Helpful Score: 4
This book just might scare you away from the Internet forever! Great story, intense suspense, keeps you guessing right til the end. Lots of technical computer jargon, but that's what I loved about it. I feel semi-educated as well as thoroughly entertained.
Helpful Score: 3
I thought it was a very successful thriller. It is not easy to craft a compelling story based on software and code issues but Deaver did. "Cryptonomicon," by N. Stephenson, and "Digital Fortress," by D. Brown, are the closest books I can think of to this type of story, but in terms of tightness of plot and ease of narration, I think "The Blue Nowhere" surpasses both. Thoroughly enjoyable.
Helpful Score: 1
This book was published in 2001. Remember your computer history, this was the era where everyone was buying personal computers, getting connected with the world wide web and getting in trouble with viruses and worms. The anti-virus software industry was just in its infancy. Deaver uses the WWW (termed the blue nowhere) as a focus of a serial killer. The killer is a 'cracker' (which is different from a hacker, but read the novel to learn the difference). Today in 2006 we are wiser and this book is now a classic thriller from the by-gone era of the wild-west of the web and internet. Deaver has to explain 'net' terms that are now second-nature to us which slows the plot down somewhat for the 2006 internet savy reader. Despite this, the book is a great read from the historic net wild-west perspective as well as a nail-biting thriller.
Helpful Score: 1
You'll never look at a computer the same again! Scary! Jeffrey Deaver is a mastermind, and this is another great mystery.
I enjoy all of Jeffrey Deaver's books. This one is a bit of departure. Does not fit in with any of his series. Still a good read.
Helpful Score: 1
This is the first Deaver novel I've read, but it certainly won't be the last. It's fast-paced, and not cluttered with unnecessary characters. An entertaining thriller that's hard to put down.
An engrossing thriller for the electronic age, packed with action, surprises, and adventure. Deaver's killer reaches inside his victims' minds, learns their deepest fears and vulnerabilities, and uses that knowledge to gain access to them. Phate is a techno-genius who has devised a method of invading individual computers and gaining admittance to all the files stored there, including e-mail. Worse, he is gaining "access" to his victims before he kills in what to him is just a real-world virtual-reality game. Faced with an electronics sociopath, the California State Police Computer Crimes Division "borrows" a jailed hacker to help them follow the complex electronic trail of the perpetrator. Wyatt, still facing a year of his prison sentence for ostensibly cracking a Defense Department code, is more than happy to be back online and on the trail of the killer hacker or "kracker." Readers are led to wonder if Wyatt, along with a number of the other characters, is what he appears to be. Besides being an engrossing mystery with lots of interesting characters, The Blue Nowhere is an absorbing history lesson about the Internet, a dictionary of computer terminology, and a compelling, if frightening, description of what is possible, and maybe probable, in our electronically based future.
An engrossing thriller for the electronic age, packed with action, surprises, and adventure. Deaver's killer reaches inside his victims' minds, learns their deepest fears and vulnerabilities, and uses that knowledge to gain access to them. Phate is a techno-genius who has devised a method of invading individual computers and gaining admittance to all the files stored there, including e-mail. Worse, he is gaining "access" to his victims before he kills in what to him is just a real-world virtual-reality game. Faced with an electronics sociopath, the California State Police Computer Crimes Division "borrows" a jailed hacker to help them follow the complex electronic trail of the perpetrator. Wyatt, still facing a year of his prison sentence for ostensibly cracking a Defense Department code, is more than happy to be back online and on the trail of the killer hacker or "kracker." Readers are led to wonder if Wyatt, along with a number of the other characters, is what he appears to be. Besides being an engrossing mystery with lots of interesting characters, The Blue Nowhere is an absorbing history lesson about the Internet, a dictionary of computer terminology, and a compelling, if frightening, description of what is possible, and maybe probable, in our electronically based future.
Helpful Score: 1
suspensful and intreging.
Helpful Score: 1
Non series book
Helpful Score: 1
chilling
Helpful Score: 1
This book was awesome - Jeffery Deaver has still got it. I loved the whole thriller/technology blend. I really enjoy learning about computers and I'm addicted to thrillers, so I thought this was a great book!
Helpful Score: 1
Evil lurks in cyberspace
Helpful Score: 1
Things I liked: tons of twists that you don't see coming; great character development; intriguing story.
Thing I didn't like: way too much geek-speak, so much that it required a glossary at the beginning of the book! I have an extensive computer background, so I understood it all, but someone who is not into computers could get very put-out by the constant 'inside' jargon.
Thing I didn't like: way too much geek-speak, so much that it required a glossary at the beginning of the book! I have an extensive computer background, so I understood it all, but someone who is not into computers could get very put-out by the constant 'inside' jargon.
Helpful Score: 1
Code name Phate-a sadistic computer hacker who infiltrated people's computers, invades their lives, and lures them to their deaths. Now the Computer Crime Unit must stop him. Very Good
Helpful Score: 1
A great, suspenseful story - especially fascinating to computer geeks.
Helpful Score: 1
This is a great mystery with a computer saavy twist.
Helpful Score: 1
This is a great techno-thriller. Computer hackers handbook with a real dangerous and scary story line. Loved it!
Helpful Score: 1
If your even the least bit interested in computers, this book will grab you at the first page and keep you hooked until you turn the last page. I am in awe of anyone with more than a modicum of knowledge of how computers really work because I know just enough to check my email and do a few mundane tasks. The characters here don't just know about computer language, they actually write it and one of them is using his skills for evil purposes. So many plot twists, I stayed way behind for most (all) of this book!
Helpful Score: 1
This is a good read, but Deaver has written alot better books than this one.
Helpful Score: 1
His code name is Phate - a sadistic computer hacker who infiltrates people's computers, invades their lives, and with chilling precision lures them to their deaths.
A typical Jeffery Deaver novel - excellent reading and a "can't put it down" story.
A typical Jeffery Deaver novel - excellent reading and a "can't put it down" story.
Helpful Score: 1
This was Jeffrey Deaver's second chance. He gets one more, because I didn't particularly enjoy this one either. Again with the continuity errors, and I felt in several cases he spent too much time developing characters that didn't stay in the plot. Also instead of leaving clues in the book that would have given us a chance to figure stuff out, he has his characters, at the end explain everything. They even took turns telling what happened, but none of their clues were listed in the book. A pretty unsatisfactory read, I felt no need to pause and reflect on the "clever" plot.
Helpful Score: 1
Great story involving hacking and crime. You don't figure out the mystery until the last chapter.
Helpful Score: 1
If you like computers and the machine world, you love this book. I enjoyed finding out some things about computing I never knew.
Oh, yes, the story was great!
Oh, yes, the story was great!
A fascinating look at cyberhackers and how to catch them in a well-devised thriller from Jeffrey Deaver, author of the Lincoln Rhyme and Colter Shaw series.
This was my first read by this author but it won't be my last! Enjoyed the pace, the characters (not developed too much but enough for the storyline), and the subject (computers - I don't know how accurate the info given was but it was presented in a plausible manner). Now where are those other Jeffery Deaver books . . .
Very fast reading from Deaver. I had the book on my self for a few years and was glad I finally read it. It gave me an insight into The hacker's world" on computer.Very detailed,likeable characters, and kept me very engaged. I would recommend it highly.
Jeffery Deaver is one of my favorite authors. He is all over the place in subject lines and that makes him a must-read! In 'The Blue Nowhere' old-school detectives meet the computer age and it isn't a joyful union. They get a top notch hacker out of prison to aid in their apprehension of a killer who uses the computer to lure his victims. On the edge of the seat reading! I loved this one!
"Deaver is the Master of Ticking-Bomb Suspence"People
I loved this book. The information was accurate and since it's original publication has not gone out of date -- a real feat in the technical world. It's a techno thriller that will keep you reading and on the edge of your seat until the last page.
Excellebt thriller about hunting down a sadistic computer hacker who infiltrates people's computers, invades their lives, and then lures them to their deathes.
Delves into cyberspace and a sadistic hacker.
computer hacker infiltrates computers, lures people to their deaths. Calif State Police Computer Crimes Unit must stop him, a thriller
This is my favorite Deaver book. Loved it!
Excellant book, edge of the seat page turner.
Good read.
One of his best stand alone books.. very fast paced
Wyatt Gillette, hacker extraordinaire, is temporarily released from prison to help in a murder investigate with the California State Police Computer Crimes Unit (CCU). Serial killer, Phate, is also a very gifted hacker who has left reality behind and is bringing a computer game to the real world. THe idea of the game is to kill as many people as possible in a weeks time. The only catch is that the people must be very secure and basically untouchable. As each kill is completed, the next victim must be harder to access. Wyatt, Frank Bishop (homicide detective), and a small crew of CCU computer geeks, as well as, a few other detectives are working 24/7 to track and trace this brutal serial killer.
Phate (though totally nuts) is a brilliant tactician. He feints one way (false clues) and strikes the other way. He has thir entire team stepping, fetching and tripping over their own feet. Simply spectacular!
Jeffery Deaver has written a masterpiece along the lines of Dan Brown's Digital Fortress though the language is dummed down for us laymen. The intrigue is spellbinding which makes this book difficult to put down. The in depth computer speak (hackers language) bogs it down some but I found that this info isn't necessary to solving the mystery and skipped quite a bit of it. Great book.
Phate (though totally nuts) is a brilliant tactician. He feints one way (false clues) and strikes the other way. He has thir entire team stepping, fetching and tripping over their own feet. Simply spectacular!
Jeffery Deaver has written a masterpiece along the lines of Dan Brown's Digital Fortress though the language is dummed down for us laymen. The intrigue is spellbinding which makes this book difficult to put down. The in depth computer speak (hackers language) bogs it down some but I found that this info isn't necessary to solving the mystery and skipped quite a bit of it. Great book.
my favorite Deaver book. fast paced and interesting.set in today's world of computers and hackers, you'll love it.
There's not a Jeffrey Deaver book that I don't like!
cop nevel but with a lot of computer lingo. They provide a glossary for us "CIVILIANS" (non computer industry types)
Good writer; good story.
Awesome read that kept me intrigued from the first page another superior script by Jeffery Deaver. It also is a text that makes a person think long and hard about the pace our world travels in and IF the internet is always such a wonderful thing.
A sadistic computer hacker who infiltrates peoples computers, invades their lives and with chilling precision lures them to their deaths. An imprisioned hacker is released to help find the killer. Very chilling indeed.
This book has more twists and turns than a 10 foot long corkscrew,I enjoyed this book.
His code name is Phate a sadistic computer hacker who infiltrates people's computer, invades their lives and lures them to their death. Really good.
Deaver's cyber thriller.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
"When a sadistic hacker, code-named Phate, sets his sights on Silicon Valley, his victims never know what hit them. He infiltrates their computers, invades their lives, and - with chilling precision - lures them to their deaths. To Phate, each murder is like a big, challenging computer hack: every time he succeeds, he must challenge himself anew - by taking his methodology to a higher level, with bigger targets." "Desperate, the head of The California State Police Computer Crimes Division frees Wyatt Gillette, imprisoned for hacking, to aid the investigation - against the loud protests of the rest of the division. With an obsession emblematic of hackers, Gillette fervently attempts to trace Phate's insidious computer virus back to its source. Then Phate delivers a huge blow, murdering one of the division's own - a "wizard" who had pioneered the Internet - and the search takes on a zealous intensity; Gillette and Detective Frank Bishop, an old-school homicide cop who's accustomed to forensic sleuthing, at first make an uneasy team. But with a merciless and brilliant killer like Phate in their crosshairs, and his twisted game reaching a fever pitch, they must utilize every ounce of their disparate talents to stop him."--BOOK JACKET.
"When a sadistic hacker, code-named Phate, sets his sights on Silicon Valley, his victims never know what hit them. He infiltrates their computers, invades their lives, and - with chilling precision - lures them to their deaths. To Phate, each murder is like a big, challenging computer hack: every time he succeeds, he must challenge himself anew - by taking his methodology to a higher level, with bigger targets." "Desperate, the head of The California State Police Computer Crimes Division frees Wyatt Gillette, imprisoned for hacking, to aid the investigation - against the loud protests of the rest of the division. With an obsession emblematic of hackers, Gillette fervently attempts to trace Phate's insidious computer virus back to its source. Then Phate delivers a huge blow, murdering one of the division's own - a "wizard" who had pioneered the Internet - and the search takes on a zealous intensity; Gillette and Detective Frank Bishop, an old-school homicide cop who's accustomed to forensic sleuthing, at first make an uneasy team. But with a merciless and brilliant killer like Phate in their crosshairs, and his twisted game reaching a fever pitch, they must utilize every ounce of their disparate talents to stop him."--BOOK JACKET.
Usual great Deaver read . . .
His code name is Phate - a sadistic computer hacker who infiltrates people's computers, invades their lives, and with chilling precision lures them to their deaths. Desperate to stop him, the California State Police Computer Crimes Unit frees former hacker Wyatt Gillette to aid the investigation. As the obsessive Gillette fervently attempts to trace the hacker's insidious computer virus back to its source, Phate delivers a huge blow-murdering one of the division's own. Now, teamed with old-school homicide detective Frank Bishop, Gillette must combine their disparate talents to catch a brilliant and merciless killer.
