Reviewed: "Daemon" by Leinad Zeraus

When my husband asked me to read this book and review it, I was a bit skeptical.

"It's written by a game programmer so it's supposed to be very industry related," he said.

Well, after that glowing endorsement, I wasn't so thrilled. But reading the description on the back of the book intrigued me enough to acquiesce to reading it.

I'm really glad I did.

Have you ever read a book thinking that you'd like to see it as a movie? This was that kind of book.

Jon Ross, one of many well fleshed out characters in the book, is a contract employee to an insurance company. He shows up in another department because one of the workers has called him over to ask for some help. A virus has hit the company and is sending out large packets of information out into the Internet. Could Jon help explain what was going on?

So starts a series of mysterious events that were triggered by a news release regarding the death of a prominent game programmer.

What I liked about this book is that there isn't one main character that you follow. There are several.

Pete Sebeck is a local sheriff who is called in on two separate homicides - both men worked for the same company as the dead game programmer. Both men were murdered by some type of remote controlled devise hooked up to the Internet.

Then there is the contemptible Gragg who ends up becoming the enabler to the Daemon. Gragg was an identity thief who was chosen by the Daemon through the playing of an on-line game. Gragg won and the story of how he was tested is a good one. The description of the game play was realistic and really good.

Anji Anderson is a reporter whose good looks are keeping her from reporting real news. It's strange how she ends up in the right place and the right time to be able to report and manipulate the news.

Ultimately, the Daemon raids corporations and holds them hostage, massacres Spammers (while gruesome, somewhat gratifying) and ultimately builds a secret society. Each member is awarded points/power which establishes where they are in the society's pecking order.

The lines between good and evil seems to be well drawn out, but become questioned towards the end of the book. People you considered good become evil. But is evil really evil or is the Daemon just taking back the power of the people from the corporations of the world?

If you haven't guessed by now, Mr. Zeraus has successfully teased out a sequel with the ending of the book and I can't wait for it to be published so I can immerse myself into his intriguing world again. This book is a fun read.