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Wall Street titles “Daniel Suarez sees into the future” in the reviews of thriller/scientific novels written by the author.  “His books have a lot of readers with important jobs” and “… 2006 novel ‘Daemon’ describes lethal driverless cars and assassins outfitted with Google Glass-type goggles that help them track down victims”.   Both his debut “Daemon” and the sequel “Freedom” turn out to be very enjoyable read, especially for readers with interest in computer technology.

The story starts with the death of Matthew Sobol, the legendary computer game designer, and the homicide of two computer professionals working in the same company.  When Matthew’s obituary is posted online, a previous dormant daemon (computer programs running in the background detecting events and takes actions) activates his intricate plans.  The daemon recruits smart people through a popular computer game and form a Dark net community with a different way or organizing the society.  As new layers of his daemon are unleashed, the Dark net takes control of things including corporations through hacking of its data.  The fight between the security officers of the government and Dark net begins to reflect the malfunctions of the governments and underlying issues of current world order.  The detective Peter Sebeck, the IT professional Jon Ross and the national security agent Natalie Philips have to face the choice of fighting the daemon or joining it for the new world order.  And it leaves the readers to ponder whether this plan is evil or be the catalyst of a better and new world order

It is an aggressive attempt of the author to tell a very sophisticated story with the bold concept on how the around-the-corner computer technology can change the world and redraw the order.

Certain chapters get pretty descriptive on the computer security and hacking, the computer games, the driver-less killer autos, the Google-glass like goggles and the fictional data-curse ability; in spite of the technicality, readers could follow along the story plot.  There are moments that the Cyber world and the real world look two of the same; and there are parts that mirror what is happening in real world.

The message is clear on the very possibility of Cyber Attack that no longer only happens in fictional stories of Daniel Suarez.

Do you know how the internet security works when you see this “https:” vs. “http:”? Are they secured enough?  The vulnerability of our data in the computer world is becoming apparent, and it seems inevitable that needs to be a priority for many.

University of Maryland Records Hacked

Target struggles to contain Cyber theft

Google bolstered encryption to prevent snooping

Google interest in the authentication technology

The Ballad of the Sad Café and other stories, by Carson McCullers, is one of those books on the 2013 Christmas shopping list of President Obama.  First published in 1951, it is a classic work for generations, with a number of different stories.

The Ballad of the Sad Café is the longest story among a human triangle in an isolated Georgia town.  The human triangle surrounds the rising and the closing of a café owned by Miss Amelia. Miss Amelia is a formidable and rich southern woman who has lived her life alone, except for a marriage that lasted 10 days.   All things that could be made by hands Miss Amelia prospers, including people who are very sick.   She could not be at ease with most people, other than the very sick, as people could not be taken into her hands and changed overnight to something more worthwhile.   With the appearance of her cousin Lymon, a sick hunchback, her store changes overnight to become a café and a gathering place for the town.  Miss Amelia and cousin Lymon falls into a lover-and-being-loved relationship until the return of her ex-husband Marvin, and then the triangle relationship evolves to the demise of Miss Amelia, the café and the town.

There are other shorter stories in the book.  “Madame Zilensky and the King of Finland” is about an intriguing discovery of the head of the music department regarding a new faculty member Madame Zilensky.  Zilensky owns an impressive reputation as composer and pedagogue; and yet live her life in lies.  “A Domestic Dilemma” is about the relationship of Martin Meadows and his staying-home wife who is becoming an alcoholic.  And then there is the “Sojourner” that tells the longings for love and belongings.

Carson McCullers use stories to share her acute observation of individuals, their relationship and their emotion towards love, being loved, loneliness, longing and other irrational sentiment; these sentiment may be missed but was plainly to be seen in the real world.   This is what she writes about love in “the Ballad of the sad café” – “love is a joint experience between two persons – but the fact that it is a joint experience does not mean that it is a similar experience to the two people involved.  There are the lover and the beloved, but the two come from different countries”.

These stories leave a lingering flavor and remind the relationship subtlety we often miss in our busy daily life.  If you enjoy reading intriguing stories with delicate and in-depth portrait of relationship and emotions, this one would be for you.

Miss McCullers is the author of “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter”, published in 1940 when she was 23; the book was later adapted into play and film.