Synopses & Reviews
Personal Effects follows the extensive notes of therapist Zach Taylor's investigation into the life and madness of Martin Grace, an accused serial killer who claims to have foreseen, but not caused, his victims' deaths. Zach's investigations start with interviews and art sessions, but then take him far from the hospital grounds — and often very far from the reality that we know.
The items among Grace's personal effects are the keys to understanding his haunted past, and finding the terrifying truth Grace hoped to keep buried:
• Call the phone numbers: you'll get a character's voicemail.
• Google the characters and institutions in the text: you'll find real websites.
• Examine the art and other printed artifacts included inside the cover: if you pay attention, you'll find more information than the characters themselves discover.
Personal Effects, the ultimate in voyeuristic storytelling, represents a revolutionary step forward in changing the way people interact with novels.
Review
"Cutting-edge experimental fiction meets dark fantasy in an interactive novel that may herald the future of modern fiction. Sure to appeal to those who like offbeat fiction or horror." Library Journal
Review
"Personal Effects is a rocking genre-mash that mixes mystery with psychodrama and serves it up in a high-bandwidth torrent of terror." Scott Sigler, author of Infected and the hit podcast novel Earthcore
Review
"Jordan Weisman is once again the vanguard of that new form of narrative — Transmedia Storytelling. The enigmatic tapestry of characters and events slowly slips off the page, taking the reader with it into a mosaic of facts and clues that compel us to know the truth behind the murders of the accused: Martin Grace. So compelling is the journey between these precisely crafted symbiotic worlds, the reader may scarcely recognize their own transformation from passive to active, as they pick up where the text subsides and become the protagonist." Gore Verbinski, director of the Pirates of the Caribbean films
Review
"Start with an eerie setting. Add equal parts House, CSI, and The X-Files. Place yourself at the side of an accidental detective embroiled in a complex web of madness, revenge, betrayal, and secret identities. Then light some dynamite under the box most novels live in and watch the pieces land outside the pages — in art, on websites, in e-mails, and in phone numbers that give you answers when you call. This is the future of storytelling, and it's a thrilling ride." Anthony E. Zuiker, Creator/Executive Producer of the CSI: Franchise
Synopsis
Personal Effects follows the extensive notes of therapist Zach Taylor's investigation into the life and madness of an accused serial killer, who claims to have foreseen, but not caused, his victims' deaths.
About the Author
J. C. Hutchins created the podcast trilogy
7th Son, listened to by over 40,000 people with over a million total downloads. He lives in Deerfield Beach, Florida.
To market Steven Spielgberg's A.I., Jordan Weisman conceived of a murder mystery played out across websites and through email messages, faxes, and voicemail boxes. The game had over three million participants and spawned the "alternate reality game" craze. In 2006, Weisman created Cathy's Book, a novel accompanied by receipts, photos, and other clues leading to numbers and websites that took readers into a groundbreaking multimedia experience. Weisman lives in Bellevue, Washington.