This was a very interesting book, not least because it takes place around the time of George H.W. Bush's war in Iraq. The novel was written in the mid-1990s, yet manages to foreshadow certain elements of 9/11 in ways that are disturbing to see now. Although plot elements reflect common themes in the thriller genre, the authors take care to make their characters believable and sympathetic. Deputy Sheriff Clyde Banks, in particular, really made the book.

Made me laugh, then made me cry. Quite cynical, yet very positive about the true virtues of our citizkens and nation.

probably the best thriller ever. the prose, the plotting, the pacing, the details, just amazing craftsmanship.

-Thriller con casi todos los ingredientes del Bestseller generalista, pero que no lo fue.-

Género. Novela.

Lo que nos cuenta. El libro La telaraña (publicación original: The Cobweb, 1996) nos presenta a Clyde Banks, ayudante del sheriff del condado de Forks, a James Gabor Millikan, del Consejo de Seguridad Nacional, a Betsy Vandeventer, analista de la CIA y a su hermano, Kevin Vandeventer, responsable del Centro de Investigación de Ciencias Agrícolas Scheidelmann de la Escuela de Agricultura de la UIO. Sus respectivos trabajos los llevan a que sus caminos se crucen, de diferentes formas, a partir del hallazgo de un cadáver, de las sospechas sobre el uso de fondos federales con destino a Iraq y de las propias estrategias iraquíes antes de la primera Guerra del Golfo.

¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:

http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...

A mediocre Stephenson book is better than no Stephenson book at all.

I pulled this down from the library one night when I was coughing too hard to sleep and it nursed me through several long nights. That I’d read it before in no way diminished my absorption in this clever tale of spies, bureaucrats, and terrorists set during the first Iraq war under the elder Bush (who gets a cameo appearance). I couldn’t say which parts are Stephenson and which George but the amalgam is seamless. Good fun.

Another page-turner from the guy you expect not to produce one. Takes place during the 90s Middle East crisis. Involves biological weapons and a large helping of unlikely protagonists. Very fun read. And paranoid. Elicits appreciation for anything at all getting done in DC. (wow, did i write this? years ago, now. still stands.)

Slowly but surely Neal Stephenson is creeping up my favourite author list. He has a eclectic genre list that he writes, from modern thriller, cyber books to fantasy.

Cobweb is set in the time of the first Gulf War, when Iraq have invaded Kuwait. In small town America a body of an Arab student turns up following a boating accident; but this student has been consuming alcohol. The local deputy sheriff suspects something fishy and starts to dig around the local university where the student was from.

In the meantime a low level CIA analyst is starting to get wind of an Iraqi plot happening on American soil. As she is CIA she cannot investigate, but she become the centre of a power play between two powerful men close to the president. One had been a supporter of Saddam, and is hastily re-aligning his loyalties; the other is a big chief in the CIA who also suspects that the Iraqis are up to something, but he is restricted in his capacity to deal with it. Lots of digging by the two main characters start to make them suspect that there is a potentially deadly biochemical plant in operation, and the body count starts to climb. Cue the big showdown.

Really enjoyed this in the end. It took a while to get going, but made up for it in the end. Stephenson manages to convey the vested interests in high placed officials well, the cobweb being the way that they stifle each other with officialdom.

Whoo hoo! Found my copy of the book published under the original author name.... exact as the cover!
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It was a bit weird to re-read this. I first read it some 15? years ago and it's set in 1990. I couldn't shake the feeling that its supposed to be relatively current. That is certainly a personal bias. My enjoyment also felt tempered as I expected more from it based on having read it before.

I still recommend reading this book as I very much enjoyed it before and am glad to have read it again.

Thriller político sobre la Guerra de Irak.

No parece escrito por Stephenson (es una colaboración con su tío) aunque es entretenido, sin sobresalir.

Mira que me gusta Stephenson. Es uno de mis escritores favoritos pero no se si el tema es demasiado por y para americanos que se me escapan cosas. Si, el tema del politiqueo interno a todos los niveles de la administración local y nacional es interesante, pero no me acaba de convencer. Tiene varios puntos muy interesantes que se ven que están muy bien documentados y el final es bastante ameno, pero la novela se queda en un 2,5.

I'm a big Neal Stephenson fan, especially his Baroque Cycle (see Quicksilver). This tale does not disappoint. In typical Stephensonian form we have multiple points of view, each distinct and interesting. My favorite was Deputy Sheriff Clyde Banks who is our erstwhile hero, and saves us on the homefront from a nasty plot hatched during the First Gulf War. There is good humor in the telling of the tale, with many details of college town life told with great love and affection. Clyde is a man of a time looking for a place to call his own, with his equally indomitable wife away in an Army mobile hospital unit. Once again, there is excellent drawing of all the characters, even the ones that don't necessarily need to be that well drawn.

Another good one from the team of Neal and his Uncle.