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Poll results are in for November 2024 Book of the Month. Thanks to those who nominated and voted on the books. We have a 2-way tie, and I'm of the mind to call both winners. Calling this one a "throwback" since it is over 10 years old.

Daemon by Daniel Suarez (2006)

A computer virus wreaks havoc. #4 ranked best technothriller.

Publisher's Summary
A high-tech thriller for the wireless age that explores the unthinkable consequences of a computer program running without human control—a daemon—designed to dismantle society and bring about a new world order

Technology controls almost everything in our modern-day world, from remote entry on our cars to access to our homes, from the flight controls of our airplanes to the movements of the entire world economy. Thousands of autonomous computer programs, or daemons, make our networked world possible, running constantly in the background of our lives, trafficking e-mail, transferring money, and monitoring power grids. For the most part, daemons are benign, but the same can't always be said for the people who design them.

Matthew Sobol was a legendary computer game designer—the architect behind half-a-dozen popular online games. His premature death depressed both gamers and his company's stock price. But Sobol's fans aren't the only ones to note his passing. When his obituary is posted online, a previously dormant daemon activates, initiating a chain of events intended to unravel the fabric of our hyper-efficient, interconnected world. With Sobol's secrets buried along with him, and as new layers of his daemon are unleashed at every turn, it's up to an unlikely alliance to decipher his intricate plans and wrest the world from the grasp of a nameless, faceless enemy—or learn to live in a society in which we are no longer in control. . . .

Computer technology expert Daniel Suarez blends haunting high-tech realism with gripping suspense in an authentic, complex thriller in the tradition of Michael Crichton, Neal Stephenson, and William Gibson.

Started. Not a big fan of the audio narration. There is some absolutely unnecessary gratuitously sexual content. This sexual stuff ... and much of the book overall comes off as written by/for a 20-something male sex-starved computer nerd. It has an immature feel to it. For example, they have high level executives and leaders from the NSA, FBI, and such institutions having discussions, and they are portrayed like foolish blowhards. It is a similar feel in that regard as scientists in the movie Armageddon, which is a far cry from a more realistic engineer as portrayed in say The Martian. It is hard to distinguish whether this off-putting effect is from the narration or the actual words of the book, but the effect comes from both. I find myself reading every other book I have over this one.

I did eventually get through it ... and spoiler/not-spoiler (not sorry) ... it just ends. This is clearly just part 1 of a story. The next book is Freedom. I was pretty disappointed in that it didn't really wrap up much of anything and feel like a whole story in itself. I have started the next book, which is best thing I can say about it. I rated it a low, relatively iffy (and I might change my mind) 4-star.

Is it worthy of its current #4 ranking on the Best Technothrillers Ever list?
No. Not for me. Not even close.

Steve, how would you compare Daemon to Delta-V by Suarez, written 13 years later?

I guess most annoying to me in Daemon were rather juvenile or immature characters or motives. I didn’t need the sex scenes, which for me took away rather than added to Daemon. Immature people are out there too, but shouldn’t be most of the characters. Maybe it was supposed to be offensive and establishes the immorality of Loki, but then it happens with a good guy and � why? Maybe thought he needed sex to sell his book? Just seemed odd, unnecessary, and a little off putting. He had relationships and I think some sex in Delta V and they didn’t stand out as odd, overly gratuitous, or immature to me, so that’s an improvement.

DeltaV had an end. Daemon just seemed to just stop. I think I like Delta V slightly better, but time will tell when I’ve read both sequels. They are different stories, and hard to compare. I haven’t really seen him stick the landing � ending a book in a way I like yet. I suppose that’s and art not always well done in technothrillers. It’s not as easy as � there was a romance and in the end, those two were together. There are more loose ends with � and that technology emerged.

Both new and old books seem to extrapolate a little more than I’d personally like, exploring beyond plausible to something a bit more far-fetched, so at some point it goes beyond a typical technothriller to a more speculative sci-fi.

I’m not sure I’m able to usefully analyze the evolution of his writing off the cuff. This is surely more your forte. How do you think his writing compares across that span of years, Jed?

(view spoiler)[I think the AI motorcycles trying to smash through steel doors inside of buildings is � absurd. How do they get up in the first place? How do they not fall down?How do they get back up? How is smashing the rubber wheel into a door going to dent the steel? (hide spoiler)]

I've dnf'd Daemon twice so I can't really say. I remember I couldn't get into the characters. disliked is probably more accurate. probably along the lines of what you're saying. I didn't have that problem with Delta, so I feel like he improved a lot. hard to say though.