February Publication

It's hard to imagine a book merely 10 years old feeling like a "period piece," but that's exactly how Denise Danks's Frame Grabber, released in Britain in 1992, comes across. The virtual world that lies at the heart of the story is a multi-player online game involving sordid sexual conquests instead of dragons and fantasy quests. Technology reporter Georgina Powers becomes enmeshed in this world when she engages in a twisted affair with virtual reality expert David Jones, who enjoys acting out his sadomasochistic fantasies in both the real and virtual worlds. Despite the book's dated premise, Georgina is a complex heroine who bears weaknesses to match her ample strengths, and Danks's clean, snappy prose keeps the story moving at a fast clip. (Orion [Trafalgar Square, dist.], $7.95 192p ISBN 0-75284-398-2)