Search - Pattern Recognition

A fabulous book for the nerdy and pseudo-scientific. A fun story with an interesting take on how our consumer culture has affected the world and it's people. If you can't get around an artistic use of language (not quite ala Clockwork Orange) then this book isn't for you.

Cayce is a woman who gets physically ill when she sees a poorly designed logo. This rare gift pulls her into a mystery that unfolds in a typical Gibson world of high-technology and twisted characters. This is a page turner, and not for sci-fi fans only.

This was a wonderful book. It was hard to read at first because of the style of writing . Once I caught on to the writing style I really enjoyed it. It is about the computer culture and world politics around characters in their late 20's to mid 30's. The book is a thriller that takes place in England, Japan, and Russia. The story is about some footage on the computer that is being traced and there is a counter culture following the footage and trying to find the source. In steps the big bad guys!!!

Much has been made of Gibson’s latest not being science-fiction – and it’s not – but it’s still Gibson, much like Cryptonomicon was still Neal Stephenson. Incidentally, I'd highly recommend this book to fans of Cryptonomicon, as well as to anyone who has enjoyed any of Gibson's other books.

The ‘cyberpunk’ attitude is still there, as the plot interweaves the world of high tech with subculture, organized crime, and the lives of individuals… just instead of in the near future, it’s happening now.

Cayce is a young woman with an unusual neurosis – she’s phobic about brand names and logos – which can cause serious problems when she’s walking around today’s advertising-rich, fashion-conscious cities…. However, she’s made this psychological tic work for her – she’s in high demand as a marketing consultant who can tell if a proposed logo will be a ‘hit’ or not.
In her free time, Cayce ‘hangs out’ in an online chat forum devoted to discussing ‘the footage’ – a collection of video clips that have been anonymously released onto the Internet. The high quality of the video and the mystery surrounding the clips’ provenance have intrigued a growing number of film fans… so many in fact, that Cayce is hired to find out who the filmmaker is, since the ‘marketing strategy’ is so brilliant.
Little does she guess that the search will bring her from her New York City apartment to London, Tokyo, and Moscow, involving her with vicious businesspeople who may be cutthroat in more ways than one, Cold War era spies, mobsters, millionaires, hired thugs, computer nerds, dealers in vintage calculators, conceptual artists… and other odd characters.

The book’s got suspense, mystery, action… but it’s also full of really interesting ideas and bits of information.
It also truly excels at conveying both the ‘feel’ and details of visiting cities overseas – their similarities and small differences, the disconnect and the exoticism… I got that ‘yes! It’s just like that!!’ feeling a LOT with both the London and Tokyo scenes…. Moscow, I’m not sure – I haven’t been there. But I suspect that Gibson visited both London and Tokyo during the writing of the book – but not Russia.

In the future, I suspect people will read this book to gain a feel for what it was like to live at the dawning of the 21st century – and they’ll get some pretty accurate information (mixed in with the spy thriller stuff!).

The author has a very different style of writing. I found it very hard to make since of what he was saying. Was not able to enjoy the book so quit reading it and now offering it up for trade.