I thought it was a pretty good thriller on who or what group has taken down Europe and the US with strategic blackout of the various power grids. Italian former hacker and activist, Piero Manzano has figured out what is going on as he is in a race around the world trying to get the powers that be to listen and not investigate him. Always love an element of romance.

Great story, thrilling plot that I could not put down. Well worth a read, and would recommend to others. Absolutely fantastic!

A blackout covers Europe. Chaos ensues as the grids collapse. And, hanging out there with no one knowing, nuclear power plants are heating up. Threats emerge against the United States and there is a desperate race to get the lights back on. This was an edge of your seat thriller!

This is the first time reading a book by this author, so I didn't really know what to expect. I must say I really enjoyed this book. It was fast paced and easy to read. It kept my interest throughout. I highly recommend this book and will be looking for other books by this author.

Published some time ago it was a good read for this time making me realise that what we are experiencing in the present climate as a nation is not as bad as things which have been written about in fiction (at least not for most of us). A fast paced thriller.

This story was just to dry and wordy to be interesting. I liked the subject matter, but it gets lost in the details.

This. This is the book I needed and wanted to read. This author knew what they were doing. I couldn’t put the book down

A thought provoking thriller about an international blackout caused by hackers, creating mass chaos and destruction to multiple countries. Once the lights go out in Europe, electrical grids collapse, nuclear reactors are overheating, there is no water or food or functioning plumbing. As former hacker, Manzano, has an idea of how the blackout may have started, he unfortunately brings unwanted attention to himself as a perpetrator and not one of the victims. As the United States is hit as well, people are dying and those in political control are desperately trying to turn this devastation around before it's too late. Can Manzano find the source of the hackers with the help of an American reporter while they are both on the run before a global catastrophe occurs?

What is truly frightening is this can really happen. Are we ready? I don't think so. In the beginning of the outages, people are helping one another and things don't seem to bad. As the days go on, food becomes scarce, and people are becoming inhumane against each other. It is survival of the fittest. It really is a thought provoking situation.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Sourcebooks for an ARC of Blackout by Marc Ellsberg. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys books about a dystopian society, it wasn't one of my favorite genres, but I am glad to have read it.

I struggled reading this book. It was very boring and difficult to connect with the characters. It might have helped if the book was shorter. I would not recommend this book to a friend.

I received this galley from NetGalley.

Despite a VERY slow beginning that had me put the book aside for quite a long time, it ended up being a very good story. Definitely one to make you think about what could happen in circumstances like the ones described in the book. Overall a very good story although it definitely took a while to grab my interest.

This was a thrilling read from Marc Elsberg. Twists and turns and things you will never see coming are just around the corner. Definitely recommend.

I found this to be a very engaging and somewhat horrifying read. It's all too possible for me to imagine our interconnected world descending into chaos at the hands of relatively few bad actors. It was clear that the subject matter of the book was well-researched and it comes through as quite credible. My two complaints with the book have to do with the structure of the book and the number of characters. I didn't mind the somewhat choppy, back-and-forth nature of the changing scenes, but there were almost too many to follow, and too many characters that it was impossible to get to know and understand their fears, motivations, and talents.

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I received this free from NetGalley and the publisher for an honest review.
What if? That is the big question of this book. With all that has happened the last year, this book is even more plausible and frightening than when it was first published. I found it interesting, intriguing and, yes, scary. Definitely makes you think.

I started this one several times and really couldn't get into it. I like the concept, but I wonder if some zip or style got lost in translation.

Enjoyed the mystery and suspense. I found the characters realistic and spellbinding. Want to read more from this author.

Blackout was a fast-paced read with an interesting premise but ultimately didn't work for me.

When the power goes out one night, no one thinks anything of it and they simply wait for it to come back. However it soon becomes clear that something is wrong. The power grid across Europe never comes back online and any attempts to restore it, fail. When former hacker Piero Manzano begins investigating the cause of the outages, he turns his findings over to the authorities. Unfortunately they don't believe him and soon begin to look at him as the prime suspect. Now on the run with CNN reporter Lauren Shannon, the two are on a desperate search for the real culprits before it's too late.

Throughout the book we follow several different story lines of the different agencies investigating what happened as well as the events at different power companies attempting to restore power. The story moved through the different events fairly quickly with chapters of varying lengths. The plot around what happened wasn't necessarily hard to follow but the constant shift to different events did make things a bit confusing.

There are roughly half a dozen characters with a few others popping up occasionally. The main focus of the story is with Piero, or the Italian as he is frequently called, as well as with Lauren a reporter covering the blackout. I had the same problem with the large cast of characters as I did with the multiple plot lines and found it confusing to try and keep track of everyone and what role they played. We get short snippets from those behind the blackouts but I never felt their sections really added anything to the story.

Overall, the multiple story lines and large cast of characters caused too much confusion and the book didn't work for me.

Have you ever been in a blackout? I don't mean a 2 hour "fun" day but a major blackout like the Northeast blackout of 2003. I was in the 2003 blackout and it definitely gave me food for thought as to what might happen if there was a major power outage that lasted more than 2 days (as it lasted for me). At that time, no one knew when the power would come back on and I clearly remember a quick run to the corner store to get food and water that did not rely on using technology (stove/oven/toaster/running water) and being thankful that I had a full freezer of meat and my neighbors had a bbq.
This is the horrific reality that Europe is forced to face in "Blackout" when hackers successfully crash electrical grids across not only Europe but the United States as well. A former hacker who has changed his ways begins investigating the cause but becomes a suspect himself because of his dubious past.
The novel did start out a bit slowly for me in the first few chapters but as the effect of the power outage grew while the blackout continued I became enthralled by not only the technical aspect but also the sheer human tragedy unfolding. There were so many ethical and long term consequences that I can imagine would be a logical result of a long term blackout of this magnitude.
One thing that I found very unnerving and unsettling was when a general in the book mentioned that the next major war would not be fought on a military ground maneuver or nuclear scale but would be fought as a cyber war. It does seem a feasible possibility considering the confirmation of cyber meddling in the 2016 American election.
I rounded up the book to 4 stars mainly because of the immense amount of research the author obviously did and also the fact that the novel was well thought out and very well written not only as a warning but also as a thriller.
I received a copy of Blackout from the publishers (thank you!) via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Terrific thriller that leaves you hanging on every word. Terrifying to think that something like this could happen in our interconnected world. Really makes you think.

Honestly, I felt myself growing bored of this book. It was a struggle to read it.