{"product_id":"head-on","title":"Head on","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"As much as Scalzi has the scientific creativity of a Michael Crichton, he also has the procedural chops of a Stephen J. Canell to craft a whodunit with buddy-cop charm and suspects aplenty--most of them in someone else's body.\" --\u003ci\u003eUSA Today\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eJohn Scalzi returns with \u003ci\u003eHead On, \u003c\/i\u003ethe standalone follow-up to the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003ebestselling and critically acclaimed \u003ci\u003eLock In\u003c\/i\u003e. Chilling near-future SF with the thrills of a gritty cop procedural, \u003ci\u003eHead On \u003c\/i\u003ebrings Scalzi's trademark snappy dialogue and technological speculation to the future world of sports. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eHilketa is a frenetic and violent pastime where players attack each other with swords and hammers. The main goal of the game: obtain your opponent's head and carry it through the goalposts. With flesh and bone bodies, a sport like this would be impossible. But all the players are \"threeps,\" robot-like bodies controlled by people with Haden's Syndrome, so anything goes. No one gets hurt, but the brutality is real and the crowds love it. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eUntil a star athlete drops dead on the playing field. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIs it an accident or murder? FBI agents and Haden-related crime investigators, Chris Shane and Leslie Vann, are called in to uncover the truth--and in doing so travel to the darker side of the fast-growing sport of Hilketa, where fortunes are made or lost, and where players and owners do whatever it takes to win, on and off the field. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eOTHER TOR BOOKS BY JOHN SCALZI\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAgent to the Stars\u003cbr\u003eThe Android's Dream\u003cbr\u003eFuzzy Nation\u003cbr\u003eRedshirts\u003cbr\u003eYour Hate Mail Will Be Graded: \u003cbr\u003eA Decade of Whatever, 1998-2008\u003cbr\u003eThe Kaiju Preservation Society\u003cbr\u003eStarter Villain\u003cbr\u003eWhen the Moon Hits Your Eye\u003cbr\u003eMonsters of Ohio\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTHE OLD MAN'S WAR NOVELS\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOld Man's War\u003cbr\u003eThe Ghost Brigades\u003cbr\u003eThe Last Colony\u003cbr\u003eZoë's Tale\u003cbr\u003eThe Human Division\u003cbr\u003eThe End of All Things\u003cbr\u003eThe Shattering Peace\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTHE LOCK IN SERIES\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLock In\u003cbr\u003eUnlocked\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTHE INTERDEPENDENCY SEQUENCE\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Collapsing Empire\u003cbr\u003eThe Consuming Fire\u003cbr\u003eThe Last Emperox\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eEDITED BY JOHN SCALZI\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMetatropolis","brand":"Tor Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54516052623726,"sku":"9781250385529","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0984\/1007\/0382\/files\/imageloader_354d4e28-59ea-44dd-82b5-71fa0991de7f.jpg?v=1786372960","url":"https:\/\/tenderbuttonsbooks.com\/products\/head-on","provider":"Tender Buttons Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}