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)

I'm sorry, I just don't get it.

I really don't understand how this book got such high reviewer ratings. It started off very interesting and I was hopeful. I'm now one hour from the end of the book and I can't wait until it ends so that I can legitimately say "I really didn't like this book." It was as if it were written by a geek trying to be cool, or a cool guy trying to sound like a geek. Lots of descriptive violence interspersed with geek speak. Maybe if I were an 18 year old hacker I would have appreciated it more. Narrator was very good, tho.

Interesting concept, but two things were sub-par.

First off the narration was corny. Perhaps it was partly due to the dialogue, but it was also narrated with cartoony exaggerated caricatured voices. I'm not a fan at all. I appreciate that voicing many characters is difficult work, but this was hard to take seriously. Second, there were too many far fetched aspects of the story. I enjoyed the premise of the book, but the details fell flat. AND, the ending had ZERO resolution. I understand cliff-hangers, but throw the reader a bone here. You can't just treat a book ending like a chapter break.

Riveting

Unique. Excellent plot. Superb production. Voices and emotion. Recommended.

Extra words for quote added here.

Stunning technological thriller

What makes it great is that very soon this will be plausible and some aspects are already playing out in todays world. Kept me enthralled till the end. I immediately bought the next book in the series.

Worth it. medium nerd level is helpful to enjoy it

not heavy with technical stuff but it does show up, adds a layer of authenticity to the story. otherwise a sobering warning to the future of mankind.

Top Notch Reading

This is my first audiobook narrated by Jeff Gurner. I plan to look for more titles that he has read. This story was pretty good but got a little silly towards the end. It was enjoyable enough but far from a favorite for me.

super awesome

great book, it seem to go pretty fast. From beginning to end.
A movie would be great

If you like Michael Crichton, you will like this book

I haven’t been so riveted by a book in some time. The characters were fascinating, the plot had you thinking about moral ambiguity, and the narration was engaging. Don’t worry if you’re not a computer genius like the author so clearly is, it will not hinder your understanding or enjoyment.

Very Good for being my first audio book

I had to do a book report and the teacher said this would be a good one and a good one it was

Geek fodder

I love it! Great non-future SF. Amazing take on humanity. Suarez is a master.