A review by ericwelch
The Blue Nowhere by Jeffery Deaver

4.0

The " nowhere" represents online space, that world of electrons that hackers and unline freaks lose themselves in. It' a nifty metaphor and Deaver handles the technical details of this novel very well — at least as far as I could tell. A brilliant programmer, a cracker (someone who breaks into another computer to do damage as opposed to a hacker who just breaks in to poke around for the thrill of beating the system) is killing people and the Computer Crimes Unit relaizes they are in way over their heads. They enlist the help of Wyatt Earp — oops, Wyatt Gillette — another brilliant hacker currently in jail for having broken in to some defense department computers — to help them find Phate. Phate (there are many spelling related puns) was a former associate of Wyatt' who has so confused reality with a computer game he was playing that he has mixed up the real killing with that of the computer game. By accessing linked computers he is able to " engineer" his identity (changing grades, occupation, references, ownership, etc.,) and track down an ever-increasing set of targets, giving himself additional points as the difficulty inceases. Of course, if you' paranoid, this book will really get you going, because Phate has created a program called Trapdoor that permits him to enter your computer and collect all the information stored therein and then use that data to his own nefarious purposes. Of course, if you never go online, you would have nothing to worry about. Throughout the story, Phate has an ally, one who keeps revealing the police plans and actions so Phate can stay one step ahead of the authorities. The identity of this ally, Shawn, comes as a complete and very satisfying surprise. Good story.