Spook Country

Robertson Dean’s deep, soothing tones anchor this post-9/11 thriller, a follow-up to Pattern Recognition . Told from three third-person perspectives, the story concerns a journalist backed by a mysterious Belgian industrialist, a young Cuban-Chinese go-to guy from a secretive clan of criminals, and a junkie fluent in Russian, who get caught up in a search for a mysterious shipping container. Gibson reinvents the concept he made famous in his landmark SF novel, Neuromancer —i.e., cyberspace—creating a more nuanced and up-to-date relationship between the virtual and the real. For Gibson, the nature of the quest object is almost beside the point; it merely serves as a spark for a series of cleverly orchestrated confrontations and interesting meditations about the world and where it’s headed. In a novel that’s light on dialogue and heavy on narration and interior monologue, Dean doesn’t need to create distinct, accented voices. He provides reflective calm for Gibson’s musings, and clarity to detailed, complex action scenes. Although there are a few strange mispronunciations, this is, on the whole, a smooth, intelligent recording of an intriguing and gripping book. Simultaneous release with the Putnam hardcover (Reviews, June 18). (Sept.)