Empyre

This guy's imagination is so fertile that by the third chapter I was wearing two condoms AND an IUD. If you love smart, insightful sci-fi then you absolutely have to check out Conviser. His writing manages to be both challenging and accessible, his story unrolls at an exciting pace akin to Dan Brown's best work, and the world he creates sparkles in a level of originality that puts him in a class with Neal Stephenson and William Gibson. Why should you trust my opinion? In the words of Nick Hornby, (John Cusack?), WHAT you like - is frequently more important than what you ARE like... so, you know, I'll throw these things at you: Fight Club (the movie), Snow Crash, Survivor (Palahniuk's book), Neuormancer, Pattern Recognition, Angels and Demons, the spork... (And if any of them stick, then you might want to consider reading this book.)

As a fan of Conviser's premiere novel, Echelon, I couldn't wait to read the sequel. And let me say, he didn't disappoint. His cinematic style was even more fully realized in Empyre, a story that shows us what happens in the aftermath of Big Brother's downfall. This time around I not only noticed a maturity in the writing, but the characters seemed even more lifelike, drawing me in to a unique world of spy-fi. The quick pace reads more like an action-packed film script and the visuals are truly mind-blowing. I hope they make this one into a film! I'm also fascinated by the technology Conviser utilizes in Empyre. I recently read an interview he was giving in which he said all the tech in the book is either available now or in development. That, coupled with his grasp for the spy thriller genre (Bourne fans will feel at home) adds an air of authenticity that only heightens the story. It was hard to put the book down! I highly recommend Empyre and hope to see more from Conviser in the future.

I really enjoyed Conviser's first book Echelon--a great mixture of action, adventure, spy thriller, and gritty science fiction. Empyre, in my opinion, surpasses it with an intense pace and an even better connection with the core characters (Ryan and Sarah) where you feel completely along for the ride with them. Conviser's versions of New York, DC, and even Trenton, NJ demonstrate a truly novel vision of the future and a winking social commentary. I particularly loved the floating city sequence. Frankly, I could not put this book down and finished it in a couple of quick sittings.

Five years has past since CIA agents Ryan Laing and Sarah Peters destroyed the global manipulating ECHELON. Ryan and Sarah moved on separately with both leaving the agency after the ECHELON affair; he climbs mountains on all seven continents and she seeks to be more his equal with nanotechnological enhancements. However, neither is aware that ECHELON survived their destruction of it by metamorphosing into EMPYRE. Newville Phoenix turns Sarah into a plague carrier, who devastates the much of the staff of EMPYRE and the CIA. As she continues her path of destruction, EMPYRE Chief Dillon sends CIA agent Frank Savakis after her. Frank captures Ryan and tortures him in order to force him to reveal the whereabouts of Sarah, who he shares a link with. Ryan escapes, but hunts Sarah who he fears turned into a murderous traitor that he must kill before she spreads her plague elsewhere. If there are flaws in the story line (like some of the technology seems a too convenient stretch), no one will care while reading it except for nitpicking critics like moi. The story line makes DC's Flash look like the Turtle as the action never decelerates for a nanosecond. However, as with the previous tale ECHELON it is the Big Brother tone of the plot that lingers with readers long after finishing this faster than the speed of light science fiction conspiracy thriller. Harriet Klausner