The Blue Nowhere - Softcover

In this 21st century version of the "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" two computer wizards engage in the kind of high-tech combat that only a hacker could love. Wyatt Gillette, a cybergenius who's never used his phenomenal talent for evil, is sitting in a California jail doing time for a few harmless computer capers when he gets a temporary reprieve--a chance to help the Computer Crimes Unit of the state police nail a cracker (a criminally inclined hacker) called Phate who's using his ingenious program, Trapdoor, to lure innocent victims to their death by infiltrating their computers. Gillette and Phate were once the kings of cyberspace--the Blue Nowhere of the title--but Phate has gone way past the mischievous electronic pranks they once pulled and crossed over to the dark side. While Trapdoor can hack its way into any computer, it's Phate's skill at "social engineering" as well as his remarkable coding ability that makes him such a menace to society. As Wyatt explains to the policeman who springs him from prison so that he can find and stop Phate before he kills again, "It means conning somebody, pretending you're someone you're not. Hackers do it to get access to databases and phone lines and pass codes. The more facts about somebody you can feed back to them, the more they believe you and the more they'll do what you want them to."

San Francisco Chronicle A gripping high-tech page turner.

USA Today A terrific thriller.

People High-tension wired.

Entertainment Weekly The Blue Nowhere is that rare cyberthriller that doesn't make us want to log off in the middle.

San Francisco Chronicle Deaver packs The Blue Nowhere with enough twists and surprises that even the most alert reader will be gulled by the numerous red herrings and narrative decoys....He has the language of technology down cold, but thankfully, never goes over the reader's head. Think of a technical manual with intrigue, fights, chases, and double-crosses. And there's no need to reboot.

Kirkus Reviews Just when you thought it was safe to check your e-mail, psychokiller specialist Deaver shows just how malignant the human ghost in your machine can be.

The Boston Herald Grounded in expert knowledge about how computers actually operate....You won't learn how to break into the Pentagon. But you will get a sense of the allure of cyberspace.

Publishers Weekly How do you write a truly gripping thriller about people staring into computer screens? Many have tried, none have succeeded -- until now....As he twists suspense and tension to gigahertz levels, Deaver springs an astonishing number of surprises....His real triumph is to make the hacker world come alive in all its midnight, reality-cracking intensity. This novel is, in hacker lingo, "totally moby" -- the most exciting and most vivid fiction yet about the neverland hackers call 'The Blue Nowhere.'

The Times (London) [A] taut tale.

The Deseret News (Salt Lake City) [A] clever thriller....Neatly conceived and well written. The characters are well developed and believable....[Deaver] builds suspense upon suspense, including odd twists and turns.