Dead Lines

by Greg Bear

With his acclaimed novels Darwin’s Children and Vitals , award-winning author Greg Bear turned intriguing speculation about human evolution and immortality into tales of unrelenting suspense. Now he ventures into decidedly more frightening territory in a haunting thriller that blends modern technology and old-fashioned terror, as it charts one man’s inexorable descent into a world of mounting supernatural dread.

For the last two years, Peter Russell has mourned the death of one of his twin daughters—who was just ten when she was murdered. Recent news of his best friend’s fatal heart attack has now come as another devastating blow. Divorced, despondent, and going nowhere in his career, Peter fears his life is circling the drain. Then Trans comes along. The brainchild of an upstart telecom company, Trans is (as its name suggests) a transcendent a sleek, handheld interpersonal communication device capable of flawless operation anywhere in the world, at any time. “A cell phone, but not”—transmitting with crystal clarity across a newly discovered, never-utilized bandwidth . . . and poised to spark a new-technology revolution. When its creators offer Peter a position on their team, it should be a golden opportunity for him. If only he wasn’t seemingly going mad.

Everywhere Peter turns, inexplicable apparitions are walking before him or reaching out in torment. After a chilling encounter with his own lost child he begins to grasp the terrifying Trans is a Pandora’s box that has tapped into a frequency not of this world . . . but of the next. And now, via this open channel to oblivion, the dead have gained access to the living. For Peter, and for humankind, a long, shadowy night of the soul has descended, bringing with it the stuff of a horrifying nightmare from which they may never awaken.

By turns spine-tingling, provocative, and heart-wrenching, Dead Lines marks a major turning point in the consistently dazzling storytelling career of Greg Bear. Alongside its hero, Dead Lines peers into the darkest place we can imagine and wonders—fearfully—what might be peering back.


From the Hardcover edition.

Genres: Science Fiction, Horror, Fiction, Thriller, Supernatural, Fantasy, Audiobook

320 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Greg Bear was an American writer and illustrator best known for science fiction. His work covered themes of galactic conflict (Forge of God books), parallel universes (The Way series), consciousness and cultural practices (Queen of Angels), and accelerated evolution (Blood Music, Darwin’s Radio, and Darwin’s Children). His last work was the 2021 novel The Unfinished Land. Greg Bear wrote over 50 books in total.

(For a more complete biography, see Wikipedia.)

Reviews

[LIsa Noell "Rocking the chutzpah!" · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Benjamin Stahl · Rating 1 out of 5]

Reading this crap was similar to waking up with a hangover and moping around the house wanting to have a wank but not being able to get hard. I just couldn't get settled into the story - it was all over the place and lacked any depth or realism whatsoever. Clearly, Greg Bear had little idea where he wanted this story to go because through the ramblings of some three-hundred pages, the story doesn't go anywhere.
Things that are meant to be creepy but aren't, just seem to happen. They have no relevance to anything, and the character merely drifts through them with little thought or interpretation. The climax is over the top, and has no solid groundwork, thus instead of being able to make sense of the author's vague and chaotic descriptions, you find yourself wondering why the hell it is happening in the first place. This book - though not the worst thing I've read - was still terrible...

[Aly · Rating 3 out of 5]

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*

[Pat Cummings · Rating 5 out of 5]

For those who would dine on old, dead dreams of glory, Hollywood is always willing to set a place at the table. In his house in the Glendale Hills, Peter Russell has been dining for years on his defunct dream.

A one-time creator of “nudie films” and Playboy cartoons, he planned novels, plays, short stories that somehow never were completed. Peter’s creative stream was first diverted by the easy sex of his heyday, and then dammed up by the murder of one of his twin daughters.

Now he retains just enough charm to get by. He provides the likable “face” of business for a misanthropic millionaire, and charms the trophy wife of his employer, his remaining daughter, and just about every woman he meets (except his ex-wife). And even though he is not in the movie business anymore, he does still have connections.

Those connections bring him an innovative new cell phone, a hefty commission check, and an exciting chance to get back in the game. He will create a complete marketing campaign for the Trans, an eerily clear communication device that, according to the inventor, taps into a space “below our world, lower than networks used by atoms or subatomic particles, to where it is very quiet.”

What if some of the things you see every day aren’t really there? What if they just look normal? You seldom compare notes with anybody, do you? You don’t bring along a video camera and record every minute of your daily life to see what you might have seen that wasn’t there after all.

Even as he dreams of revived glory, the spirit of Rod Serling is waiting to detour him into nightmare. Peter’s “signpost up ahead” is a phone call to let him know his best friend is dead. After that call, his life becomes more like a Twilight Zone episode with each passing day. His dead daughter, his deceased friend, and a host of other “ghosts”, living and not, begin to haunt his life.

Peter’s efforts to understand these things take him from one memorable extreme to another: he consults a charismatic psychic, takes a funereal road-trip to San Francisco to dump his friend’s ashes in the sea, and visits a famous prison-turned-office bloc where the death chamber is now the server room for a telecommunications startup. Phone calls from Prague and an invisible chess opponent come to seem equally mundane in Peter’s new world, as the tale moves in increments from creepy understanding to real horror, ending in a crashing climax of fire and discovery.

Greg Bear’s Dead Lines is truly spooky, in the way ghost stories seldom are after we enter our cynical middle years. Peter, like most of Bear’s readers, does not believe in psychics, ghosts or paranormal powers. He may not be happy, but at least he is content with his life and himself. The power of Bear’s story is that we understand how Peter loses both that easy contentment and his disbelief.

We travel with him on his downhill path to the queasy realization that Hamlet was right. There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in our philosophies. And if we’re lucky, none of them have our cell phone numbers.

[Thom · Rating 2 out of 5]

The blurb on the author's site is a sparse "A high tech ghost story..."

The main character is pushed around by the plot, by the other characters, and eventually by ghosts as well. A lot of the story is learning how he is going to react next.

While science-fiction-ish, the mechanism behind these new phones is not explained terribly well. "Deeper than atoms" or something like that. So it's not great sci-fi, and I didn't find it particularly great horror either.

I listened to the book as read by Jason Culp. He did a pretty good job with the main character and the narrative, but some of the supporting cast - especially the women - were not the best.

I'll stick with Greg Bear for science fiction, but will likely give his future horror titles a pass.

[Louis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I listened to this book during a longish road trip I took a week ago.

I've enjoyed Greg Bear's science fiction work in the past. With this book (as the summation noted) he has written a technological horror novel.

Sadly, the only horror I felt was that it was not better. He honestly is a good writer and I didn't feel this story showed off his strengths. I hesitate to even think of it as horror. I've seen other reviewers state that it's more of a "light" ghost story. Agreed...

The setup is the introduction of a new style of mobile phone that gives folks access to the ghostly realm. Folks start seeing people that have passed on...

I was hoping that as he's done with his science fiction, he'd provide a nice explanation of the other world, how the phones broke the barrier, a peek into this other dimension... but nope. It just tied to be scary and I just didn't feel it. Honestly I just didn't care. The story just seemed to meander about.

I do see other reviewers that really like it so while I didn't, if this is the sort of the story that may interest you, I say give it a try. It might work better for you than for me. From now on, I'll stick with his science fiction.

[emery Buriedinbookland · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me this ebook to review!
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.

[Kelly · Rating 1 out of 5]

All technique with no art. The characters are flat and uninteresting. The story had promise but no depth. Reminiscent of early sci-fi but for the wrong reasons. The female characters were all two dimensional and were only there as set dressing for the male journey.

[Tracy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting storyline, but not engrossing

[D. Krauss · Rating 3 out of 5]

Peter Russel, minor soft porn producer and director who enjoys a small cult following, is approached by a new tech company called Trans, which has developed a device that can communicate anywhere in the world at any time, no contracts necessary, just a one-time purchase price. You have to buy a new one when the battery wears out in a year, natch, but it's still revolutionary. And why do they approach Peter Russel? Because he is good friends, almost a servant, of billionaire Joseph Benoliel, who Trans is trying to get seed money from, and Joseph promotes Peter’s involvement as one of his prices to participate. Too happy to oblige, Trans hires Peter and gives him 10 Trans units to pass around and test.

And things get weird.

Peter is a wreck. One of his twin daughters was brutally murdered and he fell into severe alcoholism, losing his wife and remaining daughter and his small career. Joseph and his wife, Michelle, are his only contacts with reality, except for his best friend, Phil, who dies suddenly. Peter gathers his ashes and sets out to scatter them in the appropriate California location and then other people start showing up. People who aren’t really there or shouldn’t be. Like Phil. Like his dead daughter. Lots of dead people, actually.

What’s going on?

Well, it has something to do with that new-fangled Trans unit (which, given today’s politics, could be a funny statement). These units access various frequencies not used before, at least, by living people. So you can see where this is going. Eventually. Because, Holy Hannah, is this a slow read. It takes well past the first quarter of the book to get into the actual story. Up until that time, this is a character study of a fairly likable guy who’s pretty much given up on his life. Until the things start happening.

This, of course, is what you expect from Bear: the opening of his books have nothing to do with the story itself. Takes a while to get into it and tests the reader’s patience, but it’s Bear so you hold on and you are generally rewarded.

Generally. But not here.

Because this doesn’t quite deliver. You’re always on the edge of the story breakout but Bear does several annoying things that take you out of it at critical moments, like finally discovering the nature of his daughter’s death, which is rather shocking and should have been a lead element. I’m not quite sure what Bear intends with this story, whether a character study or scifi horror and, yes, both can be done, as in the Expanse series, but Bear doesn’t seem to know which one he’s on. It’s like someone jostles his elbow every once in awhile and says, “Hey, Greg, you’re actually writing science fiction here, not a romance.”

Because this is science fiction, not horror as some have so labeled it. There is a technical element which eliminates the supernatural, so this is best described as scary scifi. Not hard scifi; the tech isn’t all that involved. And not all that good scary scifi, either. Just isn’t.

Still, it’s Bear, and there’s a certain deference rightfully earned. Which is the importance of a writer’s career; once they have established themselves, then you expect a certain level of professionalism and have no qualms about picking up one of their efforts.

Even if it disappoints.

[David Overman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Your call is important to us. Please hold.... onto dear life!!!! or my **** star review of Dead Lines by Greg Bear

One of the first books I read from a Stephen King article from the Historical Genius dot com site stating his favorite scary books was this one. After finishing it, I can say it is very much in the Stephen King vein.

Like many of King's book there's almost an element of science fiction to them as much as the supernatural, whether it's telekinesis or other dimensions, parallel worlds and so on. The horror elements like this can be nicely intertwined and Greg Bear takes this and skillfully runs with it.

The article calls this technological horror novel, so yeah, science fiction horror. As the central character Peter Russel is struggling as his Hollywood fringe, of the fringe, life is going nowhere as he grieves his dead daughter and failed marriage. He's become pretty much and errand boy for a gross Weinstein-type Hollywood producer. When this company comes looking for his boss to invest, he becomes entangled in a technological start-up company of a new wireless service and specialized phone that will revolutionize the world. But when he learns that the phone is using a technology that even its creators don't quite understand taping into a power source of another dimension, he notices things begin to get strange. The power source is tied into the "crossing over realm" and so as Peter begins seeing his dead daughter more and more, and more and more ghosts begin to appear the normal crossing over seems to have gone haywire because of the phones and with them already spread around the world it becomes a world-wide event.

Throw in some serial killer aspects as Peter tries to navigate the seedier side of Hollywood to understand truly what's going on, and you have ghost thriller, serial killer, science run amok that stands up fine alongside the best of the "epic widespread" hauntings of authors like Stephen King and Peter Straub.
-DCO

PS: I was reminded a lot of the science fiction ghost stories in the one season only television show called Ghost War where on a remote Alaskan island an earthquake unleashes something that interferes with the crossing over of it's inhabitants.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

"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.

[Federico Pereyra · Rating 3 out of 5]

La primera mitad es bastante aburrida pero repunta en la segunda. Aunque sólo se queda en una novela pasable.

[Tentatively, Convenience · Rating 3 out of 5]

review of
Greg Bear's Dead Lines
by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - December 4, 2017


Greg Bear's Quantico followed this one. In my review of that I wrote:

"Ok, I've previously drawn parallels between Greg Bear's "Blood Music" & Michael Crichton's "Prey" that were unflattering to Crichton (see http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34...) & then I HATED Crichton's "State of Fear" (see http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15...). SO, I credited Bear w/ being original & discredited Crichton w/ being a paltry 2nd (or 3rd or whatever). THEN Bear writes this - a novel not that dissimilar from Crichton's "State of Fear" but coming out a yr or 2 later." - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

The reason why I start this review off this way is because Dead Lines, as the predecessor of Quantico, puts Quantico somewhat in perspective. I speculate (does that makes this SR instead of SF? Speculative Reviewing?) that Bear was trying to make more money by writing in established popular genres. Who knows? Maybe everyone in his family had flesh-eating disease & the bubonic plague, I mean he might've been desperate for money.

Dead Lines has a list of writers that it's "FOR":

"J. Sheridan Fanu.
Henry James.
M. R. James.
Arthur Machen.
H. P. Lovecraft.
Shirley Jackson.
Fritz Leiber.
Richard Matheson,
Kingsley Amis.
Peter Straub.
Bruce Joel Rubin.
Ramsey Campbell.
Dean Koontz.
Stephen King.
Clive Barker.

Scary people, all." - p vii

I've heard of most of those authors, some of them are popular horror writers, others a bit more ambiguous. I read an entire Dean Koontz novel & found it to be a bit predictable in its chain-pulling, I read one Stephen King short story & have never had the desire to read anything else by him since - although I've seen more movies based on his bks than even a hypnotist cd ferret out. I don't think of either authors as being worth emulating but, having worked in the bkstore biz for 8 yrs, I can say that King was the most popular writer I've ever known of so if you want to make money that's apparently the way to go, or the road to hoe, or the road to ho.

&, heck'a'goshen!, King even endorses Dead Lines on the back cover: "A REALLY EXCELLENT NOVEL". I hope he didn't think too hard about that.

Bear, even at his worst, wch is what I'd say Dead Lines is, still has interesting ideas that put his stories a notch above the furthest my belt can stretch. In this case, a new post-cell-phone technology taps into some unexpected places. The pre-story flash-forward (of sorts) hints at the ambitious plot:

"We were all there in that city that draws its paycheck from the manufacture of ghosts. We were there when one man started handing out free talk. And we are there now, sad little dolls made of dust." - p 1

Ain't it the truth. But what is all this 'free talk' stuff I've been hearing about? Is it like 'Freedom Fries'?

""If you take the damned thing, turn it off while you're here/"

""They don't turn off," the young man explained to Peter, drawing closer. His wide blue eyes assessed Peter's character and the size of his wallet. "You can turn the ringer down, however."

"Peter smiled as if at a half-heard joke. "What is it?" he asked.

""Free talk," Joseph said. "But it doesn't work.["]" - p 12

That's b/c freedom isn't free. It is on sale this wk only tho. Buy 2 get 1 free. Unfortunately, all 3 of them are ghosts:

"With Baslan out of the doorway, Peter had a clear view through an arch to the dining room, about thirty feet from the porch. A little boy in a frilled shirt and knee stockings stood there. He looked sick; not sick, dead; worse than dead, unraveling. His face turned in Peter's direction, skin as pale and cold as skim milk. The head seemed jointed like a doll's. The grayish eyes saw right through him, and suddenly the outline blurred, precisely as if the boy had fallen out of focus in a camera viewfinder." - pp 35-36

Oh, he probably just came back from the dr's. You know what I say: A highwayman said: "Your money or your life!", a dr just thinks: "Your money & then you life." Business is business. Maybe the dr just gave him a steroid shot in the hip. The next thing you know, a mere 23 pp later, you're seeing another ghost:

"Through his tears, he saw that the woman's face was like a flat sheet of mother-of-pearl. Her eyes opened to quizzical hollows. Less than solid, she resembled a paper doll frayed by careless snipping. Peter could actually see her edges ripple." - pp 59-60

If I don't write something here before I move on to the next quote it'll seem that the ghost above is the "she". The wd be funny but I've decided against misleading YOU, dear reader, in that way.

"She introduced the guests to Peter. Two he had met long ago, writers from a group Phil had belonged to for almost thirty years, the Mysterians." - p 69

Now, maybe that's a take-off of "The Futurians", an early-to-mid 20th century SF group. Or maybe Peter's the question-mark. Get it? Question Mark & the Mysterians? HahahAHAhahA.. Another good touch is to have Peter be a former sexploitation Psychotronic moviemaker a little down on his luck:

"["]Out of the onetime slammer comes a promo campaign headed by Peter Russell, the edgiest sexploitation director ever." Weinstein's face grew serious. "And to be honest, Russ Meyer turned us down. But then he suggested you, one Russell to another."" - p 101

The clues fall into place like glue traps raining from heck:

"["]In less than twenty years, world will run out of bandwidth. Radio, TV, cell phones, wireless, all will halt screeching growth." He smiled. "But world's problem is solvable, I have solved it."

"Kreisler rose and started to move his arms, slowly at first, then describing large arcs. No need for waves, for radiation. I discover new source of bandwidth, forbidden information channels, not truly radiation at all, unknown until now. Channels in what I call Bell continuum" - p 105

I call it the "Taco Bell Continuum" but it's basically the same thing.

""Like cell phones, Trans units always tie into network. They are always on. What is more remarkable, as they work, they actually change surrounding space, perhaps permanently. They alter information permittivity." - p 107

Hence, Free Love.

""Yes, but we use term as a metaphor," Kreisler said. "A capacitor stores up charge. Space stores up information, but over time, it fades, dissipates. When Trans accesses the forbidden channels, she increases space's permittivity. Information does not fade, but builds up until it jumps like a spark.["]" - p107

It's like when you go to hug someone & you get shocked by static electricity & the next thing you know their whole life story flashes in front of you & you realize they're a serial killer & they know that you know & they stab you to death. Happens all the time.

As a (non-Psychotronic) moviemaker myself I appreciated this next bit:

""I presume I'm going to shoot HD video," he continued, his tongue gluey. "I've never used a Betacam, or whatever it is now. I'd like to see some of the equipment, just to know what to rent."

Karl shrugged. "Hell, with what's in Circuit City right now, you might as well buy. Only cost you a couple of grand for something pretty terrific."

"Peter shook his head. "This is professional, Karl."

""That's what I'm saying, Peter. Something the size of your hand, locked onto a hundred-dollar tripod, will give you great results. What kind of budget?"" - p 142

A "couple of grand"?! Pshaw! I use a $35 'sports' camera bought at another famous chain store & I'm the best moviemaker in the world!

"Peter stopped at an old pay phone near an Asian grocery, one of the last pay phones in Los Angeles—they were being dismantled everywhere. Everyone was going wireless." - p 231

True dat. The reader reading this might not even remember pay phones. They were the things that rival drug dealers pissed on the mouthpieces of.

& that, gentle wo(men), concludes today's PowerPoint on sails.

[Stephen Gallup · Rating 2 out of 5]

I selected this book somewhat hastily before departing on a vacation. It probably wasn't the best choice, but once involved with it I pressed ahead and finished.

The part I liked was the concept of a new telecommunication technology that exploits limitless bandwidth to be found at a subatomic level, in the process "actually changing space, perhaps permanently," and that—surprise—turns out to be not as free or as benign as expected.

I did not particularly like what the author did with the concept, partly because horror is not a genre I enjoy. The climactic scene, in which Peter returns to Salammbo late at night, is the stuff of some cheesy tv horror show, and the author likely had that in mind when writing it. Basically we have some stock characters going through some relatively familiar routines for the sake of exciting perhaps-unhealthy emotion.

[Bonnye Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

GNab 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.
pub date Aug 22, 2017
orig pub Ballantine Books 2004
Open Road Integrated Media
Re-read January 9 - January 12, 2021. Thrilling and a bit more downer than I had remembered, but still an awesome book.

[Coreen Marroquin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not like this book at all -- the plot was nearly incoherent. The "new" communication device opens up, sort of, communication of a kind with the dead worldwide, but then what happens and how is it relevant? Its impact is never explained and never resolved -- his friend in Prague is advised by Peter to destroy the device, fight his way through the phalanx of "ghosts," and fly out of the country. To where? To what end? It "helps" in a convoluted and incomprehensible way in the resolution of his daughter's murder, sort of. And what does the "revolutionary" communication device have to do with all these peripheral people -- the lady "guru," Joseph, Michelle, his deceased friend Phil? An incomprehensible muddled mess of a novel -- just awful!

[Roger · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have enjoyed other things that Greg Bear has written, so Dead Lines seemed like a natural, and I was very happy to pick it up. My was I wrong. Past performance does not necessarily guarantee a salubrious reading experience. If we drop all the big words I really did not enjoy this book at all. I found I was not inspired to care about any of the characters, and I really just wanted the book to be over. Only stubbornness allowed me to finish. Nothing exciting happens until well over halfway through the novel. Don’t waste your time with this one.

[Anita · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was definitely horror and not the science fiction I expected. I listened to the audio version. I'm marking this as "read," because I listened to 8 of the 9 CDs. I couldn't stand to listen to more at that point. I was prepared to give a rating of "2" until I got to the 8th CD. At that point the story became horrible. Prior to that it was something tolerable to listen to while doing the treadmill or stationary bike.

[Elanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are as many good reasons to love this novel as there are to despise it.
On one side, this Greg Bear guy has an old-school approach to gender anything. Women are sexual objects or plot devices, and some assertions about the male and female "mind" are, honestly, ridiculous. Plot development is clunky and some bad psychology makes it even clunkier. For example [SPOILER ALERT]

Peter has lost his daughter exactly two years before. He needs to be reminded by a random detective who seems caring more than him about finding the girl's murderer. This would make sense if he was that kind of character, but he is not, so how doesn't he remember? Or, why are we not given a hint that he doesn't want to remember?

[END OF SPOILER]

There are so many threads that don't lead anywhere... The detective, the tech side, everything is left hanging.

On the other side, the characters are likeable, the ending is truly moving, in a bitter-sweet sort of way, and there is an atmosphere of melancholy and missed opportunities, of loss and grief, that reminded me of Dandelion Wine.
Also, Greg Bear writes male protagonists that are exactly my sort of man: middle aged, sweet but rugged and reserved, with a killer sense of humour and a dislike of drama, kinda Hemingway without the machismo.
I know I will read again this novel, because of the golden sunset atmosphere, all the nonsensical plot development notwithstanding.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Federico Fros Campelo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was excited to find (by chance, in a bookstore) a title by Greg Bear which was not Sci-Fi as usual for him. I felt enthusiastic to read something different.
This has nothing to do with sci-fi, as I expected. It was pure old-fashioned 1980's horror.
However... it didn't work for me.
The prose is solid and the descriptions are very compelling, but characters felt a little too flat for my taste. I couldn't connect with any of them, not even with the protagonist.
Regarding the plot... I found it too basic, not engaging.
I made an effort in trying to read the last 30% of this book.
This would be a 2,5 stars for me, unfortunately.

[Lute · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at 54% - I just could not with this book, and I really wanted to. Let me say right off the bat that this book has the kind of dudebro schtick that I fucking hate. Halfway through, and it's a slog because god, I hate the way this author writes about women, but I was trying to push through because I find the premise very interesting.

I found myself hating the main character and finding him incredibly boring. Please, give me more ghosts and less about the way this aging, middle-aged pornographer is apparently hot shit and god's gift to heterosexual women.

[Steve Scanlan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This may be Greg Bear’s first horror novel, I’m not sure as I haven’t looked into it, and based on this effort I think he should stick to SF. A new type of phone system has awakened spirits who begin haunting the general public. Throw in a mass murderer, the death of a child, a broken marriage and you’ve got the major elements of the story. Bear had a habit of repeating himself throughout the story which became quite annoying. In Bear’s favour, I did finish the story and wanted to see what transpired, but when compared to other horror authors, this work is left for dead.

[Jeanne Pocius Dorismond · Rating 5 out of 5]

Remarkable

I enjoy Stephen King and Dean Koontz, perhaps best of all the current sages of horror fiction, mostly because they are not afraid to address the spiritual aspects of fear...Now I must add Greg Bear to that mighty duo. This book is haunting, in so many good ways that to begin to list them will delay you from delving into the book sooner. Do yourself a favor and read this book, then let me know what you think. A+ Bravo

[MikeBy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, another book that was sitting on my to read list for so long I don't remember how it got there. I like Greg Bear's science fiction, which this wasn't. However I did still enjoy the writing, and a lot of the story. Other reviewers complain that the main character Peter just gets pushed about by everybody, but I kind of liked that, he was a real lost soul and that kept everything together and coherent (for me).

[Lena · Rating 2 out of 5]

The "intrigue" and the "suspense" were very disappointing for a supposed "thriller" author. I did not care for this book although as a society we ARE overly involved with our phones. Borderline plausible but not a strong plot line nor resolution. Even the paranormal aspects were "GHASTLY" as opposed to ghostly. Zonk!

[Brent Winslow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Greg Bear writes outside of his previous lane in this horror/sci-fi novel. A previously undiscovered band of the electromagnetic spectrum is used to develop new cellular technology - but which also allows the dead to appear to the living. The protagonist must come to grips with the unsolved death of his daughter and shut down the cellular technology before it is too late.

[Nicholas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Greg Bear always has really interesting ideas. His execution of making a good novel form them vary. This was one of his better novels. A new phone device creates havoc with the line between the dead and living. The end leaves things a little unclear as to what happens beyond the individual main character.

[Mark Stevens · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was recommended on book tube as a very good horror book. While the first half moves slowly, the second-half gets better and becomes creepy as several ghosts join the story. I felt the plot was creative and different from the average ghost story. I’m surprised by the generally negative reviews here I’m Goodreads because I found the book generally a worthwhile read.