80: Zero History, by William Gibson (2010 hardcover)

After I read Neuromancer (published in 1984) in the early 90s, I quickly devoured everything Gibson had written, and I have since kept up with his releases.  I was attracted to the tech themes of his early cyber-punk books and I continue to admire the way he investigates the concept of "reality" and how it is created or influenced.  In this novel he returns to some of the characters of Spook Country, which was described by the media as a "post-9/11 thriller." As best I can tell, thrillers of this genre focus on edgy characters that are either bored or fighting for their lives, depending on the moment.  Quite frequently, the thing they are fighting for don't seem particularly important (fashion, in this instance) and the bad guys and good guys are hard to discern. At times I found myself wondering why I was reading the book at all, but I was compelled to continue.  There's always the feeling that the answer--not only to the current story, but to life itself--will appear on the next page of a Gibson novel. I keep turning them.