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Paranoia
It may be hard for anyone who's endured the economic downturn in the computer industry and the ascendance of the DRM lawyers to see the romance of tech, but the computer business continues to be one of the most exciting and explosive corners of the zeitgeist. Fortunes are made and lost in days; products depend upon the synergy of the hackers and the marketeers; and everything turns on the information passed along in IMs, emails and whispers. This world is a rich backdrop for the new thriller by Joe Finder, the spy novelist who set his previous books in the world of the three-letter agencies and the military justice system. This time he's plumbing the depths of corporate politics and industrial espionage with his story of a company racing to deliver the next big Palm Pilot replacement.
The thriller is a reminder that electronic gizmos continue to be a tumultuous and exciting domain where creative people with whip-smart
minds can change the company's destiny. I suppose it would be possible to set a similar novel in, say, the auto industry, but it just wouldn't
have the same resonance. No engineer, designer, or bright employee is going to make much of a difference at Ford or General Motors. Much of
their future is dictated by the cost
of
medical
care
for the retired workers and the problems are not about cars qua cars. Producing great cars would be nice, but it's not the main challenge for
the companies. At least in Silicon Valley, there can be some direct link between action and reaction. Newton's law still holds.
The beginning of the book is an irresistable hook. Who wouldn't want to throw a party on the corporation's dime?
Many of the elements of Silicon Valley's mythology appear here. There's a boss who keeps stable of young, blonde administrative assistants around. There's another boss who works out of the same size cubicle as everyone else. Secret research labs to develop the next generation of gadgets are locked away in a perimeter guarded by other gadgets that scan eyeballs or examine fingerprints. All of the characters drive slick cars and worry about the quality of their real estate.
As the novel unfolds, Cassidy's allegiance and soul is pulled in a tug-of-war. Who deserves the information he's gathering? Is there right and wrong in corporate espionage? Which company deserves to win?
The novel is similar in tone and structure to John Grisham's The Firm or Michael Crichton's Disclosure, two other novels that mused about the nature of the modern workplace. Finder's characters are
richer and better drawn, at least than Grisham's earlier works. The search for the next gadget isn't really the point of Cassidy journey in
the labyrinth, it's just an excuse to work through the modern world of corporations and the way they organize people and their creations. The
book is not filled with the neo-Marxist questioning of the capitalist
system that comes from places like the Baffler , but there are
similar themes that echo in the cubicle bins.
This is, of course, because it's a thriller, not some postmodern master's
degree thesis. The twists are well-handled, the pacing is good, and the
ending may open the doors to debates. I spent some time wondering
whether it was the best ending on many different levels. That kind of
resolution is something that doesn't come from standard thrillers by
people like Tom Clancy or James Paterson. In those books, the author's
point of view is as solid and fixed as, say, those opinion shows on Fox
TV. Someone's always dying or trying to destroy America in those books
and stopping the murder or saving the country is the only possible resolution.
Finder's earlier books delved into the mirror world of espionage and
the realm of three-letter agencies. Moscow
Club focused on a coup and an assassination in Soviet Russia. Extraordinary Powers explored the
possibility that various spy agencies could tap clairvoyance and other
extra-sensory powers-- a premise that David
Moorhouse later confirmed was very real in his book, Psychic Warrior . The world of
covert assassination in Latin America took center stage in High Crimes.
The tone is also much lighter than Finder's early books, with their heavy body count. After watching the movie version of High Crimes, I kept wishing someone would write a nice comedy for Ashley Judd. She deserved it, after the blood and betrayal. This time, death isn't part
of the stakes, and this leaves Finder a bit more room to maneuver and
play people and allegiances off each other. Cutting down on the raw
danger gives him the freedom to build suspense with action and
character. The book is really a light-hearted romp through a
semi-mythical world where fortunes are huge, dreams are made real
through engineering, and everyone drives a slick car. I say "semi-mythical," because despite the downturn, there's still plenty of
money in some corners of technology. Will it always be there? Well,
that's not the point of this book.
It's worth commending Finder for his insight into the technology world.
His background is more in Russian literature and spy things, not in programming. Yet, the tech world he creates is as true to life in
Silicon Valley as books like Po Bronson's The First 10 Million is the Hardest
and Douglas Coupland's Microserfs. Technology is a wonderful domain for a novelist to work within, and we should be glad he came in from the cold to check it out.
Peter Wayner is the author of 13 thrilling technical books on topics like building secure databases ( Translucent Databases ), steganography ( Disappearing Cryptography ), and stopping cheating ( Policing Online Games ). You can purchase Paranoia from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
n/t
fp indeed
i feel like my life is about to implode.
i make synthesizers.
; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
Spymac 3 is opening within the hour!
As long as we're on the subject of RPGs, Shadowrun is my favorite, and it contains lots of corporate espionage and worse.
As a matter of fact, the world is getting closer and closer to the corporate world in Shadowrun every day.
Really. I'm sitting at work, bored out of my fucking skull, and there's nothing but CRAP on the front page. The usual M$ crap, hyperbole about potentially (not actually) colonizing mars. A few subjects I've never heard of AND THAT NEITHER MYSELF NOR ANYONE ELSE GIVES A SHIT ABOUT.
/. editors manage to find some stories to post THAT ARE WORTH READING!!!!!!!!!
Fuck this crap; I'm letting my subscription lapse unless the
President Bush (news - web sites)'s economic agenda has one goal: to make sure every American who wants to work can find a job.
To create the conditions for job creation, the president delivered relief for American consumers and provided incentives for businesses to grow jobs.
To help American consumers, the president delivered relief to employees, families and seniors. We cut payroll taxes, doubled the child tax credit and added a prescription drug benefit to Medicare. As a result, we've seen gains in retail sales, consumer confidence and disposable income.
To create new jobs, the president delivered tax relief to the 25 million small-business owners, quadrupled the amount small businesses can expense for capital investments and cut needless regulations.
The president's support for mom-and-pop entrepreneurship resulted in a recent surge of small-business activity. Homeownership, which is a key prerequisite to entrepreneurship, is at its highest point ever, and more Americans are chasing the American Dream by starting businesses in their garages. Last year, we saw 350,000 more sole proprietorships.
Thanks to President Bush's jobs agenda, America's economy is strong - and growing stronger. In the third quarter of 2003, our economy grew at its fastest rate in 20 years. We have created more than a quarter-million new jobs since last summer. But there is still more work to do.
First, we must reject any plans to increase taxes on families and small businesses. Under current law, many vital aspects of the president's tax relief will expire in coming years, including marriage-penalty relief and small-business expensing. Congress must make President Bush's tax relief permanent so that businesses and families can plan better for the future.
Congress also should pass the other components of the president's six-point jobs plan, including health care reform, expanded free trade, litigation reform, regulatory reform and a comprehensive energy plan. Congress also can strengthen our economy by following the responsible spending limits proposed in the president's budget and by passing compassionate immigration reform.
Thanks to the president's leadership, our economy is creating jobs after the shocks of recession, terrorism and corporate scandal. We can be pleased, but not complacent.
President Bush will not rest until every American seeking work can find a job.
Donald L. Evans, who chaired President Bush's election campaign in 2000, is secretary of Commerce.
...corporations spy on YOU!!!!
going to help with my php coding or secure my linux box? I am sure there are lots of good points of this book, but is it really slashdot worthy?
Given the choice between this and CNN's over-rated jako coverage, I will choose the lesser of two evils, but still.
"I'm sitting at work, bored out of my fucking skull, and there's nothing but CRAP on the front page."
Is your boss around? If not, you could always...
--
Rate Naked People at FuckMeter! (Not work-safe [unless your boss likes pr0n as much as you do])
I've got a better idea Mr. CEO. How about I give you the finger, and you try to put me in jail for 20 years. You're CEO because you see the big picture. I bet you wouldn't even know how to find, much less open, an excel spreadsheet that contains enough evidence to put me away.