Open Road Media and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of Dead Lines. I voluntarily chose to review this book and my opinion is freely given.

After losing two very important people in his life, Peter Russell has become a shell of his former self. Once a successful director, he is now making a living running errands for an eccentric California millionaire. Will his life change for the better when a tech company offers him the opportunity to create promotional videos for Trans, mobile communication devices that have seemingly limitless possibilities?

The biggest problem that I had with Dead Lines was the sluggish speed of the plot. The author took so long to get to the heart of the story that I lost interest. Ghost stories that are done well can be downright creepy, but I just did not get that feeling. I had a hard time connecting with the main character, despite all of his struggles, and that may have had something to do with my overall feeling about the book. Dead Lines was clearly not the book for me, but those who like science fiction and horror may like this novel.

I have mixed feeling about this book. It is written more with a guy audience in mind, I think, from the porn aspect. I didn't really like any of the characters in the book and for me the book was hard to follow. * I received a copy of the book free from NetGalley and this is my honest review*

This book was so good! Ghosts are my favorite and this was a really great book! Read this and you won't regret it!

Illicit love, deadly greed, and a healthy dose of the supernatural: what more could you ask for? Then to have the tale told by an author of Bear's stature is just icing on the cake. A chilling story; you know... the kind that leaves you bleary-eyed in the morning because you didn't get to sleep until the wee hours. I absolutely loved this book, so a very rare 5-star rating from me. Read it!

"A ghost is a role without an actor."

This is a re-publication of this book that was originally published in 2004. I am glad that it is being re-introduced to readers.

I buy quite a few of Greg Bear's books because the book summaries always sound so good (whoever writes his summaries deserves a raise). And then I end up usually being disappointed - always forgetting that hard science fiction is not my cup of tea. But not this time. This book is exceptionally good. BUT it's not hard sci fi so that's probably the key.

Peter Russell is 58 years old. He used to direct soft porn movies, has tried rather unsuccessfully being a writer and also failed as a husband. He has been doing errands for his millionaire neighbors for quite a few years. But life has dumped a load of bad happenings on him over the last couple of years and when he's offered a job with a start-up tech company, he needs the money and the distraction. But his troubles are far from over.

The book I always hold up as my standard for spooky stories is GHOST STORY by Peter Straub. I loved that book and periodically re-read it. But I liked this book - a lot. It is a creepy "what if" tale that had me turning on lights to chase away the shadows in the corners of the room. I liked protagonist Russell. I liked the pacing of the story. Don't go into it expecting explanations of some of the happenings. Just relax and prepare to be disturbed.

I received this book from Open Road Media through Net Galley in exchange for my unbiased review.

Peter, Peter, Peter. I guess I don't understand the bad and mediocre reviews for this book. I thought it was great. Maybe it worked so well for me because I've not read any Greg Bear books. I'm not big on sci-fi, but I do love the scary stuff. This wasn't horror, but it was a ghost story, of sorts. Truth is, it gave me a big dose of the wollygaggins! Which is an odd way of saying that occasionally my hair was standing straight up, noises were heart attacks just waiting to happen, and shadows seemed to dance around. For me, the whole book was moody, and that's what I like in a ghost story. In this case GHOSTS story. Peter was at times difficult to like, but very easy to love. That ending was kind of incredible. I was smiling and teary eyed too. All in all a darn good story, and one I'd recommend to folk who like an off beat murder/ghosts story. My thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for the free e-book.

A very well constructed novel apparently within the genre of the macabre via the telling of a ghost story. Peter Russell was at one point a successful director of adult films until one of his two daughters was kidnapped and murdered. That crime turned Peter into a person just able to eke out a small living by running errands for a California millionaire and having little interest in working for a better life. A fortunate contact while waiting to talk to his employer one day introduces him to what the manufacturer describes as a device that will revolutionize the communications industry. It is called "Trans" and is an exceptionally clear mobile device that can operate anywhere with an incredible low cost of operation.
Peter agrees to begin promoting "Trans" and he begins using it for his own personal needs. Suddenly he begins to see his murdered daughter and hearing other disembodied voices. The best part of Mr Bear's book is that given the fact of a new communication device somehow reaching out into other dimensions lends logic to the consequences of such an occurrence.
The pace of the book quickens as more and more events occur based on the technology of the "Trans" and make the book more science fiction than a tale of the supernatural designed with fright sequences to tantalize the reader. But of course, Greg Bear's forte is within the world of science fiction and we have a good novel in that genre rather than one more ghost story.

I received a free electronic copy of this novel from Netgalley, Greg Bear, and Open Road Integrated Media in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for sharing your hard work with me. This book was originally published by Ballantine Books in 2004.

I am always tickled when I run across a Greg Bear novel - and am thrilled to see them being re-issued. Thank you, Open Road Integrated Media, for keeping the oldie's but goodies accessible.
This is not a Bear tale that I had run across before. I can tell you that it is massively scary and a good bit funny, if you can laugh at yourself successfully. We only look old on the outside, us boomer babies. Well, except for Michelle, but she had a deal going with the devil, I think. No one should look that good pushing 60. I promise you that you will look at your convenient cell phone in a much different way in about 5 hours read time, and nothing about this tale is dated.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to previw Dead Lines by Greg Bear.
Former porn star director, Peter Russell, is a victim to a brutal crime - one of his daughters is killed in a brutal manner. Peter's life spirals downward until he gets connected with a friend with special cell phones. These are called TRANS and they are really different - soon he starts seeing his deceased daughter.
This is part mystery and supernatural fantasy. I didn't like the lead character and that was my main issue with this book. Just ok for me.

I haven't liked everything by Greg Bear, but I know I'm always going to get something interesting when I read one of his books. Unfortunately, while 'Dead Lines' quickly ramps up the spine-chilling suspense and increasing sense of weird things happening, the denouement came out of nowhere. It seemed weird to introduce the 'bad guy' right at the end, with no other real mention or hint of it before. It threw me off, quite frankly, and kicked me out of the story.

Worth a read, but be prepared to weather some inconsistencies.

Part science fiction and part ghost story, this book has a long ways to go to be able to be added to the great horror authors. There are parts of the book that are interesting and hold you attention. Equally, there are parts that are difficult to get through. Difficult, such as tedious.
The main character, Peter is an interesting person. However, he needs more supporting characters that are as intriguing as him.
4 Stars

Wow, is this the same Greg Bear? I couldn't even finish it, this is like going fishing in a dry lake. Pass on this one

Actual rating 2.5 stars.

I had such high hopes for this novel. It was one that really caught my attention and I was thrilled when I received it. The plot just didn't click with me and the characters, especially our MC, were just too bland and two dimensional.
I forced myself to read until the ending and I was just all around underwhelmed by everything that happened.
As someone who loves horror and is just dipping into Sci-Fi, this one left me upset by the lack of substance it brought.
The only reason it's a 2.5 is because the concept is one that is very interesting to me, it just didn't get executed to my liking.

Despite the blurb from Stephen King, I found myself a little disappointed in this book. The story was ok, but I just could not connect with most of the characters in the book. They came across as a little one dimensional and a bit stereotypical. It was hard to keep my interest engaged.

Review: DEAD LINES by Greg Bear

Wow! Wow! Wow! Greg Bear has long been a hero to science fiction aficionados, an author who combines extraordinary talent, comprehension of hard science, and an amazingly deep delineation of his characters. In DEAD LINES he turns attention to what I characterize as sci to horror. A brilliant researcher (almost mad genius) invents Trans, a new communication device with global capacity. Sounds too good to be true? Trans reaches "below" and incites entities not usually able to reach our plane. The results are almost Lovecraftian in intensity. By the end, the reader has rolled through the wringer with the very fallible human characters and their turmoil.