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Blackout by Marc Elsberg
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Blackout (2012)

by Marc Elsberg

Series: Blackout (1)

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6002639,077 (3.78)7
When the lights go out one night, no one panics. Not yet. The lights always come back on soon, don't they? Surely it's a glitch, a storm, a malfunction. But something seems strange about this night. Across Europe, controllers watch in disbelief as electrical grids collapse. There is no power, anywhere. A former hacker and activist, Piero investigates a possible cause of the disaster. The authorities don't believe him, and he soon becomes a prime suspect himself. With the United States now also at risk, Piero goes on the run with Lauren Shannon, a young American CNN reporter based in Paris, desperate to uncover who is behind the attacks. After all, the power doesn't just keep the lights on--it keeps us alive.… (more)
Member:KatharinaWalser
Title:Blackout
Authors:Marc Elsberg
Info:Verlagsgruppe Random House GmbH
Collections:Your library
Rating:*****
Tags:None

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Blackout by Marc Elsberg (2012)

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» See also 7 mentions

English (18)  German (5)  French (2)  Spanish (1)  All languages (26)
Showing 1-5 of 18 (next | show all)
MB, This book is a poor choice to read after a day's-long, hurricane-caused power outage. It's saving grace is that it's not set in the US. ( )
  MakebaT | Sep 3, 2022 |
Terrific thriller that leaves you hanging on every word. Terrifying to think that something like this could happen in our interconnected world. Really makes you think. Thanks to Netgalley for the copy in exchange for my honest review. ( )
  McBeezie | Jul 27, 2022 |
This is an intriguing premise, though the story has many subplots and threads to mind, and the pacing is uneven. ( )
  DrFuriosa | Dec 4, 2020 |
I was really eager to read this book and I made the fatal mistake of having a sneaky read of the first page when it arrived meaning that I had to start it immediately. It literally starts with a bang as the traffic lights go out in Milan causing mass chaos on the roads as cars pile into each other. The main character, Piero Manzano, is one of those affected as he is driving home when the lights go out. As the plot thickens it would appear that somebody has attacked not just Milan, but Europe itself.

There were so many things I didn't think of if there was no electricity and Blackout certainly gets you thinking about what you would do if there was no electricity. There would be no fuel at the petrol stations as the pumps use electricity to pump fuel to the forecourt from the underground tanks. Patients in ITU on life support would die without electricity to power life support machines and monitor vital signs. The main effect that really shocked me was the inability to cool down the nuclear reactors which leads to the main sweaty palm moments in Blackout.

My brain was whirring throughout the story, but more about our reliance on electricity than the events in the book. After all, it's not that long ago when electricty wasn't available in every home and streets were still lit by gas lamps during World War II. I think the world would literally grind to a halt if our power supply was removed but I also think it would be quite liberating to go back to more simple manual times. We may then discover some of that elusive time, of which we never seem to have enough.

Overall I wasn't as gripped and panicked as I thought I would be. I think that sometimes it was quite technical and a little bit over my head, but I admit that when people start talking in IT-speak my brain tends to go into meltdown. There were a few too many characters in the book to keep track of who was who and in hindsight I wish I'd written them down and created my own cast list.

Blackout is the most thought-provoking book I have read in a long time and I have continued to think about the devastating effects long after turning the final page. I was just slightly disappointed that I didn't get the feeling of panic and fear coming through in the writing, but it could perhaps have been a little bit lost in the translation from German to English. It's well worth a read though, just to realise how lucky we are to have power at the flick of a switch.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion. ( )
  Michelle.Ryles | Mar 9, 2020 |
I've written a review of this wonderful book in French, as I read the French translation as soon as it came out, in 2015, I believe, but my review of that version seems to be hiding in the ether...
Excellent plot, decent characterization, fantastic themes, well-worth reading in French, but it appears that other translations have not done justice to the original German, perhaps?
  FourFreedoms | May 17, 2019 |
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Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Marc Elsbergprimary authorall editionscalculated
Yarbrough, MarshallTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed

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Piero Manzano hit the brakes as hard as he could and braced himself against the steering wheel with both arms as his Alfa hurtled towards the light-green car ahead.
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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When the lights go out one night, no one panics. Not yet. The lights always come back on soon, don't they? Surely it's a glitch, a storm, a malfunction. But something seems strange about this night. Across Europe, controllers watch in disbelief as electrical grids collapse. There is no power, anywhere. A former hacker and activist, Piero investigates a possible cause of the disaster. The authorities don't believe him, and he soon becomes a prime suspect himself. With the United States now also at risk, Piero goes on the run with Lauren Shannon, a young American CNN reporter based in Paris, desperate to uncover who is behind the attacks. After all, the power doesn't just keep the lights on--it keeps us alive.

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