Zodiac
1988 • 304 pages

Ratings51

Average rating3.7

15

Sangamon Taylor's a New Age Sam Spade who sports a wet suit instead of a trench coat and prefers Jolt from the can to Scotch on the rocks. He knows about chemical sludge the way he knows about evil -- all too intimately. And the toxic trail he follows leads to some high and foul places. Before long Taylor's house is bombed, his every move followed, he's adopted by reservation Indians, moves onto the FBI's most wanted list, makes up with his girlfriend, and plays a starring role in the near-assassination of a presidential candidate. Closing the case with the aid of his burnout roomate, his tofu-eating comrades, three major networks, and a range of unconventional weaponry, Sangamon Taylor pulls off the most startling caper in Boston Harbor since the Tea Party. As he navigates this ecological thriller with hardboiled wit and the biggest outboard motor he can get his hands on, Taylor reveals himself as one of the last of the white-hatted good guys in a very toxic world.

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Very entertaining book. I actually read this book in one day, and just couldn't put it down. This is an early Stephenson book, and you can definitely see his style developing which matured in Cryptonomicon.

April 15, 2011

Stephenson's writing improves dramatically in this, his 2nd novel. It's remarkable the degree of improvement in writing from “The Big U” to “Zodiac”. Well done!

If you are looking for an eco-thriller then I can highly recommend this at times hilarious and thoroughly enjoyable educational read.

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