Little Brother, Cory Doctorow; Tom Doherty Associates

“After being interrogated for days by the Department of Homeland Security in the aftermath of a major terrorist attack on San Francisco, California, seventeen-year-old Marcus, released into what is now a police state, decides to use his expertise in computer hacking to set things right.”
Robin’s Note: This title, set in a very near possible future, is one of the best recent thrill rides.  Little Brother combines a lot of ideas: security, terrorism, patriotism, and loyalty mix with gaming, hacking, and clever non-violent public protests.  The insight of Marcus’s computer invasions are exciting and impressive, like any good movie where one side outsmarts the other.  Once the story begins, it never lets up, and pulls you right through to the end.  Doctorow poses a lot of questions along the way in this book, and does have clear concerns about civil rights and government restrictions, but the most engaging part of this book is the tense adventure.