An under-estimated Iowan deputy Sherrif, a Vakhan Turk terrorist and a junior CIA analyst attempt to save the world from botulism in this heavily satirical thriller. Stephenson's usual jaunts into expositional territory are kept to a minimum and are always relevant which makes this much more taut than most of his work and allows for a tense ending. Only Zodiac is leaner and faster paced, I suspect.

The most alarming aspect of the book is that the way that the government of the USA, the CIA, FBI, Universities and local Sherrif's departments are portrayed as operating is completely convincing and not in the least over-the-top. ( )

Slowly but surely Neal Stephenson is creeping up my favourite author list. He has a eclectic genre list that he writes, from modern thriller, cyber books to fantasy.

Cobweb is set in the time of the first Gulf War, when Iraq have invaded Kuwait. In small town America a body of an Arab student turns up following a boating accident; but this student has been consuming alcohol. The local deputy sheriff suspects something fishy and starts to dig around the local university where the student was from.

In the meantime a low level CIA analyst is starting to get wind of an Iraqi plot happening on American soil. As she is CIA she cannot investigate, but she become the centre of a power play between two powerful men close to the president. One had been a supporter of Saddam, and is hastily re-aligning his loyalties; the other is a big chief in the CIA who also suspects that the Iraqis are up to something, but he is restricted in his capacity to deal with it. Lots of digging by the two main characters start to make them suspect that there is a potentially deadly biochemical plant in operation, and the body count starts to climb. Cue the big showdown.

Really enjoyed this in the end. It took a while to get going, but made up for it in the end. Stephenson manages to convey the vested interests in high placed officials well, the cobweb being the way that they stifle each other with officialdom. ( )

I believe this was the only novel by Neal Stephenson that I hadn't read, so, in the interest of completism, of course I had to read it.
Sadly, I have to admit, it wasn't that good.
Being dated was part of it - it's a political thriller, and well, we know know more about Saddam and his alleged WMDs than Stephenson did when he wrote it.
Stephenson's main point here is: Foreign grad students in the sciences could actually be plants working for enemy governments, using our labs and resources to create bioweapons right here on US ground.
Discovering this plot is a small-town Iowa Good Cop, who (in an interesting twist) becomes friends with a Turkish militant, and seeks to foil the Iraqis.
From the other side of things, a low-level CIA analyst who's a Good Mormon Girl also uncovers evidence of shady goings on - and for her efforts, nearly loses her job and any hope of a career.
Unfortunately, all the governmental higher-ups are too busy worrying about politics to get things done...
The characterizations in the story are really fun (love the drunken Russian pilots) - but there were too many cliches and too much random paranoia. The other novel published under this pseudonym (Interface) was better. ( )

Solid thriller, set during the first Iraq War. ( )

Ok, you got me. Red-handed. I surrender. I admit it. I am one of the foreign students that the authors are talking about, who came into this country on the merit of just my brains, who went through the grist mill of a post-graduate program, who found a job below my qualifications, worked at it until something better came along. Yes, all true. And the wonderful thing that happened along the way was ...

... the melting pot, where:
cultures change, society adopts, people transform, foreign to local to native! What does all this have to do with the book, you ask? Well, that. The writers do great, ignoring the above. And i mean it, too. Excellent detail and character development. A slow burn intensity towards the climax. Good stuff.
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