Final girls

Grant (Rise) delivers her trademark combo of unflinching horror and heartily genuine characters in this contemporary science fiction novella. Esther Hoffman is a reporter with a traumatic past. She's determined to expose Dr. Jennifer Webb as a charlatan and her new virtual reality-assisted therapy as fraud. In pursuit of the story, Esther agrees to undergo the procedure, which can rewrite an individual's emotional landscape, building false memories of intimate lifelong relationships over the course of a few treatments. The two antagonistic women become fast friends in the virtual middle school environment. When an act of corporate espionage interferes with their session, Esther and Jennifer must navigate an unanticipated gauntlet of horrors, including high school mean girls turned violent and the risen dead. Zombie fans will find the tale satisfyingly inside their niche; it's fast-paced and deftly wrapped up. Others might be disappointed to see an intriguing premise diverted into such well-trod territory. Agent: Diana Fox, Fox Literary. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Grant's (In the Shadow of Spindrift House) latest novella skillfully walks a tightrope between science fiction and horror. Dr. Jennifer Webb has developed a breakthrough VR immersion technology that allows patients to confront their worst fears (or horror tropes). Journalist Esther Hoffman, who has dedicated her career to debunking pseudoscience, is skeptical of the doctor's claim that virtual encounters with ghosts and zombies can cure people of very real psychic trauma. Esther has volunteered to explore this digitized world of monsters, but the monsters in the machine can be dangerous. Even worse, there are malevolent forces in the real world that would do anything to sabotage the project. Grant's story incorporates clinical science-fiction and visceral horror as she moves the narrative back and forth between the virtual and real worlds. Narrator Jennifer Pickens adjusts her voice accordingly, using an impersonal tone for scenes in the real world's lab and giving a breakneck description of what's going on within the virtual scenario. VERDICT Grant, a pseudonym of Seanan McGuire, has penned a vivid if brief story grounded with strong characterizations and intriguing questions about identity and friendship.--James Gardner