Two million dollars in a black bag.The meaning of life on a deviously encrypted web site.And several dozen heavily armed guys with serious existential issues. The hunt is on for THE MANUSCRIPT.
A blitzing cyber-thriller - a novel of huge ideas disguised as a blow-your-hair-back thrill ride - The Manuscript includes a gun-toting urban professional with a tragic weakness for Internet discussion groups; a former chemistry student and hacker turned wildly successful online narcotics dealer; a pair of slacker post-grads with big questions and rapidly escalating problems; a demonstrably unstoppable hitman; a dodgy federal agent with his hands in the cookie jar up to both elbows; a nameless cadre of menacing and well-armed mercenaries (possibly in the employ of one of the world's major religions); and an entire gang of Angry Young Taoists, serenely blasting hell out of all and sundry.
What could bring a group like this together? Nothing less than the meaning of life - discovered in the remote highlands of South America by an infamous 19th-century explorer, and now said to be hidden in the vast out-of-bounds spaces at the far edge of a shadow Internet. This is the Manuscript.
Caught up in a perilous race to recover and control it are a group of young people so beset by existential unease that they are willing to risk death to know the truth; and others, backed by powerful interests, who have little compunction about killing to keep it hidden. Get ready for an ungentle ride where a number of people will get enlightened, a few will get rich, and all too many will get dead. Along the way, be prepared for some uncommon commentary on the eternal verities, computer security, rules for gunfights, post-millennial information soot, and the possibility of human connection for a generation that believes in nothing - save what they read on the Net.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
From the Back Cover:
'A high-energy, enthusiastic yarn.' - Pulp.net
''The Manuscript is dazzling. It's a tightly-plotted thriller, but it's also a terrific literary chronicle of our Electronic Age. The writing's smart, sexy, and as funny in spots as it's dark in others. But I love this book because it has soul, too. It's not afraid to ask the big questions about the Meaning of Life. And here's the kicker: it's not even afraid to answer them.' - Valerie Sayers, author of Due East and Brain Fever
'Clever and engaging.' - Times Literary Supplement
About the Author:
Michael Stephen Fuchs is the author of Pandora's Sisters, also published by Macmillan; the short story collection Don't Shoot Me in the Ass and Other Stories, available for electronic download; and the forthcoming high-concept military techno-thriller D-Boys. He lives in London and at michaelfuchs.org.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherMacmillan UK
- Publication date2006
- ISBN 10 0230000096
- ISBN 13 9780230000094
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages224
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