Books to Consume All Your Free Time

Daniel Suarez has written a couple of novels that should be on every geek's reading list. I've listened to Leo LaPorte go on and on about these titles for months, but I was afraid to buy them in fear of shirking my other duties to read them.  My fears were well-founded.

If you're a techie, Daemon and Freedom™ contain the ingredients necessary to push all your geek buttons. Daemon begins as a millionaire computer genius/game developer Matthew Sobel dies of cancer leaving an AI version of himself running loose on the internet to carry out his vision of socioeconomic re-engineering of the world's power structure. While the tech is a bit futuristic, the setting is present day and very believeable. If you've ever played a first-person shooter, you'll be instantly familiar with the described "darknet" where followers of the deceased Sobel rebuild their crumbling world. Suarez does an excellent job developing the characters while not overdoing the touchy-feely stuff and I found myself very interested in the human side of the story. But let there be no doubt, these books are high-tech action thrillers and the reader is not left wanting death and destruction.

I bought Daemon on a Friday.  By Sunday, I was back on the Whispernet purchasing its sequel, Freedom™. After Daemon I wanted more and Freedom™ delivered IN SPADES! Rumor has it, Suarez is working to complete the trilogy. I'll be first in line.