Neal Stephenson is one of my favorite authors (snow crash, cryptonomicon), but he didn't deliver in this one. Maybe because it was co-authored. The premise was interesting, and the first half of the book was actually pretty good, but then it just skipped ahead and I didn't love the ending...

Long build but a good read

The real meat of the story doesn't hit until nearly two thirds of the way in. After this, the momentum builds steadily to the final everything-hitting-the-fan chapters. It you have the patience, it is an entertaining ride.

For me this was very hard work. Made worse by authors seeming very smug.

With the current intrigue of outrageous American politics, this read more like a cautionary tale than out and out fiction. I imagine that when it was published (some 15 years ago) that people would have rolled their eyes at some of the over-the-top presidential politics. Now... not so much.

The science fiction in this book is limited to a single device, a brain implant that ostensibly helps people recover from brain damage. The inventors, however, have more nefarious plans as they implant a device into a rising presidential candidate.

The rest is a master class in presidential politics and actually quite a thrill to read. I found it difficult to put down. You literally have no idea who will be standing at the end of the book... and you will care who's standing as the character development is quite detailed.

Highly recommended.