Daemon

Daniel Suarez

Jan 2009 · Daemon Series Book 1 · Sold by Penguin

About this ebook

Daniel Suarez’s New York Times bestselling 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...

Ratings and reviews

I bought this when it was self published. Suarez has since proved himself to be amazing at his craft. His books are non stop, just one more page, books you devour because the story is fantastic in every sense of the word.

Based on reviews, if I wanted to read one Sci-Fi novel this year it would be this one. It wasn't *that* good, but still worth the read. Daemon is set in a future not very far off from today (perhaps 10-20 years) and is about the birth of a malicious AI Daemon. There are several interesting ideas such as the specific details of how a computer program could control people and harm them. However the narrative is shallower than it could have been, and the use of tech is not terribly surprising. This isn't a "Neuromancer" or "Ender's Game".

Fantastic speculative fiction that explores the possibility of AI in a world where the internet connects the physical and mental. But if you're squeamish about graphic violence or (one scene of) sexual exploitation, this might not be for you.

About the author

Daniel Suarez is the New York Times bestselling author of Daemon, Freedom™, Kill Decision, Influx, and Change Agent. A former systems consultant to Fortune 1000 companies, his high-tech and sci-fi thrillers focus on technology-driven change. He lives in Los Angeles, California.