Hooked
by Matt Richtell

Ever wondered if you were addicted to your computer, your email, or the Internet in general? The possibility of this sort of addiction induced for sinister purposes is the fascinating core of this thriller. Although both characters and plot are sometimes unbelievable, Hooked , from Hatchette Book Group, Twelve, will keep you reading and keep you wondering about the ominous possibilities of Silicon Valley .

Ritchell gets Hooked off to a fast and literally explosive start as the unlikely hero/narrator is handed a note, in hand writing strangely similar to that of his dead girlfriend. He follows the attractive female note passer out onto the street just before the San Francisco café, in which he had been sitting, is blown up. The mysterious woman disappears in a red Saab, and Nat Idle is left with this note reading "Get out of the café--Now!" Soon he is involved with fellow blast survivor, waitress Erin Coultran, in whom he can't, for some reason, feel complete trust. They set out to get to the bottom of the café explosion/computer related mystery that has taken the life of a close friend of hers. A surviving laptop is central to the plot, surrounded by an abundance of violence, possible police corruption, suspicious electrical wiring and conspiracy theories.

Hooked can seem contrived as main character Nat, a medical school graduate turned freelance journalist, finds both medical and journalistic talents essential to its workings. The continual flashbacks to Nat's romance with the supposedly dead girlfriend, Annie, get old fast, and the machinations of the cyber space conspirators are really a bit much, but on the whole it's an intense, thoughtful read that could keep you up all night, and will definitely have you relating to your keyboard in a less intimate manner.