Techno-Thrillers discussion

Kill Decision by Daniel Suarez (2012)


Publisher’s Summary
Unmanned weaponized drones already exist—they’re widely used by America in our war efforts in the Middle East. In Kill Decision, bestselling author Daniel Suarez takes that fact and the real science behind it one step further, with frightening results.

Linda McKinney is a myrmecologist, a scientist who studies the social structure of ants. Her academic career has left her entirely unprepared for the day her sophisticated research is conscripted by unknown forces to help run an unmanned—and thanks to her research, automated—drone army. Odin is the secretive Special Ops soldier with a unique insight into the faceless enemy who has begun to attack the American homeland with drones programmed to seek, identify, and execute targets without human intervention.

Together, McKinney and Odin must slow this advance long enough for the world to recognize its destructive power, because for thousands of years the “kill decision” during battle has remained in the hands of humans—and off-loading that responsibility to machines will bring unintended, possibly irreversible, consequences. But as forces even McKinney and Odin don’t understand begin to gather, and death rains down from above, it may already be too late to save humankind from destruction at the hands of our own technology.

I see 18 of you already read and rated it, mostly pretty high. For those who have … question:
How many Suarez books have you read and where do you rate Kill Decision among his books you’ve read?

I’ve read these other 3, and rank them left to right:

So far—70% through—I like Kill Decision about the same as Delta-V. It has action, pace, and explores drones. It is so far the least far-fetched of these 4 books … a good thing. I’m entertained and staying engaged. I usually read several books in parallel, but and choosing this book over the others most of the time.