Interface is techno thriller that manages to bring together diverse characters, locales and an intricate plot into a fairly believable near future scenario in which the soon to be President of the United States is controlled by a computer chip implanted in his brain after a stroke.
It’s full of interesting characters including the first black female President of the United States of America, who begins the story as a nearly homeless bag lady plagued by misfortune. Then there is Floyd Wayne Vishniak, participant in polling research and destined to become a serial killer whom no one believes as he hunts down the conspirators controlling the candidate he has been watching on TV, whom he is certain is being mind controlled. Cy Ogle is the manipulative pollster at the center of the plot to put a puppet into the White House. These are just a few of the lively, interesting characters you’ll encounter.
One of the things that I enjoy most about Stephenson’s writing is his ability to put me inside the head of each character as they progress through their various pieces of the overall plot. Interface is one of many novels by Mr. Stephenson that kept me interested from the moment I picked it up until the moment I’d digested the last word. Could the events described in the book happen? Certainly.
Most of us believe that our government is doing things behind our back all the time. Are there really secret societies trying to pull strings behind the scenes and outside the law. Absolutely. Are they as powerful and effective as the ones described in Interface. Who knows? I’m not a member of a secret society. And if I was I wouldn’t be allowed to talk about it. If I did talk about it, I’d have to kill you afterwards.
The truth is, the government doesn’t even know what the government is doing more than half of the time. In such an environment there are always rogue operators both inside and outside officially approved uses of power. Some of them are caught, and some of them are not. Certain types of human beings will always look out for their own interests above all else and at the expense of others.
Interface is an enjoyable novel about people looking out for their own perceived interests. It’s got medical aspects, psychological aspects, technological aspects and most of all, characters that pull you into the story and keep you interested in what happens next.