Marc Elsberg
Sourcebooks Landmark
June 6th, 2017
Piero Manzano used to be a hacker, but after a brush with the law, he became a consultant. When the power suddenly goes out all over Europe, he uses those skills to hack into his smart meter find out what the hell is going on. What he sees troubles him enough to talk to someone in charge of the inquiry.
He ends up traveling to some interesting places, and when the hackers find out he’s put Europol on to them, he needs taken off the board.
Lauren Shannon is an American reporter who’s gotten used to playing second fiddle, and she sees the Europe-wide power catastrophe as an opportunity. As long as she can stick with Manzano, she’ll be right in the middle of the action.
Blackout was an interesting techno-disaster thriller, and it reads kind of like a disaster movie. Elsberg jumps around showing the action from several different perspectives much in the same way a film of that type would. He’s gotten fairly detailed on how these systems actually work, and while some might find it a little over their head, I feel it adds to the understanding of what’s going on–and the plausibility of each successive catastrophe.
My only complaint is at the book’s end, we have a last minute gambit by the terrorists that gets foiled by the plucky protagonists, but unlike the rest of the book the details aren’t exposed. It sits a bit funny after the sheer volume of information given on every other move.
An entertaining diversion all around, it’s the right pacing to bring along on your summer vacation.
JL Jamieson is a strange book nerd who writes technical documents by day, and book news, reviews, and other assorted opinions for you by night. She is working on her own fiction, and spends time making jewelry to sell at local conventions, as well as stalking the social media accounts of all your favorite writers.