Ratings3
Average rating3
Fired from a job he hated at a company he loved, videogame designer Paul Reynolds is drowning his sorrows in late-morning margaritas when he meets an alluring, pink-haired conwoman named Chloe. With her gang of technopirate friends, Chloe helps Paul not only take revenge on his former employers, but also extort a small fortune from them in the process. What more could a recently unemployed, over-worked videogame designer in Silicon Valley ask for? In return for Chloe’s help, Paul agrees to create counterfeit comic books for one of her crew’s criminal schemes. In the process he falls in for their fun loving, drug fueled “off the grid” lifestyle almost as fast as he falls head over heels for Chloe. Wary of the Crew’s darker side, but eager to impress both the girl and the gang, Paul uses his game design expertise to invent a masterful con of his own. If all goes according to plan, it will be one for the ages. But can he trust any of them, or is he the one who’s really being conned? Inspired by author Rick Dakan’s own eventful experiences in the videogame and comic book industries, Geek Mafia, satisfies the hunger in all of us to buck the system, take revenge on corporate America, and live a life of excitement and adventure.
Reviews with the most likes.
I'm not going to lie; one of my main motivations for reading this book was knowing that I could get a free copy of it as an ebook from the author's website. I mean, it also seemed to have some interesting subject matter, but that ease of accessibility pushed me over the edge, and gave me a chance to read it over the Christmas holiday. And I'm really glad I did.[return]Depending on the type of person that you are, the ideas of “fraud”, “graft”, “comic book back-issue pricing”, and “political donations” might seem like they're worlds apart. If you're someone like Rick Dakan, however, they make perfect sense together, and form the basis of a fast-paced, exciting caper novel.[return]The novels' protagonist is Paul Reynolds, comic book auter and video game designer who we meet in the process of being given the bum's rush by his former business partners. He happens to meet up with Chloe, a self-described modern-day pirate who offers to help him “get even” with those that wronged him.[return]What follows after that is a standard sort of caper tale, lovingly dipped in geek culture. If you're the sort of person who likes both of those things, you'll probably really enjoy this book. The characters are believable, sympathetic, and enjoyable; the plot moves along at a fast pace, with just enough twists and turns to keep you guessing about where it's going next. [return]On the other hand, if you don't know what an FPS is, or haven't heard about open source movement, this may not be the book for you.[return]
This book is self published and has a lot of typos and grammatical issues. That said, the plot was pretty good and the pace was terrific. I'm certain that other reviews will go into the plot in detail (because that's what people here seem to want to do for some reason) so I will just say it's about a somewhat regular guy's entrance into the world of con artists. Why? For a girl, of course.