Daemon by Daniel Suarez

From the Publisher

When a designer of computer games dies, he leaves behind a program that unravels the Internet's interconnected world. It corrupts, kills, and runs independent of human control. It's up to Detective Peter Sebeck to wrest the world from the malevolent virtual enemy before its ultimate purpose is realized: to destroy civilization...

Publishers Weekly

Originally self-published, Suarez's riveting debut would be a perfect gift for a favorite computer geek or anyone who appreciates thrills, chills and cyber suspense. Gaming genius Matthew Sobol, the 34-year-old head of CyberStorm Entertainment, has just died of brain cancer, but death doesn't stop him from initiating an all-out Internet war against humanity. When the authorities investigate Sobol's mansion in Thousand Oaks, Calif., they find themselves under attack from his empty house, aided by an unmanned Hummer that tears into the cops with staggering ferocity. Sobol's weapon is a daemon, a kind of computer process that not only has taken over many of the world's computer systems but also enlists the help of superintelligent human henchmen willing to carry out his diabolical plan. Complicated jargon abounds, but most complexities are reasonably explained. A final twist that runs counter to expectations will leave readers anxiously awaiting the promised sequel. (Jan.)

Nann Blaine Hilyard - Library Journal

This first novel, originally self-published under the pseudonym/anagram Leinad Zeraus, is a roller-coaster ride of a technothriller that will keep listeners tuned in from first disc to last. When the head of a company preeminent in the world of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG) dies, a terrible legacy is unleashed: the daemon, a piece of code that attacks computer systems everywhere. Narrator Jeff Gurner's (Star Wars: The Clone Wars) perfect timing accentuates the growing suspense. Other narrators provide male and female computer voices with eerie electronic flatness. An excellent choice for espionage fans and computer geeks. [Audio clip available through us.penguingroup.com; the review of the Dutton hc read, "Suarez's dialog is crisp, and his action exciting, but he needs a more logical plot," LJ1/09.-Ed.]

Kirkus Reviews

Computer programs left behind by a dying inventor of video games spread dark mischief around the world, pitting gamers and enabled losers against the most powerful government agencies and businesses, with the geeks holding the best hands. How do you really mess things up after you're dead: tricky wills? entailments? trusts? Posthumous legal meddling is so last millennium. The modern way to carry out your wishes is to use a daemon, a computer program that lies dormant until other factors set it in motion. That's precisely what mastermind Matthew Sobol did. Before he died of brain cancer, Sobol perfected a brilliant string of programming instructions that soon begin to claim victims. The first are a couple of high-level employees at CyberStorm, the Southern California corporation that controls and distributes Sobol's hugely popular games. Detective Sergeant Peter Sebeck of the Ventura County sheriff's department quickly learns (without exactly understanding how) that newspaper headlines can activate the Daemon, which throws switches that electrocute and decapitate. Seback and a growing number of state and federal forces follow the forensics to the late inventor's mansion, which is murderously booby-trapped with a robotic Hummer and gasoline-spewing sprinkler heads. It becomes evident that Sobol's Internet games are a herd of Trojan horses. When the Daemon turns on Sebeck and sticks him with the blame for this mess, the officer's only backers are a brilliant NSA scientist and a Russian-born gamer. Originally self-published, Suarez's not-just-for-gamers debut is a stunner, with an ending that promises sequels to come.

What People Are Saying

Billy O’Brien
"Greatest. Techno-thriller. Period. Suarez presents a fascinating account of autonomous, logic-based terrorism, incorporating current and anticipated technologies to create a credible and quite clever story. Experts have long feared the Internet doomsday scenario; the Daemon is arguably more terrifying."--(Billy O'Brien, Director of Cybersecurity and Communications Policy, The White House)

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