Today I am reviewing a book called Deamon by Daniel Suarez. I read this book on the recommendation of a friend, and I loved it. Daemon, and it's sequel Freedom are really what I would call a two part novel. While they are separate books, and each have a clear plot arc, Deamon is only half the story. I thought about waiting until I'd finished Freedom (I'm still reading it), and doing a joint review, but I decided to do two separate posts. Daemon is hard to classify. At first, I thought it was a murder mystery. Then I thought it was a techno-thriller, with good guys and bad guys. But the farther along the story got, the harder it was for me to decide who was good, who was bad, and what the real problem was.
As you probably know if you've been reading my blog for a while, I am a character person. The books I love have well developed characters, who act like real people, and who drive the story with their choices. Daemon has a lot of great characters. Pete Sebeck, the police detective who has no idea what he'd getting in to. Natalie Phillips, the NSA agent who never stops fighting the Daemon. Jon Ross, the mysterious freelance analyst without a past. Loki, the hacker with high aspirations, and not too many morals. The Major, the man without a name who is always there when something big happens. Roy Merritt, the hero. And Matthew Sobol, who I think might be the most interesting character, but who dies before the book even begins.
These characters all get trapped in a world they didn't know existed. The Daemon, which is a computer program, is threatening to destroy the world as they know it, and they must stop it. The world is becoming a video game, and those who don't know how to play are getting left behind.
This book is so hard to talk about without giving away the plot. It is very well written, and even though it is a technology book, it's written in a way that would make it very accessible to people who aren't familiar with how that world works. The story can be hard to follow at times, because it often makes leaps forward in time, and it switches often between narrators. If any of this sounds interesting, I highly recommend this book.
Who Should Read This Book
Basically, if you were intrigued by the description, and enjoy a good thriller sometimes, you would probably like this book. But, a obligatory disclaimer: This is not a kid's book, and you shouldn't expect it to be. There is a lot of very graphic violence in this book. A lot of people die or are tortured in very creative ways, and very little is left to the imagination in many of those scenes. While this in no ways lessens my recommendation of this book, it is something to be aware of. If those things bother you, this might not be a book for you. It didn't bother me that much, though there were some time where I started just skimming for a few pages (not only are those parts graphic, they are long. They get a little boring sometimes). There is also sex, and some swearing (though no more than any YA book, and actually probably less than most), so as usual, take those things into consideration when deciding whether to read this book.
Interesting to see what you think of Freedom! I do wonder a little bit why Suarez described the violence so explicitly.
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