internet. Charlie and Pathfinder have helped companies double and triple their sales while reducing costs and improving Customer Service. Pathfinder builds, maintains, and markets multi-million dollar web sites together with providing Strategic Planning and Business Development services. Pathfinder's clients, past and present, include Dell, Intel, Sanofi-Aventis, the United Nations, FocusedBuyer, Hamilton Jewelers, Stanley, Burpee, Carlson Craft and Mr. Clean. He gives presentations to business groups and educational organizations on Online Marketing, business management and the Internet. His avid enthusiasm for these areas makes him a sought after speaker at corporations, local and international events sponsored by the Young Presidents Organization and at business seminars across the U.S. Charlie was also on the Board of Directors of the World Presidents Organization and President of the area chapter of Business Networking International. As part of his diverse interests, Charlie served on the Governing Board of Directors of the Chicago Art Institute. He is also an avid Poker player. Charlie coauthored Harvard Graphics in Business, published by Simon & Schuster in 1991 and his presentation on Poker in Business was the highest-rated presentation of the year at the New Jersey YEO Chapter. He also served as editor of two national publications, The Energy Cost Cutter and The Computer Price Alert. Charlie was also one of the first online Editors for the Washington Post. A Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Rochester with a Bachelors Degree in Philosophy and Ancient Greek. He also attended Boston College Law School. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, Amy, and has two sons, too far away in California.

Editorial Reviews

Steve Berry – New York Times Best Selling Author

“This one imagines a world that is both frightening and fascinating, the possibilities leaving you cold, damp and anxious. There’s a cutting-edge current to every page that’s hard to resist, so get ready to engage your heart and your mind.”

Midwest Book Review

“What if you could live forever, in a digital universe? What if digital immortality was available for all – including a ruthless terrorist who has you in his sights? What if the two of you played a deadlier game in this digital realm than any virtual reality adventure could offer?

All this and more make the thriller Not So Dead exceptional. While some sci-fi in the realm of LitRPG gaming novels already have stories based on digital living, what makes Not So Dead something different is the fact that it embeds a firm thriller element throughout, reaching beyond a relatively obscure genre fan set to tweak the hearts and minds of the general-interest sci-fi or thriller reader looking for something different.

Its plot and premise may lie in a digital universe, but the mechanics and story of Not So Dead have their roots in something far greater than formula writing. Just look at the chapter titles, for one clue of this difference – “Spy Vs. Spy,” “Rook to Queen Eight,” “Quantum State,” and “The Rumble Down Under,” to name just a few of the many intriguing chapters and twists this story takes.

There are obstacles to this winding investigation in both digital and non-digital worlds (“…based on your login, we know who you are and have programmed in a block against speaking with your digital self. We have done the same for each of us. It’s just too dangerous.”), there are progressions forward and backward in the investigation (“I felt like we were living in that old Mad magazine cartoon, Spy vs. Spy. Don’t know why that came to mind. The war on terror has really been more like an endless game of Whack-A-Mole. Sometimes you’re ahead and sometimes you’re behind. Despite what Frank said, I had the uneasy feeling that, at the moment, we were behind.”), and the fact that the characters have a vivid immediate feel to them in both arenas adds tension and realistic involvement to the plot: “I felt like a little kid being left behind and left out. But on second thought I was happy not being involved in another confrontation. My nerves were frayed like ropes about to snap.”

The result is a powerfully-wrought tale of intrigue, terrorism, and threats to immortality that use powerful psychological involvement to keep readers exquisitely on edge until the final surprise. It’s a story designed to reach far from the LitRPG/gamer sci-fi audience and into the hearts and minds of the sci-fi reader who enjoys investigative drama and thriller elements to spice a complex read.”

From the Publisher

2017-09-07
A debut novel explores the possibilities that technology offers to terrorists. Levin plumbs his career in high-tech and his degree in philosophy to ask important "what if" questions. Primary among these is whether people could live forever through computers. This idea leads the protagonist, Sam Sunborn, down a slippery slope. "Can you imagine a world where we can live on beyond our physical lives in a digital world?" Sam asks. "Where we could still interact with our loved ones, read and enjoy all the ‘pleasures of the mind' just like when we were alive?" Unfortunately, Sam's research draws the attention of the Barinian terrorist The Leopard, who sends gunmen after Sam's team, resulting in the physical death and virtual rebirth of his mentor, Frank Einstein (no relation to Albert). The Leopard, a master strategist, is seeking vengeance for his family, killed by U.S. drones: "These were the so-called virtuous Americans, killing indiscriminately based on shaky intelligence." Sam figures that the best defense is a good offense. So he gathers a band to inhibit The Leopard's plans, including his own employees, some young hackers from the U.S. Cyber Command, police detective Al Favor, and Rich Little from Homeland Security. They largely block The Leopard's scheme to take over America's air-control system. But then the group must devise a way to stop his master stroke: sabotaging nuclear plants across the nation. Levin's biggest accomplishment is to make readers ponder which scenarios terrorists could actually accomplish. While people may not yet be able to live on digitally, otherwise, as Levin explains in his Author's Notes, "all the science and technology in this book is currently available and being deployed." He also provides links for those whose curiosity has been piqued by his novel. Levin's pacing is admirable. His story never drags, despite some very technical passages, and leads up to a satisfying twist ending. He's developed highly believable characters, including the terrorists, who many times end up being one-dimensional in this genre's tales. Best of all, many of them survive so that future series installments are possible. But the author has set the bar high with this promising, well-crafted debut. A tense, high-powered techno-thriller.

Kirkus Reviews