Daemon

Starred review from October 6, 2008
Originally self-published, Suarez's riveting debut would be a perfect gift for a favorite computer geek or anyone who appreciates thrills, chills and cyber suspense. Gaming genius Matthew Sobol, the 34-year-old head of CyberStorm Entertainment, has just died of brain cancer, but death doesn't stop him from initiating an all-out Internet war against humanity. When the authorities investigate Sobol's mansion in Thousand Oaks, Calif., they find themselves under attack from his empty house, aided by an unmanned Hummer that tears into the cops with staggering ferocity. Sobol's weapon is a daemon, a kind of computer process that not only has taken over many of the world's computer systems but also enlists the help of superintelligent human henchmen willing to carry out his diabolical plan. Complicated jargon abounds, but most complexities are reasonably explained. A final twist that runs counter to expectations will leave readers anxiously awaiting the promised sequel.

November 15, 2008
Computer programs left behind by a dying inventor of video games spread dark mischief around the world, pitting gamers and enabled losers against the most powerful government agencies and businesses, with the geeks holding the best hands.

How do you really mess things up after you 're dead: tricky wills? entailments? trusts? Posthumous legal meddling is so last millennium. The modern way to carry out your wishes is to use a daemon, a computer program that lies dormant until other factors set it in motion. That 's precisely what mastermind Matthew Sobol did. Before he died of brain cancer, Sobol perfected a brilliant string of programming instructions that soon begin to claim victims. The first are a couple of high-level employees at CyberStorm, the Southern California corporation that controls and distributes Sobol 's hugely popular games. Detective Sergeant Peter Sebeck of the Ventura County sheriff 's department quickly learns (without exactly understanding how) that newspaper headlines can activate the Daemon, which throws switches that electrocute and decapitate. Seback and a growing number of state and federal forces follow the forensics to the late inventor 's mansion, which is murderously booby-trapped with a robotic Hummer and gasoline-spewing sprinkler heads. It becomes evident that Sobol 's Internet games are a herd of Trojan horses. When the Daemon turns on Sebeck and sticks him with the blame for this mess, the officer 's only backers are a brilliant NSA scientist and a Russian-born gamer.

Originally self-published, Suarez 's not-just-for-gamers debut is a stunner, with an ending that promises sequels to come.

(COPYRIGHT (2008) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

January 15, 2009
Matthew Sobol, a mad computer scientist, is dead; however, the programs he developed, called the Daemon, are alive and well and being directed by his planted thoughts. The Daemon is lethal, and the bodies pile up rather quickly in this inconsistent first novel of what could happen if computers go bonkers and take control. Pete Sebeck is a police detective in a small California town who gets swept up by events while the mysterious systems analyst Jon Ross fights the Daemon. Of course, government types are slow to realize the scope of what is happening. After an intriguing first half, the remainder of the novel falls apart as credulity is strained beyond the breaking point. Yes, the government is fallible, but could one man, even after death, bring the world to its knees without the population noticing? Suarez's dialog is crisp, and his action exciting, but he needs a more logical plot. For larger collections. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 9/1/08; this book was originally self-published in 2006 under the anagram/pseudonym Leinad Zeraus.Ed.]Robert Conroy, Warren, MI

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