Zeroes

Executive Summary: A strong start with an alright finish. I liked the book as is, but probably would have enjoyed it more as a Cyber thriller rather than a sci-fi book. 3.5 stars

Full Review
I picked this book up on a daily deal at some point and I had been planning to read it towards the Sword & Laser's Laser group challenge because I was behind on my pledge. Then they went and made it the November pick.

I've long held a fascination on the early days of computers, networks and the phone phreaks and hackers who found ways to manipulate them. I've read numerous nonfiction books on the subject, but very few fiction books. Most fictions books with hackers tend to become cyberpunk (which I also enjoy) but I'd like to see someone do a good take on modern day hacking akin to the first season of Mr. Robot.

Hacking has taken on a much more negative connotation these days, despite the idea of “White Hat”, “Gray Hat” or Hackavists, most people tend to automatically associate the term hacker with criminal. That isn't to say hackers aren't breaking laws, or that there are criminals who use computer savvy to commit crimes. The early hackers were more explorers and prankster than they were hardened criminal however.

One of the things I loved about this book is that Wendig covers pretty much all the common-day hackers. He's got an old guy from the earlier days of hacking, a hackivist, a carder, an internet troll, and a “script kiddie” among others.

They are all well flushed out too. It seems like Wendig knows his stuff when setting up the tech side. But this book isn't a cyber thriller. It's science fiction. That may not be apparent until pretty far into the book but it is.

While I enjoyed the second half of the book, I didn't like it as much as the first half. I think I might have liked it better if he had kept things a little more grounded in the science side of things.

That said, I may still pick up the second book in the series at some point because I'd like to see where he takes things next.