Journalist and author Harald Lüders explores virtual reality in his new novel "Traumtunnel". A fast-paced psychological thriller picks up its breathless pace.
Virtual reality, illegal data trading, fake news - these have been ongoing topics in the media for some time now, which Harald Lüders addresses in his novel "Traumtunnel". For the second time, he has the novel's character Mitch Berger research and investigate.
Mitch Berger is not an inspector, but a Frankfurt journalist who is originally commissioned to write about Donald Trump and his media-led election campaign. But then he becomes entangled in an adventure of data manipulation and blackmail. The setting is Frankfurt's banking world and a five-star sanatorium where the world's rich cure their psycholeptics. Clinic director Professor Carlos Mentoff experiments with trips into virtual reality - in full HD under data goggles. Is it about healing, brainwashing or blackmail? This is the question Mitch Berger asks himself when he receives a call for help from a well-known German actress.
The book is a play on dreams and reality, as the author explained in the Corso interview: "It's about what is memory? What is whispers?"
The gaming industry, but also the porn industry, is investing heavily in this new technology. The idea that it will become "the brothel 4.O" is frightening, says Lüders.
Incredible possibilities - both positive and negative
For many years, Lüders worked as a journalist on right-wing radicalism and the protection of the constitution. His first novel, "Dunkelmacht", was about the NSU affair. "I don't actually know any investigative journalists in Germany who believe that the story we are being sold today is the real story," said the author. Against this background, a novel would open up new possibilities - according to the author: "It is possible for me to make allegations".
Lüders has always been fascinated by consciousness and brain research, for example the questions "What am I? How do I feel about my body? If this can be combined with virtual glasses today, then we are faced with incredible possibilities, both positive and negative."
Source: Deutschlandrundfunk / Westendverlag
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