Halting State

What we have here is a thriller set in a near-future independent Scotland, in which a cop, an IT geek, and an accountant try to solve what initially appears to be an in-game heist inside an MMORPG, but gradually turns out to be rather more. It's well-paced, with plenty of geeky references and some of Stross' rather off-the-wall touches of humour.

The thing one can hardly fail to mention, though, is that it's written in second person, present tense. The intent, of course, is to make it sound like a GM's narration (“you walk down the corridor, and see...”). I found it a little off-putting to begin with, but quickly got used to it, and yes, I have to admit that it works.

All in all, I found this good, intelligent fun.