Anthony Zuiker's LEVEL 26: A New Era In App Books

Anthony E. Zuiker, the creator of the hit TV crime show CSI, has broken new ground in the App Book industry with the introduction of LEVEL 26, a series of App Books enhanced by character biographies, short films, and a social community.  It's like nothing we've seen thus far and its sure to usher in a whole new category of App Books (or what Zuiker calls Digi-Books).

I keep a constant watch on the new releases in the Books category of the App Store. It's important to know who is doing what. I'm always surprised by someone but latest installment of this series of LEVEL 26 App Books, Dark Prophecy, is the most surprising since the first great App Books, Alice for the iPad and Elements, were introduced close to a year ago.  And, its no less important.

Alice for the iPad and The Elements (both winners of the 2010 Electronic Alice) introduced the world to the power of App Books with a radically  new way of experiencing entertainment (Alice) and knowledge acquisition (Elements).  To be honest they are not the first, the CD book movement which surged and then faltered in the 90's did something like App Books are doing today. The Big difference: The Tablet form factor.  Interactive CD books failed (as well as attempts at interactive web books) because of the delivery device, the PC.  No one wants to snuggle up with their PC or laptop and read a good book.  The Tablet form factor, and in particular the iPad, made App Books possible.

Back to LEVEL 26.  There are three books in the LEVEL 26 trilogy starting with Dark Origins which was released for the iPhone in October 2011, and the second book, Dark Prophecy - the third book is not available yet. In both books the main antagonist is Steve Dark, a detective who specializes in finding the worst of the worst serial killers: Categorized as LEVEL 26 offenders.

If it was just another set of App Books combined with video (e.g. Vook) it wouldn't be not worthy at all, but its much more than that.  Developed by Hooray for Dare to Pass, Inc. (Zuiker's Production company) the books are so well written they are totally engrossing. I don't even like these kinds of books as general rule (i.e. thrillers, murder mysteries) but when I started reading the Second book Dark Prophecy I couldn't put it down. The writing is that good. Good enough to get me to jump genres and that's an accomplishment.

But its not just the writing. In addition to supporting the kinds of functionality we should expect like the  ability to change orientation and the text font size and style, the LEVEL 26 books are simply well put together.  The introduction of video every so often is really timed well - just enough to aid the story and give you a stronger sense of the characters as well as the total creepiness of the killers. The video portions are shot with the same production values you'll find in big budget crime shows like Zuiker's own CSI.  But even without the videos the ability to see a character's profile at anytime as well as the excellent writing alone make these books a joy.  The quality video shorts push them over the top to become ground breaking.

Zuiker's new App Book Dark Prophecy is simply put, the best thing to happen to App Books since Alice for the iPad and The Elements.  I fully expect to award this book an Electronic Alice in 2011 for innovation alone.