Dee finds herself consumed with anger about the destruction of Earth and all of its inhabitants and she is hell-bent on revenge, if only she could discover the names of those who made the decision. She spends most of her time in mersives, playing violent video games to vent her rage. She and Carl were basically slaves back on Earth and she doesn't really have anyone besides him to talk to, especially since most people on the ship aren't aware of what really happened back on Earth. Then out of the blue, she is contacted by some hacker/game designer who invites her to play his new game. This is a bit of good news, especially since she was recently offered a data information job on the ship by a high level employee named Caroline, and perhaps with this new access to the ship's demographics information, she can get the answers she so deeply craves.
When Dee enters this new game, things don't seem quite right. For starters, it is rather twisted and gory and takes place in and around locations with which she is deeply familiar. It all seems a bit too personal, but she is determined to win the game at any cost. Then later, after she has exited the game, she discovers that one of the ship's crew had been murdered a few hours earlier, and the shocker is that he looks exactly like an NPC she killed in-game. While she is weirded out, she keeps her face a mask, because she knows Carl loves a good puzzle and will stop at nothing to solve this murder, especially since he is the de facto lead detective on board Atlas.
A few days later, she joins a game with Caroline, her new boss, because Caroline needed a teammate in the finals of some gaming competition. Again, Dee excels, not only because she is an ace at video games, but also because this action adventure game she and Caroline are playing finds them in her childhood hometown of London and she knows these stomping grounds like the back of her hand. Turns out the time period they are playing in is one fraught with tragedy for Dee, buried trauma from years ago, but she helps Caroline to victory because it feels like the game is giving her unfair advantages. Could it be that annoying hacker interfering?
As it turns out, more bodies start dropping in the real world and Dee can't help but wonder how their deaths are connected to the games she's played, and more importantly, to this secret coder. Is it someone she knows? They certainly seem to know a lot about her. When they offer her the answers she's been so desperately seeking, what will she do with the information? It's like they say, be careful what you wish for.
Atlas Alone is a very quick read. It's really engaging and as a long time player of video games, I really enjoy the stints Newman describes while Dee is in-game. There's plenty of crazy action and lots happens, but I must say that the end had me shaking my fist a bit. It's not a bad ending, but man. Just read it. If you have been following the series, you know how good it is and Atlas Alone doesn't disappoint. I did find the characterizations of members of the CSA (Christian States of America) group to be rather pointed, so if you are a Christian or a Republican, you may be somewhat offended, as they are most definitely portrayed as the bad guys of the story. It didn't bother me enough to not read the book, as people are entitled to their opinions, but most Christians and Republicans aren't into genocide, so it seemed a bit heavy-handed to me. Other than that, it was a fun read.
