|
Good to be back. No, I haven't quite caught up with reading all my
out-of-print books, but I have finally found time to read something
different. Although this is not new, Trouble and Her Friends
is both unusual enough and well-written enough to have found a place
on my bookshelf.
Warning: This book by Melissa Scott is not for the homo-phobic.
Most of the characters in this book are either gay or lesbian. If you're
neurotic about such things, then don't read it. I'm not gay and I liked it.
Now, after that dire warning, I feel a review coming on . . .
Sometime in the not-too-distant future, the United States government
decides to really crack down on hackers, crackers, and gray-market brokers.
Europe and most of the rest of the net have agreed to a saner, somewhat looser
accord, but Washington has its own ideas. No longer will the net be a
lawless place. The government will bring order out of chaos.
Trouble senses that it is time to get out of the shadows and learn to
walk in the light of day. Most of her friends (and her lover Cerise)
disagree. Trouble leaves anyway and makes a new life for herself as a
SysOp for a housing project.
Then, one day an old friend comes calling. Someone has been using
Trouble's name on the 'net and they've been making trouble (pun intentional).
The next day, the Feds arrive, full of questions. Soon Trouble is on
the run and looking for the person who caused all this misery.
The action here is very well-written, the suspense is likely to
cause you to lose sleep, and the ending . . . well, that
would be telling!
- Paul
|
