Daemon    by Daniel Suarez Order:  USA  Can Dutton, 2009 (2009) Hardcover      Reviewed by Alex Telander Daniel Suarez has designed and developed enterprise software for the defense, finance, and entertainment industries. He's also an independent systems consultant and an avid gamer. So it's no surprise that in Daemon he has created a world and plot that involves all these facets, resulting in a fast-paced, riveting, exciting novel that is a combination of classic Michael Crichton and The Matrix. Daemon begins with Matthew Sobol, a renowned computer programmer and video game designer, dead from cancer. It is upon his death, when the obituary is posted online, that the dormant daemon is unleashed upon the world. In this world – just like our own – everything is automated and computerized: banking, transportation, defense, government, patient records; there are few things remaining off the grid. The daemon works fast and incredibly efficiently, beginning a systematic takedown of technology and world systems, causing deaths and the collapse of companies, and a financial meltdown that is scarily similar to the current economic climate. It's up to Detective Sebeck and computer genius Jon Ross to try and stop the daemon somehow from destroying everything. Then there is The Grid, the Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game – in the style of World of Warcraft and Lord of the Rings Online – created by Sobol, where the daemon secretly begins recruiting the disaffected but brilliant youth who play the game as part of its efforts to bring down technology and society. Whether you're a gamer, a computer person, a network specialist, an Internet aficionado, or just someone who likes books about technology and possibly the end of the civilized world, Daemon is the book for you. Expertly written by Daniel Suarez, who knows exactly what he's talking about, Daemon is a book that will have you on the edge of your seat from page one to the very end, and waiting for the sequel, Freedom, due out in 2010. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more SF books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews