Rating: 
Summary: Stunning. One of his very best.
Review: I raced through this book. Deaver's latest thriller is a chilling journey into the world of cyberspace, and out into something we dare not take a glimpse of. The capacity horror that hides behind the everyday is tapped into by Deaver amazingly well. He could well have ended up writing another boring book on computers, but he manages to avoid that. And instead he comes up with a clever plot, some great characters, and some more great twists, all of which lead to an exciting read. The possibility that such things as this actually happening is all too real, and Deaver exploits that modern fear very well. His characterisation is so subtle that you don't even realise he's doing it until suddenly you realise you're reading a book that has really well rounded characters, and you can't quite place how he made them seem so. It's the sign of a master. The twists he packs in this time are always surprising, and even when he's pulled the rug out from under you, he still has tricks up his sleeve. It's inspirational. I do conform to the view of some of his fans, that his constant turning of the plot on its head can sometimes be done too much. With this one though, it didn't spoil it at all, it just kept me turning those pages. I would doubt that everyone could understand this book, what with it being so "computerish". If you have never touched a computer in your life, you probably shouldn't read it, because there are many terms in it which you won't understand. If you know a little about them, it's safe for you to read it. But, for example, let's take my grandmother. She knows absolutely nothing about computers. Deaver did explain very well some of the hacker terms, and more complicated stuff, but he failed to exaplin some of the things which are taken for granted. theses seemingly simple things are the ones which some people might not understand. (However, Deaver couldn't very well have exaplained every single word, if he had the book would have read more like a computer manual.) This is probably my favourite of Deaver's books after A Maiden's Grave. It is most certainly worth a read.
Rating: 
Summary: Preprogramed
Review: It feels too much like a by the numbers plot. A villian among the good guys. Traitors to the cause. Way too much coincidence. We learn a little about computer history, but not much more.
Rating:
Summary: The Blue Nowhere is everywhere . . .
Review: Whether you're a cyberwizard or a cyberworm (inching along), you can enjoy this book. The story zings along and does a better-than-average job of keeping one guessing, and the insights into the world of hacking and phreaking and just plain logic (working the clues) are well researched and well expressed (a cyberworm, like me, could follow it). Deaver's got me hooked on learning more and I've started reading his resource list. (And, just for the record, the character development was fine. If anything, for the most part, it showed a subtlety that few authors seem to have understood.)
Rating:
Summary: Really Well Done
Review: I couldn't put this book down it was so well written. Deaver researched everything, and I could find nothing really wrong, and I myself am a hacker (not a cracker). Excellent plot, and was really able to grab my attention. I want to see him write another book like this.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating!
Review: Well researched and very informative. What I knew about hackers and crackers was next to nil until I read this. Written so anyone can understand it, and with a cast of characters that I could really relate to, this was a non-stop page-turner until the end.
I highly recommend this book, not only as a good read (I'd read the Reader's Digest version first, also), but also to better understand the power of the WWW for both good and evil.
Rating: 
Summary: Great :)
Review: If you are expecting this to be too technical and a "Hackers'" book you will be wrong. This book is for "civilians" and hackers alike. The only thing keeping this from being a 5 Star book is just my own little thing and no one else may be even a little bothered by it. I wasn't really married to the main character until the end. That's it, that was the only flaw I could even barely come up with. Great, plot, great continuity, great twists and turns! Just as I was "bonding" with who I thought might be the main character, that showed to be a dead end. It took a while after that to connect with the true main character. I may have too narrow parameters for my "Heroes", I don't know, but it was still a Great Read!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Great
Review: I read the Reader's Digest Select Editions abridgement and still enjoyed it. Through skillful use of red herrings that reflect the misdirections and "social engineering" deceptions of the hacker characters, Deaver leaves you guessing to the last page as to the killer's next move and as to the identity of the killer's mysterious accomplice, Shawn. Two criticisms: The author seems to be trying too hard to coin his own term for cyberspace, "The Blue Nowhere," by annoyingly dropping it every other page. Also, there's a scene towards the end, where a detective explains why he hates computers, that seems a bit contrived--too soap opera-ish and not a believable event within its scene. Otherwise, Deaver does a great job stringing us along, and he obviously did a lot of research. Highly recommended!
Rating: 
Summary: 10 year old technology masquerading as a high-tech thriller
Review: I could forgive Mr. Deaver's use of archaic technology if the writing were better, but its not. Everything about this book is predictable and mundane. There is so much wrong with this book, I can't believe it was ever published. It just shows you how far the expectations of a the reading community has fallen. There is a glossary of terms at the front of the book, leading you to think that the author wants you to know what these things are so he won't have to explain them... but then he wastes precious page space re-explaining them... over and over. Mr. Deaver obviously read a book about hackers circa. 1990 and used that for the basis for every character in this book. None of the technology is authentic and its chock full of mistakes, outdated information, and just plain idiotic conclusions. There is actually a page and half explaining how a letter is displayed on the screen. The stereotypes abound (unwashed, long-haired socially backwards computer geek...), the characters are cardboard and there's not even a mystery here. In fact... I'm going to finsh this review and get started on my own book... it can't possibly be any worse than this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Masquarading or Social Engineering?
Review: The Blue Nowhere was a fun novel to read with a unique focus to its mystery setting - that of the digital realm. From the back cover and commentaries I have previously read, Jeffrey Deaver is known for his works of "psychological suspense". I have not read any other fiction by this author, so I cannot, consequently, juxtapose my comments on this book to his other works. The core plotline was standard mystery material. Using cyberspace as the setting for the action added a contemporary flavour and ostensibly, a more unpredictable outcome. Unfortunately, the author seemed to struggle with slapping on the post-modern theatre offered by cyberspace to a layer of traditional murder/suspense formulaic predictability. While Deaver provides a glossary of some common "hacker" terminology for his uncyberschooled audience, he seems to use the development of his murder mystery to toss around these (what appear to be) newfound cybervocabulary words at every opportunity, ad nauseum. I almost felt he wrote the skeleton murder/mystery plotline and filled in the appropriate hi tech references to computers and the internet afterwards - oftentimes, sacrificing a graceful flow of the story and character development to this forced computer vernacular. I was intrigued by his appellation of "social engineering" to his criminal antagonist - and I had hoped he would have developed this aspect of his storyline better. I often was confused if the author really understood the concept - social engineering, that he introduced and maintained direct reference to throughout this novel. It is a fascinating idea that through the computer, people are able to redefine their identities, steal others identities and deleteriously enter uninvited into peoples real lives. However, given this author's tradition in the murder/mystery area, he seems to only use social engineering as a tool to enhance typical "master of disguise" tricks used by the antagonist. I think he could have really brought a human face to the computer screen that he himself doesn't seem to fully understand in this cyberage we all live today. It is not so much about body padding and wigs and hair colour that "social engineering" is pernicious, but more in the ability of a complete stranger to enter into our lives from the computer screen and know our identities nonvoluntarily. While seemingly inanimate, the very power of computers today is that they permit a new social space to exist in both cyberspace and even have an impact on everyday face to face interaction. It is nice that the author may have done a web search of significant Silicon Valley corporations - to the ultimate extent of including their collective initials into one of the central characters to the outcome of the mystery story. At times, I was compelled to grimace at what I felt were the product endorsement inserts straight from the Survivor television series - right down to the "Mountaindew" references. Perhaps rather than demonstrate savvy in mastering a few basics of the "blue nowhere", that is cyberspace, the author could have taken some interesting, contemporary elements from this realm and adapted the mystery to this relatively newfound setting. Otherwise, it appears to this reader that what we have is a standard, yet malleable murder/mystery which has been morphed - through the use of "hip" cyberspace lingo into a seemingly cutting edge novel which depends on this cyberspace environment for the maintenance of its suspense. A better and more relaxed fit would have worked. It was via this use of "social engineering" that I think he could have accomplished this mesh.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining
Review: Being the first Deaver's novel I've read, I wasn't sure what to expect. While the story was somewhat engrossing and I HAD to finish certain chapters, overall the book was average.
Another in a line of endless serial killer junk, not just deavers, the suprise ending was disappointing and the demise of the antagoinist was anti-climatic.
While I know nothing of hacking, I found the subject matter interesting, but it often seemed the author was showing off knowledge and geekdom prevailed.
Not a bad read.
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