Just like "Interface", a fast-paced (somewhat) political thriller - and hilarious even amid the not-hilarious plot. I loved it.

From his triumphant debut with Snow Crash to the stunning success of his latest novel, Quicksilver, Neal Stephenson has quickly become the voice of a generation. In this now-classic political thriller, he and fellow author J. Frederick George tell a savagely witty, chillingly topical tale set in the tense moments of the Gulf War.

**When a foreign exchange student is found murdered at an Iowa University, Deputy Sheriff Clyde Banks finds that his investigation extends far beyond the small college town—all the way to the Middle East. Shady events at the school reveal that a powerful department is using federal grant money for highly dubious research. And what it’s producing is a very nasty bug.

Navigating a plot that leads from his own backyard to Washington, D.C., to the Gulf, where his Army Reservist wife has been called to duty, Banks realizes he may be the only person who can stop the wholesale slaughtering of thousands of Americans. It’s a lesson in foreign policy he’ll never forget.

n  From the Trade Paperback edition.n

Review

"Praise for Neal Stephenson: I have seldom felt such humble, intoxicated, euphoric and droolingly grateful awe as before Neal Stephenson's ... Baroque Cycle" -- Christopher Brookmyre, Glasgow Herald "The Confusion Ideas about currency and calculus become thrilling because of the way Stephenson incorporates them into his story ... Huge in scope ... rich in detail ... This weird, wonderful collision of scholarship and storytelling has no peer" Time Out "Quicksilver: A tour-de-force ... Dense, witty, erudite and gripping, Quicksilver is ... an indication that Stephenson's Baroque Cycle is shaping up to be a far more impressive literary endeavour than most so-called "serious" fiction. No scholarly, and intellectually provocative, historical novel has been this much fun since The Name of the Rose" -- Charles Shaar Murray The Independent "Cryptonomicon: The Gravity's Rainbow of the information age ... an astonishing, monumental performance; and if the rumours of a sequel are true, I can hardly wait" The Independent

About the Author

Neal Stephenson is the author of The Baroque Trilogy (Quicksilver, The Confusion, and The System Of The World). His other books include Cryptonomicon, Snow Crash, The Diamond Age, and Zodiac, as well as Cobweb and Interface, written in collaboration with Frederick George. He lives in Seattle.

A thoroughly fun, interesting, and cynical romp around the US; from the scientific labs of a midwest research university to Washington DC. The combination of Stephenson's prose and story-telling skills with George's historical knowledge results in an engrossing thriller that questions and criticizes (most explicitly) the federal bureaucracy and the western system of fairly blindly accepting foreign students to drive our university's research programs. While the characters and world clearly didn't have Stephenson's normally intensive and deft touch (this was a thriller set in modern America), they weren't any close to flat or boring, and both were interesting and deep enough to keep the reader invested in them. If you're a fan of Stephenson, don't expect something nearly as good as his own novels, but also don't eschew the book because it's been co-authored. If you like thrillers and espionage and such, this is definitely a book you should pick up and get into. Very much looking forward to reading the next book Interface by these two authors.

I love his books from the first page all the way through, despite never really knowing where it's all going until the last chapter - which is always disappointing, because the story could go on a while longer!

Also, I haven't found another author who writes female characters better. Or maybe it's that they're always viewed through the eyes of men "madly in love with them" and completely at their mercy which makes it amusing and adorable.
Betsy was great, too.

Topic-wise, Cobweb wasn't what I would normally read, and it was at times hard to follow as I lack some basic knowledge of US society, sports and politics. But human notions are universal and carried the point across anyway.

Ok, you got me. Red-handed. I surrender. I admit it. I am one of the foreign students that the authors are talking about, who came into this country on the merit of just my brains, who went through the grist mill of a post-graduate program, who found a job below my qualifications, worked at it until something better came along. Yes, all true. And the wonderful thing that happened along the way was ...

... the melting pot, where:

 cultures change, society adopts, people transform, foreign to local to native!

What does all this have to do with the book, you ask? Well, that. The writers do great, ignoring the above. And i mean it, too. Excellent detail and character development. A slow burn intensity towards the climax. Good stuff.

3.5 My first 'spy novel' I enjoyed. Good plot, characters who didn't seem too artificial. Nothing amazing, but much more engaging than anything on spies I have read before. This indeed is quite weird, as I enjoy spy movies and did like detective books as a teenager. This one though is the first after a couple of tries (with classics like john le Carré) which made me pretty pessimistic about them. This one though, maybe due to world building or character construction more similar to scifi or suspense, made me quite engaged in the storyline and fairly attached to the characters. I also had it as an audiobook and a couple of longer road trips.

This turned out to be a surprisingly fun read!

I have long been a fan of Stephenson's, though I thought one of his other action/thrillers (REAMDE) was only mediocre. So when I realized he'd written this one that I'd never heard about, I was prepared to be only medium-entertained here too. But it turned out to be great!

I don't know how much to credit George with keeping the plot on track, or building to a satisfying ending (which is admittedly unusual in a Stephenson novel), but the result is excellent. As with previous books, I enjoyed being treated with Stephenson's turns of phrase and relatable similies, and getting into details about certain technologies in depth. But in addition to his style, I was surprised that the build-up to the thrills were believable, and the skills of the protagonist were plausibly justified. In the genre-requisite fight scene at the climax, the action doesn't seem gratuitous and overwrought, as is so common in this era of superhero movie fads; rather, the fighting is consistent with previous character development and serves to advance the plot.

The result is that I'm now interested to read the other collaboration betwen Neal Stephenson and J. Frederick George, Interface. I hope it's as satisfying as this one proved to be!

Ignored these books for a while despite Stephenson's name on the cover because I'm no sucker for that Clive Cussler/Dirk Pitt gambit. Also, not a fan of political thrillers. This was a pleasant surprise. A light political thriller, yes, but richly leavened with Stephenson's wit, depth of character and scientific nerdliness. My apologies to Frederick George if these were his contributions! It touched on several topics dear to my heart including foreign student visas, the politics of university research, and the plight of low-level bureaucrats struggling to do the right thing. Fast-paced read with lots of humor!

An interesting premise that is more relevant today than when it was published since this is a terrorist book written well before 9/11. George is great balancing force to Stephenson and keeps him grounded in the history of the time without allowing him to get too insanely esoteric.

It is a smart novel and especially engaging for those, like me, who remembers Desert Storm as the first big, extensive news story of their life. Although events are dramatized, they are based in fact. Throughout the novel, you find that politics, diplomacy and bureacracy are as compelling as the terrorist plot.

The only detractor for me is the book takes quite a while to get going--but if you stick with it you won't regret it.

Good fun read

Liked getting to know the small town of nishnabonta Iowa, and the great lead character. Lots of just funny turns of phrase, and the story moves along well.

Ham fisted anti-Iraq agitprop.

Credible combo of beltway madness and small town pragmatism

Unsure when this book was written - appreciated the connection between a small Iowa college town and DC multi-agency policy wonks. Characters quite believable (perhaps because authors understand Midwestern sensibilities?). Ending seemed a bit farfetched as an unlikely response by central character but his justification for action was sincere and in line with character's development. Enjoyed the novel.