ISBN 0-446-60260-4
Published by : Aspect
Subject :Science Fiction

This is a very amusing piece of cyberpunk genre with unique advantage of being written by someone that actually understands computers. The concepts and representations of cyberspace and how you might interact with it are all in the realms of plausibility, Bethke also does a good job of capturing the o culture found in most MIS departments, and poking a bit of fun at it at the same time. He also does a good job of capturing the differences between peoples on-line personalities vs their real life identities.

The main character, Jack Burroughs aka MAX_COOL is a Jr MIS tech during the day but at night is the harely riding hacker of the internet. When he gets fired from his day job a mysterious lady seeks out MAX_COOL and offers him $1 million and the latest in black market VR devices to break into a system and recover some files. When MAX tries out the new hardware, he finds that, besides being slightly uncomfortable (read the book and you will see what I mean). it also gives him Super User status on the net. Of course that is just the start of his problems.

Over all I really enjoyed this story, the writing is decent and the plot isn't all the much but its enough to keep the story moving along and the give a good background for the humor to rest against. The characters are quirky, the technology is interesting and the writing filled with a sense of fun and humor that makes this a fun way to pass the afternoon.