Change Agent by Daniel Suarez
Read by Jeff Gurner
Penguin Audio
Grade: B+
So, let me give you the synopsis to every Daniel Suarez novel…
HEY GUYS! There’s this crazy new technology! It’s so cool.
Oh, here’s how it’s gonna alter everything you take for granted and probably kill you.
Poor main character! He’s sucked into something nobody could prepare for.
CRAZY CHASE SCENE! CRAZY CHASE SCENE!
BANG!
WHIZ!
REALLY BAD GUYS DOING BAD THINGS! HERO DOESN’T KNOW WHO TO TRUST LOOKS FOR UNCONVENTIONAL HELP! BETRAYAL! INTRIGUE!
BIG EXPLOSION!
CRAZY CHASE SCENE!
EPIC SHOWDOWN!
WORLD CHANGED FOREVER!
Suarez’ latest continues his trend of causing more arrhythmia’s than a Five Guys Double Bacon Cheeseburger with all those extra fries in the bottom of the bad. It makes the Fast and the Furious franchise feel like an EB White novel. Sometimes, the craziness can be overwhelming, and it takes a bit of adjustment to settle into his near future world but once you settle in you just gotta hold on to the handrails until the ride comes to a complete stop.
Jeff Gurner must have been genetically altered with larger lung capacity because there’s huge sections of the novel where I’m not sure he ever got a chance to take a breath. Add to that the international locales and ethnically (and biogenetically) diverse cast and Gurner should get hazard pay for this novel, but, as usual, he performed the hell out of it. Suarez pushes the boundaries of what you expect a technothriller to be, and with Jeff Gurner and plenty of oxygen to prevent breathlessness, Audio is the way to experience it.
The Guilded Earlobe 
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