I never realized this before but when the machines finally become self-aware and Skynet launches its attack on humanity, I’ve got the perfect place to hole up nearby. So while you all are being enslaved by robots, I’ll be safe in SubTropolis with a lifetime supply of liquor and books. Don’t bother knocking. I won’t let you in, and I’ll just turn up the music to drown out your screams.

I knew from Daniel Suarez’s previous books, Daemon and Freedom (TM), that he gives good techno-thriller with some very cool ideas, and he continues that in this story where America’s use of remote controlled drones comes back to bite us in the ass when someone develops their own private air force of pilot-less aircraft and starts using them against targets on U.S. soil. Even scarier, these aren’t just remote controlled killing machines, someone is starting to use software and tech to allow them to act autonomously.

A shadowy special forces operative who leads a covert team and has a pair of trained ravens saves a female scientist who studies behavior patterns in ants when she’s targeted by the mysterious enemy. (Just go with it.) As they desperately try to track the increasingly sophisticated drones back to their source, a campaign is being mounted to scare the American public into drastic measures.

This could have been just sci-fi with a Tom Clancy twist, but Suarez does an exceptionally nice job of looking at what’s possible with today’s technology and then comes up with some terrifyingly plausible thoughts on what comes next. I also liked a sub-plot involving a couple of PR experts who use a variety of methods involving both mass and social media to herd the public into the direction they want it to go. (Enjoy this election year, my fellow cattle!)

While the characters are pretty much thriller archetypes, they’re relatable enough, and the action is fast and furious. If you’re looking for something that will make you think while getting your pulse rate up, this will fill the bill nicely.