First read shortly after it was released, while much of this was still fiction. Fortunately we aren't at the stage of world takeover bots and automated killer cars - yet. Dropping a star on reread due to too much villainy and the fact that it ends in a cliffhanger. Tomorrow I start the sequel.

This is sort of a set piece for technology and we follow various people who encounter it and mostly die. The ending may have polished off the rest of the good guys - only the sequel will tell. The bad guys (and one bad set of subroutines created by the eccentric billionaire before he died) are quite evil, and other reviews have commented on the depravity displayed mid-book.

But is it good? For me it was hard to put down, with each new puzzle leading to the next, the bad guys usually one step ahead. The explanations were just plausible enough, and several have come out into the open since. This is better than a 3 star book, but not 5 star fantastic either. My initial rating of 4 stars may end up restored at some point. Looking forward to reading stand-alone books by [a:Daniel Suarez|1956402|Daniel Suarez|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1265394868p2/1956402.jpg].