The Zenith Angle: A Novel [Paperback]

“Gleeful, shrewd, speculative, cynical, closely observed . . .The Zenith Angleoffers wisdom and solace, thrills and laughter.”—The Washington Post

“Compelling and important  . . . A darkly comic fable of info-war, the black budget, über-geek idealism, and the politics of Homeland Insecurity.”—William Gibson, author ofPattern Recognition 
          
Pioneering computer wizard Derek “Van” Vandeveer has been living extra-large as a VP for a booming Internet company. But the September 11 attacks on America change everything. Recruited as the key member of an elite federal computer-security team, Van enters the labyrinthine trenches of the Washington intelligence community. His special genius is needed to debug the software glitch in America’s most crucial KH-13 satellite, capable of detecting terrorist hotbeds worldwide. But the problem is much deeper. Now Van must make the unlikely leap from scientist to spy, team up with a ruthlessly resourceful ex-Special Forces commando, and root out an unknown enemy—one with access to a weapon of untold destructive power.

“Great fun . . . A cyberthriller of 21st-century technologies [that] peeps wittily behind the national security scenes of a modern superpower.”—New Scientist

“A comedic thriller for the homeland security era.”—Entertainment Weekly“A darkly comic fable of info-war, the black budget, über-geek idealism, and the politics of Homeland Insecurity. Sterling’s grasp of the surfaces of contemporary reality is deftly prehensile; his understanding of what underlies those surfaces is both compelling and important.”—William Gibson, author ofPattern Recognition

“Vibrates with fantastic in-jokes and insights . . . Rockets along like a hijacked ail³.