The Last Harbor »

One of today's most distinguished science fiction writers, George Foy is the author of five acclaimed thrillers and two well-received literary novels. He was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship for 1994-95.

Dreams can set you free — or imprison you forever....

The acclaimed author of The Shift and Contraband delivers a brilliant new novel set in an edgy future where nothing is more dangerous than a dream....

Slocum had it all: the perfect family, the perfect home, and the perfect job with X-Corp Multimedia — a major producer of interactive virtual-reality entertainment. In a world divided between protected enclaves of luxury and blighted, decaying landscapes, the ubiquitous 3-D telecasts over the Flash hold millions in thrall with their packaged, programmed dreams.

Once Slocum helped devise those dreams, until his career at X-Corp self-destructed and with it his marriage. Now his world has shrunk to a tiny sloop berthed in the dingy harbor of a dying New England seafaring town, where the main attraction is a virtual-whaling theme park. In his solitary cabin he studies the legendary Smuggler's Bible and dreams of sailing off to a life of freedom.

Then an enormous ocean liner docks beside him in the harbor: a floating palace of glittering wealth and mystery, with a single enigmatic passenger, a woman who restlessly walks the decks as if unable to leave the ship. For Slocum — rejected by his wife and daughter, hounded by his vengeful employers, harassed by the town police, his credit cut off, his funds running out — the alluring woman soon becomes his sole hope of escape. Only by learning her terrifying secret can he free her from her gilded captivity ... and realize his own dreams — which, in a world of mass-produced fantasy, is the most forbidden pursuit of all.

Library Journal

When Slocum's career with X-Corp Multimedia comes to an abrupt end, so do his marriage and his prospects for a decent future. Reduced to living aboard a sloop moored in a New England harbor town, he struggles to rebuild his life until the arrival of a mysterious ocean liner and the resurrection of his hidden past threaten to take away everything he has. The author of The Shift creates a dark and foreboding near-future of high-tech conspiracies and low-tech heroism. A good choice for most sf collections. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.