"The Blue Nowhere", Jeffrey Deaver, 2001

Recently, over the course of a week, three different people told me I *had* to read this book. Obviously, somebody likes it.

Well, there are some reasonable points about members of the blackhat community, such as the various activities and types, the generally opportunistic skill level, obsessive behaviour (although the" addiction" theme is a bit overplayed) and the usual types of motivations. (While the book does note that blackhats engage in different activities, the insistence on a kind of "superhacker" who does everything is a central feature of the book.)

Read More ...


"Cryptonomicon", Neal Stephenson, 1999

A number of people, particularly those who liked "Snow Crash" (cf. BKSNCRSH.RVW) have said that they did *not* like "Cryptonomicon." I'm at a loss to understand why. "Cryptonomicon" is much closer in style to "Snow Crash" than either was to, say, "The Diamond Age" (cf. BKDAYLIP.RVW).

Read More ...