The captivating aspect of this book is its plausibility. They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. I know just enough about computer architecture and systems that I kept looking for a glitch in the plot where I could say "why don't they just do thus and such," Never did find one. Perhaps if I knew more I would be less worried. Then again, I might be more worried still.

My only caveat is not to listen to this as you settle into bed expecting to pick it up again the next night if you have to go to work in the morning. The darn thing runs too long to listen to it straight through and get some sleep too. It had me gripped from the begining and almost yelling at the daemon to have some compassion. I find that yelling at books and radio programs to be less effective than I would hope and in the middle of the night to simply upset my wife.

I'm trying to decide about the follow up books as my sleep system can only adjust so far.

Read it.

Normally the User Review star system works well for me. The book looked interesting and it got very good reviews. To my surprise this book was quite horrible.

Most books (and movies for that matter) start off with character development of the good guys and bad guys. The bad guys do bad things at the beginning of the book, the good guys then spend most of the book trying to right the wrong, and then usually the good guys win at the end.

SPOILER ALERT
In this book, the focus is on character development of the bad guys and their technology. It's difficult to figure out who the "hero" is among the good guys. The bad guys tear apart the good guys for the ENTIRE book. I kept hoping things would turn around but they did not. The book left me feeling unsatisfied. For example, say if you watched a Batman movie in which the bad guys always kicked Batman's butt and that's how the movie ended. That's kind of how I feel now.

Now of course maybe my perspective on which side is "good" and which is "bad" is wrong.... Of perhaps this is what Daniel Suarez wants us to feel after reading this book. In either case I feel that I wasted my time listening to this audiobook and wasted more time having to write this review.

Less focus on gaming, more focus on character development

I would have to read more reviews on a book before I ventured into this genre again

Narrator was fine, the story line just seemed disjointed

One of the best audio books I have listened to, more so for the story than for the delivery of it.

Colossus / the Forbin Project, an older Sci-Fi Movie with tangential but certainly not identical themes.

His delivery is very good although as with every audio book I hear, I find myself craving the delivery of audio theater with individual actors/actresses for the roles within the story. I would pay the premium that would require. I think it is inevitable as the audio book juggernaut continues to grow that this medium will begin to go that way and can only benefit from it.

This book is for people male and female, who have an understanding of technology. If you don't have some grasp of how to turn on your computer then you should not buy this book. Conversely for those who's lives are intertwined with computers and networks, this book is awesome in its grasp of the possible and contemporary. Every civilization has it's apex and this book describes a plausible end to ours and a new beginning (need to read Freedom as well to appreciate what I am saying).

Great performance, but don't listen to this while anyone else can hear. If this were a movie, it would be a strong rated R for the abundance of foul language and pornographic scenes in the story. I was very disappointed as it came highly recommended by the Tech community. I can't tolerate that many F-words and sexually explicit scenes. It could have been perfectly good without it - such a shame.

I have read this wonderful book 3 times over the past year. I enjoy the story line and people with in. I have told my friends about Daemon, and a few have bought it. Their glad they picked up the book. To say I'm crazy about wanting this to happen in real life, but I feel the change would be good. I will read it again soon..

The Best book I have read yet.

I was absolutely rivited while listening to this audio book. Daniel Suarez is an amazing writer. I was able to visualize everything because of his expert writing. Very entertaining and enjoyable. Murders, Technology, Sex... what else is needed? Nothing. A+

Others have said but I have to fall in line and say this book is amazingly good. The references to Dan Brown and William Gibson others have made is correct. It's a hybrid near future SF and a page-turning Thriller. I highly recommend this audiobook. It starts kind of rough in my opinion but trust me the more you read the better it gets. The bones of this story are solid. Enjoy!

I listen to audiobooks in the car and I found myself taking the long way home just to hear more. I did not want it to end and cannot wait to start Freedom TM!