Cutting Edge: A Novel Mass Market Paperback – November 27, 2018

Well written with an extremely good story flow, highly recommend everyone read it. Have enjoyed many of the authors works.

Cutting Edge is the fourth book I’ve read by Ward Larsen. I had given this book 4 ½ stars -- until the ending. As with his other books, the ending was a little disappointing. It was simply a wrapup of the previous drama. There’s no surprise, no “final nugget of truth” because all the action has come before. This makes it a chore to wade through the final pages.As with some other Larsen books, one female character helps move the action along, though nothing ever becomes of the relationship. When the book ends, Trey and Shannon, though together, are questioning what each should do next. The story, including the plot and potential relationship, ends in limbo.Enough said about what I didn’t like, I do love the action in Larsen’s books, which is engrossing and keeps the reader involved. I especially love books where I learn something tantalizingly new – and this action did not disappoint. To have an accident victim’s head implanted with internet active equipment, then, to later find out that the government was behind the scheme (no surprise there), provided an entrance to a diabolical plot which could immediately threaten the security of the United States of America.With the above reservations, if you love high-stakes action, as well as likable characters, Larsen’s books are exceptional.

I really enjoyed this book. The premise was not the first time I had read something with this idea, but it was one of the best.I really liked the main character. He was strong but not written as larger than life super hero, just a man put into an extremely unusual situation (understatement) , that had to find a way to survive.Great thriller, real page turner, I ended up reading it in one day. I have read another series by Mr. Larsen, but I think this book goes to the top of my list of Mr. Larsen’s books. Highly recommended for thriller readers.

“But you can’t turn it off. It’s there in your head, connected, whether you like it or not.”“I can ignore it.”She looked at him questioningly. “Can you?”He fell quiet.Lund dug a heel into the wet grass.“Computers, information … where does it all end? I mean, compare technology a generation ago to what exists today. Smartphones, Google Glass, Wi-Fi everywhere. Now you’ve got META. What will it be like in fifty years?”“I don’t know. But I’m convinced of one thing—merely designing a technology doesn’t make it a good idea. As far as META goes, I’d like to toss the whole concept into the deep end of the ocean.”“Even given what it might do for you?”This question, this choice, this opportunity - embrace technology / reject technology; use information / information uses you; control connections / connections control you; etc.,etc., threads its way throughout the story.Do we/can we choose how we live? Is the modern connected, networked world so powerful, so pervasive that we just have to submit /endure?Can we fight? And win?“I wonder,” she said in contemplation, “what makes a man like that?”DeBolt didn’t have to ask what she meant.He looked out over the hills, and said,“What makes any of us like we are.”He recognized the bleakness of his tone, and how it reflected the mood he’d been in for far too long. Would there ever be an upswing? he wondered.He remembered better days, before the crash, before Alaska, but they’d somehow been rendered vague and distant. Almost untouchable.Lund said, “I have to go back to Kodiak. I’ve got a lot to face up to there. Not sure how long it will take, or if I’ll have a job when I’m done.”He nodded. “Yeah … I’m sorry about that. That you might lose your job because of me.”“Not your fault, DeBolt.”“I liked Kodiak.”“Me too,” she said.“Civilized isolation.”This concluding conversation of the heroes implies that they don’t imagine overcoming, succeeding, against modernity. The only choice is to leave, run away.‘Civilized isolation’ is the answer!Who is the enemy? Intellectual elite? Scientists? Professors? Government? Military?At the finale . . .“By turn of fate . . .’’(‘Fate’ - this (seems to me) the key word of this book. Very little free-will, no extensive, analytical problem solving, just blinding control by unknown (fate) actors.)“ . . . the end of the Cold War coincided perfectly with the rise of the information age, and seeing its primary mission fading, the NSA did what government agencies always did when survival became an issue—it morphed into something its creators could never have imagined. Today’s NSA operates on a budget of no less than forty billion dollars a year, the exact amount being highly classified. It is run by forty thousand employees, and the headquarters building alone contains seventy acres of floor space. Dozens of subsidiary data centers lay scattered across the country like seeds on the wind, a cyber network whose collective electric bill is north of a billion dollars a year.’’“Yet if any one fact could cement its reputation, it is found amid the personnel rosters: The NSA is the world’s largest employer of mathematicians. By their efforts, and without question, the National Security Agency is caretaker to the greatest pyramid of knowledge ever assembled.’’(Who? Government allied with mathematicians!)“And Trey DeBolt, by no choice of his own, found himself at the apex.’’‘By no choice of his own’ is the thread that is still here at the conclusion.Not a bad read.Nevertheless, the vast majority of pages is describing environment, locations, cars, airplanes, cities, hotel rooms, etc., etc.. Well . . .I prefer stories that highlight human freedom to conquer/solve problems, not enduring/submitting. Heroes in this work do overcome villains - but just by sheer determination, stubbornly fighting on - without really planning to win.Authors who write about integrity and self-discipline, include Dick Francis (above all), John Grisham, Robert Heinlein, Brian Haig, Stephen Renneberg, Louis L’Amour, Neville Shute.Last page describes grandpa’s death . . .“He died more or less peacefully. His wife was gone, he was tired, and he let go because it was time. A few days after he passed, I stopped by the nursing home to thank a few people for all they’d done. As I was leaving, a nurse gave me a small box. Inside were a pair of glasses, a cheap watch, an electric razor, and a framed picture of Grandma. That was it—all his worldly possessions.”He threw one last rock, then looked at Lund, and said,“You come into this world with nothing. You leave with what can fit in a shoebox. Everything in between … it really doesn’t amount to much. It’s the experiences that count. The places you go. The people you meet and what effect you have on them. That’s all anybody ever leaves behind.”She looked at the fresh grave.“And what did he leave behind?”No answer provided in the story.This state of metaphysical confusion underlies the drama. In fact, the name of the mind control program that provides the antagonist is - META. Maybe that is a clue.

Mr. Larson has a gift for his choice of and the arraignment of words. Makes for a very readable and engaging novel. “Cutting Edge” drew me in with a story-line about, what I think is, a fascinating direction our technology is taking us. Good, bad or otherwise, of what Mr. Larson writes, much will happen . . . if it hasn’t already<grin>. I can only hope his next novel will soon be published.

Too many cliches. Villain at the end talks/brags himself from victory to defeat. Female heroine really makes dumb moves to continually put herself in danger. As usual, Larson writes very well but cannot overcome a lame plot.

Exciting, intelligent, and, ultimately, scary. As stated at the end, " ...designating a technology doesn't make it a good idea."Big Brother IS watching.

This was my first Ward Larsen book, but not my last I think. Fast paced, an interesting plot premise, and lots of action. Man, that’s a novel right in my wheelhouse. The writing is professional and the presentation invites me to believe in the possibility of such an protagonist and his dilemma. Pretty cool.

Another good story from Larsen's pen. He has a way of coming up with good stories that are not just formulaic. This story draws one in immediately and keeps one's attention right through. I have no reservations about recommending this book.

Genau genommen sollte Trey DeBolt mausetot sein. Aber man hat Größeres mit dem Rettungsschwimmer vor und so findet er sich zu seiner Überraschung quicklebendig in einer ultra geheimen Einrichtung der Regierung wieder, wie er später heraus findet. Nicht nur das, Trey DeBolt wurde modifiziert, zu einer superhero machine umgebaut, die in der menschlichen Geschichte einmalig ist. Erst nachdem gnadenlos gejagt wird, lernt er nach und nach seine neuen skills kennen, sie zu schätzen und einzusetzen, auch wenn es ihm widerstrebt.Er ist nicht mehr der alte Trey. Er ist die nächste Generation. Die Zukunft hat mit ihmt begonnen.Eine anfänglich bizarre, dann action-packed und fulminante Story, die, im gewohnten, etwas ausführlicheren atmosphärisch-dichten Larson Stil geschrieben, den Leser mit auf die Reise in eine ungewisse Zukunft nimmt.Ein page turner, der mit der Evolution des Homo Sapiens Sapiens kokkiert und spielt, dabei genügend Spielraum für eigene Spekulationen lässt.Klasse. A new hero is born.Ich hoffe, dass Trey DeBolt seine futuristischen außerordentlichen skills und seine Beziehung zu Shannon in einer neuen Geschichte ausleben darf. Ich freue mich darauf. Wirklich.Vielen Dank Mr. Larson für dieses außerordentliche Lesevergnügen.

Ward Larsen gives a new thrilling look at what is becoming possible: a cyborg.Along the pages he makes a new incredible world of mind boggling prospects.An interesting book.A riveting story .

For the most part, I thought this was a most enjoyable book. Towards the culmination of the story, I felt the time frame was too implausible and I was confused by the complexity of Korean names.

A very good read. I think it has the potential to be a good movie as well. Not at all what I expected but kept me from not wanting to put it down. Well written.