Fired from a job he hated at a company he loved, videogame designer Paul Reynolds is drowning his sorrows in late-morning margaritas when he meets ...
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reviews
Jan 30, 2012
Jeff
rated it: 
Giving the writing a 2, but the sheer amount of fun I had reading this a 4.5, I think a 4 is fair.
Paul is getting fired from his job tomorrow. His job is being the creative force behind a pretty big deal of a video game, and the rest of the top-level guys want him out. Paul ends up meeting Chloe at the Mexican restaurant he's hiding out in, and suddenly Paul is in the middle of a massive con to try and get what he's truly owed from the company.
Thus begins the wild ride More...
Paul is getting fired from his job tomorrow. His job is being the creative force behind a pretty big deal of a video game, and the rest of the top-level guys want him out. Paul ends up meeting Chloe at the Mexican restaurant he's hiding out in, and suddenly Paul is in the middle of a massive con to try and get what he's truly owed from the company.
Thus begins the wild ride More...
Jan 22, 2012
terpkristin
rated it: 
Geek Mafia, or as the book cover has it, G33K Mafia, is a techno-thriller that while being incredibly predictable, was also kind of fun to read. It was in no way particularly innovative. The print edition that I read was in serious need of copy editing (there were many typos and at one point even character names were wrong!). And frankly, everything from the initial con to the final line was formulaic at best and could be seen coming from a mile away. And for all those flaws, it was still fun t
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Aug 07, 2010
Patrick
rated it: 
Ocean's Eleven, Reservoir Dogs, Kick-ass, and the Usual Suspects: the four films that come to mind when asked about "G33k Mafia".
This novel follows the story of Paul, a comic-book artist, who after loses his job helps extort a large amount of money from his former employer with the help of a mysterious con-woman called Chloe, as he later joins their crew and their adventures.
Like Ocean's Eleven, this novel jumps right into the action, in which any geek can feel fam More...
This novel follows the story of Paul, a comic-book artist, who after loses his job helps extort a large amount of money from his former employer with the help of a mysterious con-woman called Chloe, as he later joins their crew and their adventures.
Like Ocean's Eleven, this novel jumps right into the action, in which any geek can feel fam More...
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Jul 17, 2010
Robo
rated it:
Geekpunk?
So it's a sort of Ocean's 11 but with l33t haxorz and technie nerds? Hustle with comics? Loaded with great characters, tonnes of pop-culture references and a plot full of crosses and double crosses and crosses of the double crosses and romance! What more could you want. Written in a relaxed, easygoing flowing style I raced through the pages and couldn't wait to find out who would come out on top as twists and turns played out and the ideas kept coming.
More...
So it's a sort of Ocean's 11 but with l33t haxorz and technie nerds? Hustle with comics? Loaded with great characters, tonnes of pop-culture references and a plot full of crosses and double crosses and crosses of the double crosses and romance! What more could you want. Written in a relaxed, easygoing flowing style I raced through the pages and couldn't wait to find out who would come out on top as twists and turns played out and the ideas kept coming.
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Jan 27, 2012
Russ
rated it:
Not my usual genre but I was intrigued by Cory Doctorow's recommendation and took a chance. As it turns out, I really enjoyed the book. If you enjoy detective novels you might want to branch out and give this a try.
While I haven't read many caper-type books (think Oceans 11), this book seems to be a good example. The characters were interesting and while some of the twists were well signed, others were surprising.
The writing style is reasonable and the pacing is good. More...
While I haven't read many caper-type books (think Oceans 11), this book seems to be a good example. The characters were interesting and while some of the twists were well signed, others were surprising.
The writing style is reasonable and the pacing is good. More...
Mar 22, 2011
Stonemagpie
rated it: 
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Mar 31, 2008
Ryan
rated it:
I'm not going to lie; one of my main motivations for reading this book was knowing that I could get a free copy of it as an ebook from the author's website. I mean, it also seemed to have some interesting subject matter, but that ease of accessibility pushed me over the edge, and gave me a chance to read it over the Christmas holiday. And I'm really glad I did.[return]Depending on the type of person that you are, the ideas of "fraud", "graft", "comic book back-issue pr
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Oct 14, 2009
Michael
rated it:
An engaging read with an interesting back story. The writer was one of the developers for City of Heroes, and the main character for the story seems to have an eerily similar history. Dakan insists that he parted with Cryptic on good terms and that his story is all fiction, but I have to wonder if there isn't some lingering bitterness there.
http://www.gamasutra.com/features/200601...
While needing a bit of editorial oversight the story was engaging and I am interested eno More...
http://www.gamasutra.com/features/200601...
While needing a bit of editorial oversight the story was engaging and I am interested eno More...
Oct 26, 2009
Britt☮
rated it:
I was hesitant to give this book four stars. Don't get me wrong — the story was great (creative plot, interesting characters and edge-of-your-seat suspense, all building up to a thrilling and unpredictable ending), and I'll probably read the sequel, but for Pete's sake, hire a freaking copy editor! This book is riddled with errors — I mean, playing a "roll"? Come on. The incorrect homophones, missing punctuation, repeated passage and other errors made me want to rip my hair out. The fo
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Jun 28, 2011
Tabitha
rated it:
This is a fun summer read. No, it is not the great novel of our time, and no, it is not going to bring to life compelling and inspiring characters. Its a great beach book, light and fast to read. Perfect for anyone into computers, comics, or videogames or Ocean's 11-like cons.
Jun 05, 2009
Al
rated it:
An enjoyable romp and a quick read. Think of "Grifters" meets Defcon and you'll get the idea. As a recent immigrant to California who works in tech, I found it amusing and I'll be reading the two sequels.
It's available for free in pdf, mobi, or kindle formats too if you can't find it.
It's available for free in pdf, mobi, or kindle formats too if you can't find it.
Dec 23, 2008
Steve
rated it:
You will have to learn to ignore all of the typos and mistakes in this book. I think they tried to save money on proofreading. That being said, the book is very good, especially for someone in the tech industry.
Aug 04, 2011
So far so good. I'm about 1/4 of the way through so far. I will say that rarely a book snags me right from the beginning like this one did. Usually it's a few chapters before I'm hooked...not this time! :D
Feb 08, 2012
J.R.
rated it: 
Wish I could give this 2 stars but it was really just almost ok. At first I was happy I only paid like $4 for this ebook then I found out it was available free from the authors site. #chump
Jun 23, 2011
Joe
rated it:
Construction of this novel about high-tech con artists is dodgy (Dakan really needs an editor and a copy editor) and the plot wanders, but it made for an amusing read.
May 24, 2011
Rondell
rated it:
really my mind was try to peice the story peice by peice it was very confusing but the ending omg is a to die for it was like i neva expected it it was just suprising
Mar 26, 2011
Christian
rated it:
A really entertaining book about a group of con artitsts. At some point the plot becomes a bit predictable but I'm looking forward to read more of Mr Dakan's work
Apr 29, 2011
Chad
rated it:
Most original thing I've read in a long time! Real vivid characters, cool confidence schemes and you just don't want these books to end.
Jun 13, 2010
Ray
rated it:
Competently written geek wish fulfillment. Plot works somewhat better than the shallow characters and cringe-worthy sex scenes.
Oct 22, 2011
Tim
rated it:
This was pretty good, but if you know about computers you might want to suspend your disbelief a little bit.
Oct 19, 2010
Abby
rated it:
not very good. finished it only to see what happened with the plot. will not be reading any further in the series.
Feb 01, 2011
Lotta
rated it:
Somewhere between three and four stars. Engaging, complicated plot. Don't know about the characters.
May 03, 2010
Phunkey Brewster
rated it:
Amazing BOOK ! and Rick Dakan Is super cool Dude ! I personally Know that from experience :) !
Apr 13, 2008
Andrea
rated it:
A great read! It's got twists and turns, smart funny characters, intelligent cons and brilliant outrages committed against America's rich right wing, a mix of cool technology, suspicion, courage, politics and love...who could ask for more from a novel? You don't even have to be a geek to love it, the fast-paced well-plotted story carries the technology along for a ride rather than the other way round. Read it.
Nov 23, 2008
Michael
rated it:
A fast paced roller-coaster of a read. Action packed, ready for a screen-play material. Yet it's missing something. I found much of the plot a little sophomoric, silly at times. The book deals with a rag-tag crew of Silicon Valley, uber-geek, con-[wo]men. I found the cons somewhat lacking. I was expecting a Usual Suspects type of cleverness, I didn't get it here.
Dec 29, 2007
Lucas
rated it:
This book follows the relationship between a geeky guy and a girl who leads a group of geeks who use their skills to provide for themselves and live as they choose (off the grid). A really interesting concept in general. For some reason, I am not remembering this book as favorably as I could be, though I am not sure why at the moment.
Sep 28, 2008
Moxie
rated it:
This is very close to the book that I've been wanting to see for a long time. It's more "graphic designer becomes con artist" than "programmer becomes hacker," but a lot of the same ingredients are there. The writing is a little indulgent at times, and is almost reminiscent of a comic book in that way, but the story is addictive.
