Fun enough. The fascination with tactical gear, the market for it, as an instance of the secret style of marketing we heard about in the first Blue Ant book. There are some clunky bits here... how exactly the DCIS special agent fits in, what her function is, why is she essential to the action. I kept expecting some grand plot development to hinge on her involvement, but I never saw it. Fiona and Milgrim? Maybe, I guess. What women want, I have certainly never figured it out! Bigend is always problematic. I guess if you like the Bourne stories, there is always limitless access to resources... I guess private interests can scale up to public resources... I've just never hung out with billionaires!

Anyway, there was plenty of action and twists and turns... it sure kept me turning the page! ( )

Gibson weaves together a story that is part a criminal mystery and part a speculation on the near future. Written in 2010, some of his observations on the advance of technology with resulting problems, such as the use of street cameras, have already come about. The mystery is centred around the fashion and music industries and involves design espionage and the aim to capture lucrative manufacturing contracts. With a varied cast of characters, each with their own individual aims, the story explores how successful or not they may be. This makes for an unusual tale, seeming to be a critique of how society values the outward surface, rather than looking at the actions beneath, however I felt that it was rather slight after some of his earlier novels.

I am not really sure what to make of the recent Gibson novels I have read. I still think he is one of the best prose stylists writing today, but I don't have a good sense of what is going on in this novel thematically. He has removed most of the dystopian elements which defined his early themes -- how people are trapped in a system where their worth is defined in a brutal assessment of what skills they bring to the table and how a few "cool", highly talented people are able to regain some portion of their autonomy. Usually via interfacing with some sort of gadget.

The gadgets are still there, as are the "cool" talented people but now they are functioning in a somewhat mundane capitalist system. Still trapped, but if the theme is "Focus on honing your unique skills, and maybe you too will find the cool gadgets/jeans!" it feels pretty empty. ( )

I dunno about this one. I never did figure out what they were doing or who all these people were. So much depended on remembering the two earlier books (which I didn't), and so much that was going on was ambiguous. Usually this is the kind of stuff I like but I couldn't wrap myself around it this time. Still, I read the whole thing, so there. ( )

Hollis Henry, whose financial security has eroded since Spook Country (the second book in the series) returns to do another job for the head of Blue Ant, a marketing company whose modus operandi is not unlike that of high level spy craft. In this story, Hollis needs to discover who is mimicking Blue Ant's unique marketing techniques and finds herself being shuttled between surreal hotels as she tries to unravel who is behind a secret brand of clothing. As mundane as the assignment sounds, this techno-thriller quickly escalates into a fast-paced action adventure tale. Gibson brings all the various threads together from the previous titles, updating the technology (iPhones are now in the picture!) and keeping the issues/themes relevant. A great finish to an otherwise somewhat-mediocre series. ( )