Past Crimes was like a much darker Ready Player One or William Gibson novel. In the year 2037 most of society works, plays and lives in the vast virtual reality world. And the most popular thing about it is true crime - not documentaries, but virtual simulations of famous crimes and the ability to see the sites, victims and criminals for yourself. Cassie West works for a company that licenses crimes, paying for permission of victims' families and friends to recreate their likenesses an experiences for the sims. Until the day she finds herself unwittingly on the other side, as her husband is accused of masterminding the Blight, one of the greatest and most horrific crimes in history. Ten years later, after doing her best to hide from the public eye, she once again finds herself in the spot light as signs of an even greater Blight may be on hand.
This was one of the darkest, bleakest, Dystopian stories I've ever read. Not only does it project a depressing not-so-far-off future for Earth, but it shows how the worst aspects of society today could lead to such an ominous future. The story is full of on-the-nose social commentary, not just about becoming lost in modern technology and AI, but also the portentous look of how things such as extremist ideology, fascist government, corporate greed and conspiracy theory could lead to such a Dystopia. 4.5/5*

I have included my Instagram post, linked. See below:

Shwitty ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

ARC Review
Past Crimes by Jason Pinter

Overall, I enjoyed this book. The concept really intrigued me. I think it was fleshed out well, and even though there were a lot of things happening, it felt like it all made sense to be included instead of just jamming in a bunch of ideas.

I think it has the potential to be witty if there are still plans to keep fine-tuning it. The issues I had with the book were more around inconsistencies, for example, the time-stamp on the chapters versus the actual timeline.

Past Crimes is a true crime lover’s wet dream coupled with a metaverse house of horrors. Jason Pinter has designed a dystopian world of the not-too-distant future that is unthinkable yet plausible, and makes today’s debates about technological ethics, privacy, and freedom seem cute and rudimentary by comparison.

It’s 2037 and most human interaction is now on Earth+, a virtual world filled with various experiences from going to school, to creating and experiencing art, to being able to witness and participate in simulations of the biggest crimes in history. Past Crimes is the leader in criminal entertainment and a multibillion-dollar business that even has a physical theme park dubbed the Disneyland of Death. And the most famous crime of them all has just happened – The Blight. A mass murder-suicide that resulted in the immolation and death of thousands. To Cassie West, The Blight is much more than a famous crime. Her departed husband has been convicted of being the mastermind, something that Cassie cannot reconcile with the man she knew and loved. Now a decade later, she is still trying to clear his name when new information comes to light that changes everything. But there are powerful forces at play that will do anything to silence Cassie and those she enlists for help….and they’ll be damned if they let the wife of the most notorious criminal in recent memory disrupt their plans to release the greatest crime simulation ever created.

There is plenty of propulsive action, blindsiding twists and innovative technology to enthrall any thriller or sci-fi fan for hours. However, that’s not what makes Past Crimes so compelling. It’s the combination of multiple topics – the metaverse, AI technology, true crime obsession, loss of civil liberties and due process, corporate greed, the destruction of the middle class, and more – that come together into one fascinating story of a potential future that should scare everyone for so many reasons. This novel makes you explore your own ethics and values, look at the type of the content you consume and its impact on society, question what you should be willing/not willing to trade off in the name of technological convenience, and think differently about what choices we need to make and policies we need to enact today to avoid creating a future that is lived in a corporate controlled and curated virtual environment versus a personal connection-driven humanity in the physical world.

One thing’s for sure. After reading Past Crimes, you won’t think about technology the same or take the future for granted ever again.

Past Crimes is the first book I’ve read by Jason Pinter and I will probably look out for more. It was a bit of a slow burner for me but then I was completely wrapped up in it. Set in the near future, I enjoyed the futuristic but dystopian feel. I didn’t enjoy the main character Cassie at first but she really grew on me. I loved Aly, the young girl who lost her parents - I would love to read more about her in future. I found some chapters were drawn out, but overall I enjoyed reading it and would recommend it

Six-fi has never been my thing, until Past Crimes!

Even if you are not Sci-fi fan I would highly recommend this book. The book focuses on AI and virtual reality.

Earth- is the real world
Earth+ is where most people go for work, school or to enjoy their free time in Past Crimes.

Follow Cassie West, married to Harris and expecting their first child, as her life changes in the blink of an eye and she spends the next 10 years trying to figure out what happened.

"Past Crimes" is a book I have a mixed feeling about: on one hand, it presents a fascinating and timely concept of virtual reality, which, as of 2023, is increasingly integrated into our lives, and in the novel's plot, it goes beyond current paradigms. The world-building is intriguing, but on the other hand, the execution could have been better, and Cassie, the protagonist, should have been more endearing - I simply didn't like Cassie. Perhaps it's a deliberate move by the author, portraying a vision of us becoming increasingly dehumanized, leaning more towards machinery and potential profit?

The plot itself is captivating with several twists, but it's not on the level of Brent Weeks, so there aren't any jaw-dropping moments. The depicted world where virtual reality becomes the real world and the physical realm is merely a shell isn't a novel idea, but I appreciate the author's take on this matter.

It's a techno-thriller with interesting motifs that could have been executed better.

I'd like to thank Severn House and NetGalley for providing me with this ARC.

The premise of this was unique and interesting. I can absolutely see this happening in the future for fans of true crime that love to submerge themselves in the story. However, the delivery of this particular story and the characters themselves fell flat. The protagonist was highly unlikeable with no redeeming qualities. To say she was a doormat and slow to pick up on things is putting it lightly. Overall this was an excellent idea that wasn't delivered the best. Two and a half stars rounded up.

Thank you Netgalley and Severn House for this ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Past Crimes.

I usually don't read sci-fi because the sci-fi mumbo jumbo jargon goes over my head but I did like the premise very much.

This is a timely narrative that focuses on AI, virtual reality and the insatiable lust for true crime from aficionados and stans..

When Cassie West's husband is accused of being the mastermind of a horrific mass murder, her life is shattered and forced to live the life of a recluse.

A decade later, the shocking death of a family man seems to offer hope and the opportunity for Cassie to prove her husband's innocence once and for all. Cassie and a teenage survivor team up to discover the secret behind a mass conspiracy.

The world building is good, there's plenty of sci-fi mumbo jumbo about virtual reality, and how humanity has adapted to living in a virtual reality world and the medical and psychological ramifications of that transition.

Cassie is a deeply unlikeable character; she's a doormat, passive and dull, unsympathetic, and it seems the only thing she cares about is having a baby.

I don't mind unlikable characters, you should meet the relatives on my dad's side of the family, but even some unlikable characters have an interesting quality that makes them stand out.

What really made me dislike Cassie was when the teenager (forgot her name!) is having a nightmare and Cassie tells herself it's not her job to comfort her because she's not a parent.

Uhh...you don't have to be a parent to comfort someone who is in distress, you just have to be human.

Cassie isn't particularly street smart or even just smart; it seems to take her a while for things to click into place. It's more like people around her make faster connections and then she finally gets it.

Since it's a science-y narrative, there's a lot of exposition, explaining, plenty of telling, not showing, so the suspense is kind of lacking even when Cassie is touring Murderland.

I'm grateful for the opportunity read this before publication.

Fast paced and entertaining - this is a solid dystopian beach read. A recommended purchase for collections where SF and dystopian is popular.

I was not a fan of the plot or characters. I was expecting a lot more and it was a slog to finish. The characters weren't well written and the plot was fairly predictable.

2.5 stars, rounded down.

The idea for this book is interesting - it's set a bit in the future (2037/2047) where our obsession with true crime has resulted in Sales people reaching out to victims and their families to get permission to license their likeness. The likenesses are then built into virtual reality sims where people can experience the crimes and even act as a participant to change the scenario (and of course there's an IRL amusement park). The top company is called Past Crimes with its billionaire founder Crispin Lake.

The main character, Cassie, loses her husband in the Blight where hundreds of people light themselves on fire in 2037 as part of a mass cult suicide. Cassie's husband, Harris, is the mastermind behind the Blight... except Cassie doesn't believe it and in 2047 has spent the last 10 years trying to prove it. Past Crimes is putting out a Blight sim with a launch date on the 10th anniversary. Cassie becomes suspicious that a 2nd Blight is being planned, also on the 10 year anniversary, and reaches out to Crispin to get into the Blight sim early. Crispin flies her and her teenager sidekick to "Murder Disneyland" and even though it'll destroy his company if Cassie can prove Harris' innocence, he says he'll do what he can to help.

I had trouble connecting to the characters. They felt very flat with only a couple of defining attributes. Cassie was too passive for my tastes. Especially in the second half of the book, she was having everything happen to her. It was believable in that she's still recovering from her husband's death, she's been victimized for 10 years (since people think she was working with Harris on it), and she is just a normal person with no special skills/intelligence, but it made for a boring plot. Things picked up towards the end, but most of the book dragged.

The dialogue fell into the trap of so much telling and very little showing. If you needed something explained, trust that there will be a conveniently placed dialogue sequence to explain it. The dialogue was also a bit stilted and awkward throughout.

Most of the plot twists were predictable. Cassie took forever to puzzle out the VERY OBVIOUS clue that she found in the Blight sim about where the 2nd Blight would take place. Or the "twist" about halfway through with Crispin Lake - it would have been more of a twist if that very obvious, very predictable thing didn't happen. There was a twist at the end that I was surprised about, but it wasn't book changing or anything.

The author created an interesting world where humans are more obsessed with the virtual world than the real one, partially since the real world was mostly destroyed. When the book would talk about what happened between now and 2037, a lot of it felt preachy and too much like reality - yes, yes, we know climate change is going to ruin the world, everything will be very expensive, school shootings keep happening. Ready Player One had those dystopian elements but they were better incorporated and flowed with the story.

Also... I'm not an expert on this, but it seemed weird that someone would come out of 6-8 hours in a medically induced coma and be able to walk and help people after 15 minutes, but that might be factually possible? I'm truly not sure; it's just something that struck me as weird.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this advance review copy.

This is my first novel by Jason Pinter. The plot of the book is good. I wouldn't call it a true sci-fi. The use of virtual reality is now, and this concept was taken a little further into the future, but only by a little. The characters were engaging but only developed slightly as the story moved along. I feel Cassie needs to be stronger as a main character. She didn't have the drive or the smart to do what she needed to do without the help of two minor characters at the end. The story was stagnant with Cassie until about 80% into the book. The lack of scientific knowledge regarding the development of the virtual/computerized world left the story feeling incomplete. The ending was a double-edged sword. It was good that it had a fantastic twist, but it did not explain the motive. I don't recommend this for a true sci-fi fan. However, this is good if you want to avoid in-depth details when explaining how technology works.

I would like to express my gratitude to Severn House and NetGalley for allowing me to read this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Oh Wow! This book took me by surprise! I have been a fan of Jason's for a long time, since I read the first Parker book, so got this book expecting a good mystery. Ummm, not quite. This book was not at all what I was expecting, taking place years in the future and very much a changed world. I almost said "forget it", but thought I'd give it a chance. After all it was Jason Pinter. Anyway, very soon it grabbed me and didn't let go until I finished it! Very different, but very exciting, thrilling even, and never slowed down. Get this book! You won't be disappointed. Highly recommended. Great characters, very unusual and interesting story.

I really enjoyed this book! It was fast paced and kept me hooked the whole time. I have not read anything like it.

There were a few plot holes that I would have liked to see play out but overall, Past Crimes was a very enjoyable read.

Thank you for the opportunity to preview Past Crimes. I have read all of Jason Pinters books. His latest is a departure from his usual style. This is a science fiction novel with a mystery. Set about 20 years in the future the world is a very different place.
Real and virtual reality earth is where people exist.
Cassie West a young woman married and pregnant suddenly learns her life is about to change finds herself ten years later trying to figure out what happened to the family life she cherished and loved. She is now a woman who is hated and a total outcast. But Cassie is the only person who can prove the innocence and true terror of what is going on in her world. And she just may die trying.
I like Pinters other novel’s better but I do like this book. 3.5 star

Without a doubt, Past Crimes is one of the most uniquely plotted and thought-provoking novels I have read this year. A cross between suspense and dystopian, this book is a must-read for 2024. Not only does it include an engaging storyline, but this book shines a spotlight on the consequences of our current culture.

Society's obsession with True Crime has pervaded every source of entertainment - books, podcasts, documentaries, conventions - it seems inescapable. Admittedly, I, too, enjoy and seek out this content. But I have never truly considered the dark side of the true crime phenomena: corporations and the entertainment industry profit absurd amounts from violent and unjust crimes. By extension, victims and their families are exploited. The eagerness to absorb true crime stories is often masked by noble purposes - awareness, prevention, and justice, but Past Crimes exposes the sordid reality. Society loves true crime content for entertainment, curiosity, and wonder. Past Crimes also heeds warnings about using technology in excess and the peril of living in a society that communicates from behind screens. If you want a book that will make you think and has an un-put-down-able plot, Past Crimes is it!

The only area of disappointment for me was the portrayal of the main character, Cassie. It was evident that a man wrote the female lead's perspective. Unfortunately, that meant there were several outdated and somewhat eye-brow-raising victimizations. Luckily, the plot was strong enough to overcome these shortcomings, but it will not be surprising if readers criticize Cassie's portrayal.

Overall, I highly recommend Past Crimes. It stuck with me for days, and I hope it gets the attention and accolades it so rightfully deserves! Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review!

Futuristic dystopia where the real world has fallen to pieces whilst the virtual world, dubbed Earth+, is thriving, especially the true crime simulations of famous criminals such as Ted Bundy, Charles Manson and John Wilkes Booth.

I thought the concept of the book was fascinating and unique. People love trying to be amateur sleuths when they're watching true-crime documentaries, and the book pushes that to ask how far are people willing to get involved to get the full experience.

Akin to other famous dystopian novels, you can really imagine the author's version of future Earth becoming a reality. It is a creepy and fun read with an interesting mystery and lots of social commentary.

It gripped me at the beginning but I became bored halfway through. It did grip me again at the end. The ending wasn't great either. The ethics of large corporations licensing people's lives for entertainment and profit is a major plot point throughout but isn't really resolved at the end, which was a let-down.

This book can be read on two levels.

1) on a fictional level, this book takes you on a journey through murder, fire, con men, video games, and the future of true crime. I found myself shocked multiple times throughout as the story unraveled and I found out what was hiding behind every door (or tunnel). It’s dystopian, it’s haunting, it’s culty, it’s just SO GOOD. I read it in less than 24 hours, staying up late and sneaking in a few pages here and there on my bathroom breaks at work!!

2) on a social commentary level, this book is truly about a reckoning for true crime “fans.” As technology continues to advance, will podcasts, books, and tv shows be enough? Why study them in 2D when you could live them in 3D? True crime is largely no longer about honoring victims and studying psychopaths so we have more knowledge of the future, it’s about reverence for serial killers and trampling over victims and their families. Now I know (I KNOW) there are people saying “oh that’s not me, never me!” Then I invite you to really examine your viewing and listening habits. Is the content you’re consuming informing or is it really just vouyerism and entertainment at the cost of people’s lives? After reading this book, I know I’m going to be more critical of what I consume related to true crime.

Thank you to Pinter for manifesting such an addicting and deeply disturbing world for me to dive into. I will be coming back to this book again and again.