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)

INCREDIBLE

This is a must read for any fan of thrillers. Correct in every possible way with technology. Even the concepts that seem far fetched are really just connecting the dots on current technology.

The book starts as a typical murder mystery. The hero seems to be a cop looking for a tech-savvy killer, but soon the author turns the tables on you and you are then rooting for the killer! The narrator is excellent. He has enough change in voice with characters that you can believe that they are different actors (minus females of course).

Finally, when you finish this book and its sequel Freedom (TM). You wonder, not when this will happen, but rather why has it not happened. READ AND FIND OUT!

Great story, Great performance

Well written and well read. This story was so good I couldn't put it down. Can't wait to listen to Freedom.

Kept me on the edge of my seat

Any additional comments?

This story, while highly unbelievable, was incredibly entertaining. I thought the characters were interesting and I was rooting for their triumph (the good ones, anyway). I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see what would happen next.

I was disappointed in what felt like a cliffhanger at the end of the story, so I'm guessing there are more stories out there to follow this one.

Excellent character development and story line

Very impressive! The world Mr Suarez creates is so similar to our own, you'd think this was happening right up the street!

Great story line, Mixed bag performance, Weak end

Overall this is a very enjoyable story and I recommend it to fans of the science fiction and mystery/suspense genres. The things that seem to hold it back somewhat are an over-the-top and overly dramatic voice performance by the narrator, as well as an unnecessary attention to technical details that means very little to the average reader. Also, the ending felt empty to me and left too many unanswered questions to me as a reader.

awesome story

Love the visuals the story laid out for me. super entertaining. I recommend for anyone

Unique and entertaining... to a point.

Any additional comments?

Be patient, it takes an hour or so to get your footing and really know what's going on and where this book is going, but then Daemon gets REALLY good. At the half way point I was thinking this might be my favorite audio book yet. But the latter half of the book became a little unfocused and suffered from tedium, implausibility, and too much of an action-movie run to the finish line. Those quibbles aside, it was a still a definite thumbs-up, and I'm definitely going to listen to the second book in the series.

Worthy of a second read

This was my second listen. I enjoyed it both times. I suspect that a year or so from now I'll spin it out again.

Heavy on the Techno, Light on the Reality

As far as I could tell from the reviews, I am one of a mere handful of women who have listened to this book. I am not a gamer, but I do understand technology so I was able to follow most of the techno-speak. But, I'm sorry, that does not make a good novel. It mostly served to bog down the story and helped to create cardboard characters.
Anyway, about a third way through, I was ready to stop listening because of the dull, repetitive techno babble. Then finally the story heated up and moved along swiftly, albeit still immersed in techno babble. And gore. Lots of head and guts exploding. Lots of fun. Not.
My favorite parts were when the disembodied female voice spoke as those scenes were truly chilling without all the blood, guts and head explosions.
Without giving away anything, the end (or rather the cliffhanger calling out for a sequel ending), descended into a mess of chaotic suspension of disbelief.
But, what can I say? I'm ready to listen to the sequel.

Mesmerizing

Although I am not the most tech smart individual I knew enough to thoroughly enjoy and appreciate what Suarez was saying. It was a totally engrossing experience . I would highly recommend. This book.