Brain Games — Alex P. Berg

When games are this lifelike, who needs reality? It's a question Tau Ceti private eye Rich Weed has never wrestled with. He prefers his handshakes firm and his women fleshy, not pixilated. But when a missing persons case takes an unexpected turn, Rich is forced to dive into the digital world of fully immersive Brain games -- and fend for his life therein. Luckily, the games aren't real, but the nefarious scheme he finds himself mired in upon logging out certainly is. With a fellow detective at his side, Rich must untangle the threads of a twisted conspiracy in pursuit of an interplanetary con artist, all while putting his neck squarely on the line. The difference is, in the real world -- there are no respawns.