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Sci-Fi and sex on a trip to die for…__ IT’S DAMN NEAR IMPOSSIBLE TO PUT DOWN__ When Milla Carter is taken on holiday by her boyfriend Franklyn, their ‘dream break’ turns into the kind of nightmare that makes the Titanic’s last voyage look like a collision between a toy boat and an ice cube. Maybe they were too easily taken in by the glossy brochure and oily sales patter, but their trip to die for looks in danger of becoming just that. Their ill-fated vacation is the focal point of Body Holiday, the debut science-fiction novel of Wallington’s Derek E Pearson. This imaginative, sexually explicit book has more swear words in it than a Gordon Ramsay show, yet its edgy, ‘in your face’ writing and tightly structured plot are so addictive that it’s damn near impossible to put down. It grips from the first to the last page as Pearson skillfully draws the reader into a future that’s dysfunctional, cold and frighteningly voyeuristic. This is a world that has no respect for privacy, where corporate power wields a big, ugly fist and which is so saturated with hard core pornography that it’s lost the power to even be offended. A refusal to condone murder is one of its few saving graces!No wonder Milla and Franklyn need a break, although they’re not the ones looking to re-charge their batteries. Ex-glamour model Ruth (who is 62 but looks 30) and her rich 86-year-old husband Pearce (who’s just as ageless) also want some time out. Swapping bodies and lifestyles with Milla and Franklyn through a process called ‘Transition’ should be a breeze; after all, there’s no better way of getting reacquainted with a partner than through the body of a younger stranger. Unfortunately, though, something goes horribly wrong. The dream vacation descends into a brutal game of survival in which the couples are pitched against a malevolent force that has the knack of always being one step ahead. Can Milla/Franklyn/Ruth/Pearce escape the nightmare, or are they destined to spend the rest of their lives on the run trapped in each other’s bodies.__Grand Theft Auto__ The car chases, small but chilling amounts of gore and explosions of Armageddon proportions give the story the adrenalin-coated rush of a Grand Theft Auto game. Yet there’s also a quasi gallows humour running through the narrative, neatly alleviating the underlying tension.Pearson’s characters are convincingly drawn - warts and all - but it’s Milla who really stands out.She’s a woman of action, the shining light in the darkness, which is why her anger is palpable when a shocking plot twist exposes a terrible betrayal. Yet Milla’s integrity is a contradiction. By rights, it shouldn’t exist in a world that disparages decency, yet somehow it stays intact. Body Holiday is a novel that entertains and raises questions: could an out-of-hand relationship with technology fray our moral compass? How much privacy should we surrender to a constantly changing world and what guarantees are there that what’s thrown into cyberspace will be used responsibly? Pearson doesn’t provide the answers, but then why should he? Good science fiction is as much about encouraging readers to discover the truth themselves as it is about providing the answers. SURREY LIFE magazine (UK) Jan 2015 (p. 62), Juliette Foster
