Daemon

By: Daniel Suarez

Narrated by: Jeff Gurner

Length: 15 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

Daniel Suarez's New York Times best-selling debut high-tech thriller is “so frightening even the government has taken note” (Entertainment Weekly).

Daemons: computer programs that silently run in the background, waiting for a specific event or time to execute. They power almost every service. They make our networked world possible. But they also make it vulnerable....

When the obituary of legendary computer game architect Matthew Sobol appears online, a previously dormant daemon activates, initiating a chain of events that begins to unravel our interconnected world. This daemon reads news headlines, recruits human followers, and orders assassinations. With Sobol’s secrets buried with him, and as new layers of his daemon are unleashed, it’s up to Detective Peter Sebeck to stop a self-replicating virtual killer before it achieves its ultimate purpose - one that goes far beyond anything Sebeck could have imagined....

©2009 Daniel Suarez (P)2009 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“A riveting debut.” (Publishers Weekly, starred review)

“This thrill-a-nanosecond novel is certainly faithful to the techno-traditions of Michael Crichton and should delight not only readers of the 'science gone awry' genre, but general adventure readers as well.” (Booklist)

“Suarez's not-just-for-gamers debut is a stunner.” (Kirkus Reviews)

Great book, great performance.

Fantastic book, and excellent performance by Jeff Gurner. This would have made such a better movie than Ready Player One will!

Best Suarez I have read yet!

first I read kill decision. Then there was another Suarez book. And I finally got around to this one. It's the best. Sequel sequel! Freedom? Where is it!

Riveting Story!

Where does Daemon rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I'd say that this ranks in the top ten of any book I have listened to.

What did you like best about this story?

I thought the premise was very good, but it was sometimes very disturbing.

What about Jeff Gurner’s performance did you like?

I think he was able to deliver the essence of each character, male and femaie.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I was disturbed by the callous behavior of some of the characters. But then people have been acting a tad callous in real life lately.

Any additional comments?

I think that people who are not computer savvy can enjoy the story if they just listen with an open mind. It causes you to think about who is really in charge the in the world today. Maybe it will wake up people to the point that they will pay attention to currents events.

pleasantly surprised

I am not a gamer nor do I know much about computers, but I really enjoyed the book a lot. I know that some said it was violent and graphic, and I agree that it was, but for me, those things made it interesting. I do a lot of mundane chores at times, so a book that can have my brain in another world, one that I really can't otherwise imagine, is a gift. I am downloading the sequel as I write this.

Masterpiece of a thiller: Daemon + Freedom

This is easily my favorite audiobook. The story start off as a technology thriller and finishes as a stunning commentary on our world today. I highly recommend Daemon and Freedom. It's a stunning accomplishment by author Daniel Suarez.

Excellent read as well as an excellent listen.

Would you consider the audio edition of Daemon to be better than the print version?

The audio performance was awesome. Better than anything else I have listened to. I loved reading the book too, but this was nice to hear the story during my daily commute.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No.

Long Live the Daemon

Who do you chose? An artificial intelligence with no emotional drive, or the selfish Govt already in place. This book is awesome. You start off thinking how evil this Daemon is, and then about halfway through you start to understand the Daemon's point of view. By the end, I could see myself accepting the Daemon's offer. Great book.

Great book!

Hopefully this will never happen. Excellent story and presentation. Will read / listen to more books by this author.

Suarez uses tech to scare the dickens out of you

Daniel Suarez writes a masterful tale of mystery and horror through the use of modern technology. He keeps you on the edge your seat throughout the entire read. At the end, you want nothing more than to toss all your technology into the trash and walk off into the woods to live a simpler, if not a safer life.

Book is full of cool tech, characters, and fun

This book is amazingly fun and I marveled at the way the author took so many technologies just a little bit further to make them tactical and strategic weapons in the hands of his villain.

Regarding the performance of the reader he will take some getting used to. Ultimately I enjoyed his rhythm and voices though. He made the actions and reactions of the characters seem like the narrations of a real life news story and that added immensely to the intensity.