Daemon

This is a guest review from my eldest son, Deron:

In this techno-thriller by Daniel Suarez, game programmer par exellance Matthew Sobol reaches back from the grave to change the world. This is the first book of two in a series. The second is Freedom.

The story begins with a news item announcing the death of Sobol from brain cancer. Sobol was the billionarie CTO and co-founder of the computer game company CyberStorm Entertainment. Soon after Sobol's death, a programmer with the company is murdered. Then, another. Detective Peter Sebeck is called to investigate. Their murderer isn't a mystery for long, because Det. Sebeck receives an email from the killer - Matthew Sobol.

Before dying, Sobol created a daemon, "A computer program that runs continuously in the background and performs specified operations at predefined times or in response to certain events." This daemon was distributed throughout the world, like a computer virus; it was designed to search the internet for news of Sobol's death and, once found, initiate Sobol's plan. The programmers were murdered because they knew too much about the inner workings of the daemon that they had assisted Sobol in writing.

The daemon then recruits people and businesses worldwide, both legitimate and criminal, through wile and blackmail to carry out Sobol's plan. In response, Det. Sebeck and every conceivable government authority begin their battle against a computer program threatening to change the world order. What is the daemon's ultimate goal? How can one stop a program that is both nowhere and everywhere?

I have a mixed feelings about this book. Its a page turner, has a great hook, and is very enjoyable. However, the writing is uneven and could have be tighter. This is Suarez's first book. Perhaps if this had been his tenth, the writing would have been better. He could have used a better editor.

This book's plot is very dependent on technology and so is packed with technical jargon. That in itself is not bad. Jon Ross, a computer programmer with a shady past, explains many of these terms to Det. Sebeck for the reader. But sometimes, the terms go undefined, and I often feel that the author is technical word name dropping to impress the reader. This is a case where a better writer, like Michael Crichton, would have eliminated the terms to keep the plot flowing.

I recommend this book and will be sure to read the second. However, if you don't think you'd be into a tech-heavy book, you might become confused and bored.

RATING: 4 out of 5 stars

Comments: The film rights for this book have been purchased. Unless they are able to reduce the technical jargon to only the essentials, I don't see the movie having a wide appeal beyond the technical crowd.