Timebox - Part 3: A techno-thriller

by Merrill Heath

Note: Timebox is being published as a serial novel. This is part 3 of 4. The complete novel will be available at a later date.

Synergistic Escapes, Inc., has developed technology that allows people to experience a virtual vacation that is amazingly realistic. Not only that, but the time ratio is approximately 40:1. One minute of real time is the equivalent of forty minutes on a virtual vacation. That means if you're stressed out at work and need a few days off, you can go to the beach for three days ... during your lunch break. Just check in at one of the SEI facilities, climb into your assigned pod, and your virtual vacation begins.

Patricia Wellman sees the technology as a way to escape an unhappy marriage.

Beth Pruitt suffers from MS and the technology allows her to escape the devastating effects the disease is taking on her body...maybe even stop its progression.

Marcus Ramey hopes to use the technology to be reunited with his wife...who died twelve years ago in a tragic car accident.

And then there's Ray Frazier...a serial killer who uses the technology to find his victims...and it's up to SEI Security Officer Joanne Parker and FBI Special Agent Mike Crawford to catch him before he kills again.

What happens in the pod, stays in the pod...but not always...and real life consequences can be deadly.

Part 3
Rhonda's past catches up with her, with brutal results, forcing Patricia and Jonathan to finally address their marital problems. But a twist of fate brings another change to their relationship.

Mike finally gets a break in two of the murder cases after he and Joanne find a key piece of evidence that turns the investigations in a new direction.

Work is almost complete on Marcus's personal project and Beth encounters surprising results from her controversial treatments.

Ray goes after his sixth victim.

154 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 22, 2014

About the author

For my entire life, I’ve had a love of books and reading, originating from when I was a child and my parents read to me. As I grew older, I developed a great fondness for mysteries. I loved Sherlock Holmes and even had an authentic deerstalker hat.

Today I enjoy reading just about any genre as long as the characters are interesting and the plots are intriguing. But hardboiled detective stories and crime novels are my favorites. And writing in this genre is a lot of fun.

I am the author of four novels, two novellas, and numerous short stories. I'm currently working on Fast Eddie, the third book in the Alec Stover Mystery series, which will be released soon.

For more info, visit my website.