Rating: 
Summary: Good, but not the best
Review: It was great when you got into it, but the begining was a little confusing and the ending was bad. Otherwise it was great!
Rating: 
Summary: Words fail me ...
Review: It's anarchic, somewhat uncontrolled, and rather free-form. The ending is weakly executed, relying on a deus in machina that isn't really hinted at anywhere earlier in the text. But apart from that, this has got to be the funniest SF novel of the decade. Bethke's portrayal of humourless and politically correct corporate culture, and the hive-like working conditions endemic in the software business, is spot-on; he also exhibits a very un-american talent for irony and sarcasm (which seems to have flown right over the heads of some of the other people who've posted reviews here). Put the two together and you get an explosive, anarchic comedy of errors set against a backdrop that will give software engineers everywhere a shudder of deja vu.
Rating:
Summary: In-your-interface type humor
Review: It's funny, but not in a Douglas Adams way, more like a Three Stooges way. I don't see it as a Dick winner, or a Neb winner, but it is strong for a first novel. It does a wonderful job of poking fun at the cyberpunk genre with their completely implausible interfaces and wierd special effects. It has a really good twist at the end. So all in all I recomend it, but not as a must buy
Rating: 
Summary: What a weak ending
Review: It's kind of like Dilbert as a narrative--but not as good. The book has an interesting premise, is quite amusing in bits, and the author had absolutely no idea how to end the story. Bethke also has some serious grammatical problems with his writing. If spelling and grammar mean anything to you as a reader, you should give this one a miss.
Rating:
Summary: Jazz Cyberpunk...great read...
Review: Neal Stephenson meets Alfred Bester and the result is quite wonderful. I read at least half of it out loud to my <long suffering> girlfriend. A *great* summer read.
Rating: 
Summary: Lives up to it's billing...
Review: The book cover proclaimed "Winner of the Phillip K. Dick award" and the back cover bore a quote comparing the book to Dilbert - a combination I HAD to try out.The book lives up to it's billing as Bethke tears off on a romp which skewers just about everybody. Corporate America takes a hit as do rock icons "The Who" and "The 'Stones", movies Jurassic Park (plus sequels) and Outworld, pro wrestling, the mafia, Firesign Theatre, you name it. If you look real close, there's some Abbot and Costello and Monty Python thrown in for good effect. On one level the book is "Revenge of the Nerds" but there are enough layers of obscure references and subtle double entendre's to give the book some depth.I did wish the plot to be a bit stronger. None of these ruined the book for me but then similar problems in the Airplane and Naked Gun movies never bothered me either. It was a fun ride and I'm looking forward to Bethke's next book.
Rating:
Summary: Good book, but the ending is like a GPF
Review: The book is worth your time!! It is on my shelf next to Microserfs and Snowchrash. The ending lives up to the title--it stops and you want more.
Rating: 
Summary: OK if you enjoy the level of humor
Review: The book started with some promise: the protagonist is stuck in a dead-end job that he hates, working for a boss who loathes him, and living in Mom's basement. Good, let's see this conflict get resolved over the rest of the book, I thought. No way. His problems are solved within a few chapters, and suddenly he's got his own consultancy, a cool if dilapidated loft space to live/work in, a big client, and a successful biz partner. OK there are some doubts about the client but all in all, everything's looking good right up until the end of the book, when he experiences some minor inconvenience that's soon put more than right. The few promises of conflict that crop up are all resolved in a few pages. There was no attempt to make the world or characters believable. The approach seemed to be "this is satire: take your disbelief somewhere else, pal, because there's nowhere to suspend it from around here." Yeah, right. Go tell it to Robert Sheckley or Douglas Adams. Or Neal Stephenson, for that matter. So there's not much to grip you and draw you into the story, which leaves the humor... Unfortunately I'd come across too many of the jokes before, way back in the 80s (which gives you a hint as to my age: maybe youngsters will enjoy this more than us old-timers :-) Someone mentioned Dilbert, and that could be where I saw them... mushroom theory of management, anyone? How about the amazing irresistible miniature Soviet gizmo - oh, and don't forget the suitcase for the batteries, sir. Sorry, Bruce, seen 'em long before your book was published. The rest of the humor involved things like neural interfaces that work when you put them..., well I'll leave it to your imagination where you put them, and a couple of running gags where (for example) his ex girlfriend turns up and attacks him at *every* crucial moment. If that sort of humor appeals, then this might be for you. I'm in sympathy with the reviewer who was shocked that this won a PKD prize. The best thing I can say for it is that, as a first novel, it should give hope to unpublished writers everywhere because it shows that anything is possible, and utter garbage can pick up 5-star reviews right here.
Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your time!
Review: The only reason I didn't give it the worst rating is that the geek side of me wouldn't let me. There was just enough to keep me from throwing it out BEFORE finishing it.
Rating:
Summary: Almost the best book I've read in a long time.
Review: This book had so much promise. It was funny. It was well-written. It was realistic. Then, it seems, the writer realized that he had almost enough pages to make the novel publishable, and he ended the story right quick. Read up to about page 200; then make up your own ending, like The Lady or the Tiger. You'll be much happier that way.
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