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tracielark's review
4.0
Watch your back - this book will snipe you!
Guerrilla Internet is a technological thriller, and will open your mind to new perspectives on privacy, security, information and freedom of self expression.
We are immediately thrown in to the clutches of an office murder where the mystery first begins. A security guard is shot dead in the middle of the night in Melbourne’s City office in the office of a company called mBition.
In the second chapter, we meet our protagonist, Charlie, who is running late for work and is soon to find out about the previous night's incident and the loss of his job. We find out about Charlie’s recent struggles with anxiety and depression, adding a layer of depth to his character and to the story, one that intrigued me from the start and kept me hauling through the complex guerrilla internet saga, in support for our underdog, to fight in this war for privacy.
My technological language is no where near as savvy and concise as author Mat Sayer’s, which the reader soon finds out, excuse the pun, is the hard drive of this novel. I had to chew the words between my teeth which does mean that I remained present in each part of the story. I found Sayer’s use of description and imagery, though sometimes overused, coated with a little black humour which gives way to clear thriller-esque imagery, meaningful and appropriate to the story’s plot and genre and kept me well entertained: “that only exacerbated the fury with which the tiny gremlins hammered at the inside of his skull”.
The challenge for a general audience is that the high use of tech-savvy language and references to technology can make the novel seem tedious at times. For those in my shoes, thank goodness for the character of Mel, Charlie’s American sidekick. Mat has utilised Mel’s character well at times during the novel, as a scapegoat for explaining more complex ideas about using technology and information as guerrilla techniques, which in my mind, resembles a matt of tangle electrical wires.
The novel comes to a clear climax when our bad guy, Big Boss, is finally located and we are enlightened by differing perspectives on privacy and the internet around the world. Big Boss is a layered character also, just enough to tease you in to an empathetic streak momentarily and make you question your own thoughts and opinion on privacy and the internet.
The pace of this novel moves as an American action movie may and I couldn’t help but compare to the movie Die Hard 4, in its themes of privacy and technology as well as a suffering and weak bad guy. I could easily see this novel being played out before me, in an action packed thriller.
The tone is intense thanks to the conciseness of the Sayer’s technological language and imagery. However, it is this intensity that keeps our adrenalin pumping, keeps us aware at all times, and present during Charlie’s ‘coming out of his shell’ adventure. We live through Charlie and his anxiety, being switched on the whole time, then rest exhausted when it is all over.
I travelled along with Charlie and Mel from Australia to America to Japan and China, following this thriller mystery, and it has left a few thoughts buzzing around my own mind.
One in particular being: if its not Big Brother, then who worse is watching?
Guerrilla Internet is a technological thriller, and will open your mind to new perspectives on privacy, security, information and freedom of self expression.
We are immediately thrown in to the clutches of an office murder where the mystery first begins. A security guard is shot dead in the middle of the night in Melbourne’s City office in the office of a company called mBition.
In the second chapter, we meet our protagonist, Charlie, who is running late for work and is soon to find out about the previous night's incident and the loss of his job. We find out about Charlie’s recent struggles with anxiety and depression, adding a layer of depth to his character and to the story, one that intrigued me from the start and kept me hauling through the complex guerrilla internet saga, in support for our underdog, to fight in this war for privacy.
My technological language is no where near as savvy and concise as author Mat Sayer’s, which the reader soon finds out, excuse the pun, is the hard drive of this novel. I had to chew the words between my teeth which does mean that I remained present in each part of the story. I found Sayer’s use of description and imagery, though sometimes overused, coated with a little black humour which gives way to clear thriller-esque imagery, meaningful and appropriate to the story’s plot and genre and kept me well entertained: “that only exacerbated the fury with which the tiny gremlins hammered at the inside of his skull”.
The challenge for a general audience is that the high use of tech-savvy language and references to technology can make the novel seem tedious at times. For those in my shoes, thank goodness for the character of Mel, Charlie’s American sidekick. Mat has utilised Mel’s character well at times during the novel, as a scapegoat for explaining more complex ideas about using technology and information as guerrilla techniques, which in my mind, resembles a matt of tangle electrical wires.
The novel comes to a clear climax when our bad guy, Big Boss, is finally located and we are enlightened by differing perspectives on privacy and the internet around the world. Big Boss is a layered character also, just enough to tease you in to an empathetic streak momentarily and make you question your own thoughts and opinion on privacy and the internet.
The pace of this novel moves as an American action movie may and I couldn’t help but compare to the movie Die Hard 4, in its themes of privacy and technology as well as a suffering and weak bad guy. I could easily see this novel being played out before me, in an action packed thriller.
The tone is intense thanks to the conciseness of the Sayer’s technological language and imagery. However, it is this intensity that keeps our adrenalin pumping, keeps us aware at all times, and present during Charlie’s ‘coming out of his shell’ adventure. We live through Charlie and his anxiety, being switched on the whole time, then rest exhausted when it is all over.
I travelled along with Charlie and Mel from Australia to America to Japan and China, following this thriller mystery, and it has left a few thoughts buzzing around my own mind.
One in particular being: if its not Big Brother, then who worse is watching?
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