Reaper

by Ben Mezrich

The techno-thriller genre's newest star, whom People  magazine likened to Michael Chrichton himself, unleashes in Reaper  the ultimate techno-killer -- a biological virus that's spread electronically.In Boston, nine lawyers ona conference call suddenly convulse with pain, turn chalk white and die. In Vermont, a young woman watching her favorite sitcom meets the same grisly fate, as does a group of sewer workers in Washington, D.C. Whatever has killed these people is spreading fast and the task of eradicating it falls to young virologist Samantha Craig and paramedic Nick Barnes, whose brilliant surgical career was ruined by a crippling hand injury.

When Nick and Samantha discover that the virus, named Reaper, is spread through TVs and PCs, they realize that the information superhighway will become a killing field, with tens of millions dead, unless they can root Reaper out. Their search employs a dazzling array of real-life wizardry, from Mylar body paint to Stealth helicopters to CIA-bred swarms of insects. At the core of Reaper's madness, they find a suavely megalomaniacal, up-from-the-slums, high-tech billionaire; and a high-powered cabal that will do anything to save the world from technology, even if that means annihilating the world.

Drawing on the latest medical and technological research and folding in deftly realized characters, Ben Mezrich crafts a relentless, page-turning tale that is at once cutting-edge and utterly believable.

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Horror, Technology

342 pages, Hardcover

First published December 23, 1997

About the author

Ben Mezrich has created his own highly addictive genre of nonfiction, chronicling the amazing stories of young geniuses making tons of money on the edge of impossibility, ethics, and morality.

With his newest non-fiction book, Once Upon a Time in Russia, Mezrich tells his most incredible story yet: A true drama of obscene wealth, crime, rivalry, and betrayal from deep inside the world of billionaire Russian Oligarchs.

Mezrich has authored sixteen books, with a combined printing of over four million copies, including the wildly successful Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions, which spent sixty-three weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, and sold over 2 million copies in fifteen languages. His book, The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, a Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal – debuted at #4 on the New York Times list and spent 18 weeks in hardcover and paperback, as well as hit bestseller lists in over a dozen countries. The book was adapted into the movie The Social Network –written by Aaron Sorkin and directed by David Fincher – and was #1 at the box office for two weeks, won Golden Globes for best picture, best director, best adapted screenplay, best score, and was nominated for 8 Oscars, winning 3 including best Adapted Screenplay for Aaron Sorkin. Mezrich and Aaron Sorkin shared a prestigious Scripter Award for best adapted screenplay as well.

Reviews

[Edwina Book Anaconda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast paced thriller that sucked me right into the plot and kept me turning the pages as fast as my eyes could fly across the page.
Excellent first book by this young author.

[Kevin · Rating 1 out of 5]

ok, here is the reason i only gave this book 1-star. it's not the book, it's me. this is a good story and the writing is ok. here is the deal: this story is about technology. it was published in 1998. 'nuff said? i have real trouble reading about supposedly world rocking technology that has already come and gone. about the only one who could pull this off was Michael Creighton (RIP) i bet this was a much much better read in 1998. now as i read it i sort of laugh at some of the techno stuff (the way we laugh at the old Flash Gordon movies). just makes it tough for me to take it serious. pretty good characters and the plot line is good, just couldn't get into it. put it this way, i am a way way avid reader and i took forever to finish it because i could put it down.

shout out to the author Ben Mezrich though. this would have been a 3+ star book in '98 and i love his recent stuff.

[Quinn Hill · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a sci-fi/ techno thriller book that I picked up at a thrift shop and didn't expect much of it. I was wrong! This book had a great plot and storyline and kept you on the edge of your seat the whole time. The characters were not characterized very well until the end of the book and you don't really know much about who they are. The main character is a man named Nick Barnes who was at one time one of the best cardiovascular surgeons in the nation until his wife died of AIDS and his career went down the hole. The other main character is Samantha Craig, a government worker who the author never really describes what her job is. These two outcasts come together to take on a super virus stemming from a rouge company who is trying to take over the world. Many people are dying and it is up to them to find the cure!

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written, fast-paced, and engaging story. In hindsight, and without giving much away, it's a little like the movie "Bird Box," but a decade or two before the movie was made. I feel that Ben Mezrich, as a novelist, was well ahead of his time.

[Matthew Kallish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. Love the way this guy writes

[Amy Webster-Bo · Rating 4 out of 5]

took a few to get into it , but i liked it would not read it again though

[Kristin · Rating 2 out of 5]

The true concept of this book wasn't that clear until about halfway or 3/4 of the way through and I felt like the author took a long time getting to the core of what Reaper was and the potential impact it would have on the world. While the book opened with a whole bunch of people dying at the hands of Reaper, I felt the book was more technical sci-fi than medical sci-fi, and it's harder to conceptualize the impact a rogue computer can have on the world rather than a virus of the medical sort.
Character-wise, I found the book sort of weak. The lead male is a surgeon turned paramedic who lost his wife to AIDS and his surgical career due to a hand injury, and it felt like the author wrote too much pain into this guy's life in order to justify why he cared about stopping Reaper, but otherwise he seemed very shallow. The lead female is even worse so, as the only thing I truly remember about her is that she worked for the government. Bottom line, I just didn't find this book that memorable and not worth a 2nd read, but it wasn't a horrible book either.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was well written and suspenseful, and kept me guessing all the way through. The characters were likable. The only reason I am giving it three instead of four stars is that the science was so out there. The things that happened just required too big a suspension of disbelief. I mean, the whole premise- a virus that spreads through computer screens and kills people? Impossible and the author did not do a good job of making it plausible.

Still, this book is worth the read, you just have to completely ignore the fact that the whole premise doesn't make sense.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had so much potential. I was intrigued by the story line and by the unexpectedness of the first chapter. After that it almost felt like the book was written to become a movie. The characters were all so perfect and so good looking. The last few chapters just dragged on...especially the last chase. I actually starting skimming to get to the end. I didn't need to hear about how they were still running...and running...and running. Anyway, I guess it was turned into a TV movie so if that was Mezrich's intention, it worked out well for him.

[Christine Kayser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading a book about future technology that was written in 1998 is accidentally hilarious.

That aside, I loved this book. It's a medical / technology thriller in the style of Stephen King's Cell. A mysterious disease is killing people suddenly. Is it coming from their computers and TVs? Only a Boston paramedic and an uptight Federal Agent can solve the case!

The book has flaws - character flaws, plot flaws, etc. - but it's a fun read, fast-paced, and has enough twists and turns in the story to keep you guessing.

[Carol Waters · Rating 3 out of 5]

A surgeon with a bad hand and a questionable attitude meets a techie with a broken soul and together they fight a couple of whack-jobs whose goal it is to shut down all technology. Never mind that we will never have hot water again; the TV and coumputer will cease to function. All machinery that uses computers is kaput. Short-sighted choice for a bunch of city people with cell phones. The ending just doesn't make sense. And what would life be like if my computer really did stop wor

[Brett]

Crime Fiction

[Danish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fabulous book.

[Ralph McEwen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I generally like techno-thrillers and this is not an exception. The premise is not really feasible but made for an interesting listening.