Blackout

Blackout had me on the edge of my favourite reading chair,read in two sittings brilliant characters and a intriguing plot I would recommend this to anyone an awesome read

Fantastic book! Even though it was originally published a few years ago, it is still pertinent. Very suspenseful pageturner; gives you lots to think about and to discuss. Highly recommended.

Imagine a huge power failure extending from Europe to Britain and beyond. Manzano is Italian and discovers smart meters are the key and he sets out to convince authorities. The implications for such an event are far reaching when power systems are compromised by hackers intent on their view of a better future even if thousands have to perish during the process. Authorities are skeptical of Manzano’s claims considering he was a hacker in his youth and it is a struggle for him to convince them there is truth in his claims.
It was very interesting to read how government bodies, private interests and ordinary citizens responded. I think something like this would bring out the best and worst of human nature e.g. those who try to profit no matter what.
Originally published in Germany in 2012 this story still has great merit. I have to confess I had never given any thought to something like this happening. I know it was only a novel but it has made me really think about the repercussions and the likely effect on society. It all seems so plausible, chilling, compelling and captivating.
Everyone should read this book!
Thank you for the digital copy of this book obtained from the publisher via Netgalley and I am happy to say the review is solely mine.
Reviews will be posted on Amazon Au and Goodreads closer to the publication date.

A fun, fast paced, provocative thriller. I enjoyed the read quite a lot. As a retired IT exec having had responsibility for securing systems, I frequently found myself muttering "been there, done that" or "that would never happen ... but then again...".. We operate a lot on faith that our systems and processes will protect us, that those nagging issues we know exist and maybe fought battles to address but lost the cost vs benefit arguments on will never actually occur, and if they do occur, we hope we are good enough to react fast enough to mitigate the issues or could not have realistically done anything to prevent them anyway and just have to take the hit. It can get ugly. Yeah, like I said, this one is provocative. I am glad I am now retired and no longer lose sleep over it. Read this book, and you may experience a bit of the sleeplessness that we IT pros experience frequently.

"RESET: bringing the system back to zero...taking away the foundation of our civilization."

Desperation, chaos and anarchy ensue when the power grids start failing and people all over Europe are plunged into darkness. Without the basic amenities provided through the use of electricity, without communication, and without transportation -- collapse of society is quick. In a race against more devastation, exhacker Piero Manzano collaborates with authorities to find out who and what caused this devasting act of cyberterrorism. Manzano ends up a fugitive on the run with an American reporter, Laura Shannon, and they are in a race against time as there are hints of further attacks on the horizon.

I enjoyed this fast-paced action thriller as I like disaster stories. The author obviously meticulously researched both the IT and scientific scenarios described in this book. I enjoyed the multinational cast of characters (there are a lot of them) and the way the narrative changed perspective depending on the locations where the events unfold. Scary? Yes, as we live in a society that is very dependent on electricity for our very survival. I'd never want to go back to primitive times -- and the thought that some lunatic fringe could take it all away totally blows any sense of security that any of us have. We as a society don't need a new "start", but we can defnitely try for more harmonious order.

Sobering. Can’t count how many times I have heard a news cast spouting how vulnerable our electric grid is to cyber-attack, and our water supply, and our agricultural sources, and our transportation system. Here is a scenario describing the likely effects of such an attack. Much more than the inconvenience of no response when you flip a light switch. More impact than loss of air conditioning or loss of heat. And while many back-up generators stand ready to spring into action eventually the systems break down, for lack of fuel, and as more go off line there is no power to pump more fuel, so trucks to deliver fuel cannot be driven. The cycle turns vicious as people on medical machine support perish. Foods in stores spoil, farmers are unable to produce more. The author does a great job of portraying how the catastrophe plays out. While reading this let your imagination run wild and think to yourself, what if? How are you going to care for yourself and your loved ones? Do you own a gun? If you do not and he does who do you think will win the fight as others take what you have. Desperation is one hell of a motivator for normally law abiding peaceful people. A most provocative read in this world of terrorists and cyber-attacks.

This book started slowly because it was jumping around to so many different locations and people. However, once it got going, the story held my attention. Someone has crashed the entire electrical system in most of western Europe. They hunt is fevered and complex. Piero is a known hacker who has attacked multiple companies showing them their vulnerabilities. He starts to figure out what has happened and wants to help. Not all the authorities are interested in his help.

This is reasonably well written and eventually becomes a good read. Just persevere.

I was given an early copy to review of the latest edition of Marc Elsberg's Blackout. Scary in it's implications. In the scenario Elsberg describes it wouldn't take long for our lives to change for years. Blackout is difficult to follow at times. A lot of back and forth between locations and characters.

This was a really thought provoking novel, and while terrifying to contemplate, was a a well written and enjoyable read. A more in depth review is at amazon.com.

I received an electronic copy of this book from Netgalley.

The electricity goes out across Europe, and the chase is on as a former hacker tries to figure out the cause. Over the course of the story, the author explores all the consequences of the loss of electrical power, and I expect after reading this, some folks will go out and stock up on emergency survival supplies.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, though bouncing back and forth between the multiple viewpoints confused me at times. It took me a while to figure out who all the major players were. But that could be just my own level of confusion in play. Regardless, I can wholeheartedly recommend this book for those who love techno-thrillers.

What is happening when the electric grid goes out in one place and then seems to keep going all over Europe. When they don't come back on soon Piero Manazo is an Italian who figures out what he thinks has happened. He was a hacker and not sure if anyone wants to hear what he has to say. As time goes by it seems to be getting more dire for people. There is no power, it is cold. The food is spoiling, most do not have a supply to eat without cooking and then there is sanitation. The hospitals are trying to help people but no elevators to take the sick down to evacuate. Just so many things we never think about. Who is doing this and why? Will anyone listen to Piero?

A very thought provoking mystery- something that I believe could really happen. While it has a cast of many characters and at time moves slowly- I could not put this one down. I only pray the food guys have read this and taken appropriate action to prevent this from becoming a reality- we all love our electric power---

Originally published in Germany 2012. I read the description- "frighteningly plausible drama" had me intrigued.

In a flash/second the world goes dark for more than 30 million people.
Doors can still open- manually, paper money can still be exchanged, all conveniences are now requiring work.
Cows cannot be milked by hand; same with chicks, hens, and crops.
Elsberg does terrific work describing the horrifics of this blackout apocalypse.

"To borrow a phrase from Britain’s MI5: ‘We’re four meals away from anarchy.’"

This look at a very possible future disaster was first published in Germany in 2012. Translated by Marshall Yarbrough, it will soon be available in English, at least in the U.S.

Many long years in the planning, terrorists hack into the vast electrical supply system, starting in Europe, and the electrical supply grids across Europe fail, leaving millions of people without electricity. And without electricity, you don't have lights, heat (oh, and this is in the freezing temperatures of winter), water, food supplies, fuel, medicine, hospitals, the means to cool down nuclear reactors. Basically, the affected populations are thrown back centuries - without even the survival skills our ancestors had to live.

One man, Italian Piero Manzano, who is a former activist/hacker, works with Lauren Shannon, a CNN camera woman who has been working out of their Paris, France office, on trying to find answers to turn this mega disaster around.

Meanwhile, the attack is pervasive and soon hits areas outside of Europe. And multi government law enforcement, military and political agencies work together on crisis management and to stop the terrorists.

The story is told in short entries, skipping from city to city and country to country across Europe. I didn't mind this method of storytelling but I did feel the book was a bit repetitive and could have been quite a bit tightened up.

It is scary and it feels like it could actually happen. The author is able to impart to his readers the sense of urgency in fixing this catastrophe and the long-lasting effects, even when fixed.

I received this book from Sourcebooks Landmark through Net Galley in exchange for my unbiased review.

I didn't expect this to be as good as it was but found myself unable to put it down. To begin with, it's scary as to how likely we are to see an event like this in our lifetime and it's frighteningly accurate as to how it will all unfold. (though I suspect people will get violent faster).

Do yourself a favor and grab a copy...definitely worth a read.

What would happen if a group of terrorists orchestrated a successful strike at the technology that operates all electric or nuclear power sources in Europe, causing its power grid to crash? That is the premise of Blackout, and frankly, this book is almost terrifying to read because you realize that such a scenario (maybe not on such a large scale) might just be plausible. Elsberg very deftly goes from the blackout to the horrifying consequences that can be the result of just a few days without power -- and that is just the beginning of this story full of disasters and twists that result in a book that is hard to put down. Can Piero Manzano, a former hacker who has offered his assistance (but is also seen as a potential suspect because of his background and skills), gain the affected nations' trust and find out what's behind the attacks before all of the affected areas become ground zero?

I recommend this book because it really drives home the point of how reliant we are on computers and electricity, and the disastrous consequences of a long-term outage. Are you prepared?

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley, and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

"Blackout"

Shivers! I haven't been as paranoid and wanting to hoard my money in the mattress since I read "The God's Eye View"!! This book is all and more as that one.

The amount of research and technical information is staggering. But I believe everyone should read this book and not worry about understanding the tech parts. The human (both citizen and government) reactions to an apocolytic event is worth it all. Loosing power, not just localized but for entire countries make you leary of all the technical advances that have been made in the past 30-40 years.

Dependence on data sharing and computer grids apparently could be devastating. Ask yourself what you would do when the power goes out and the dominoes fall one right after the other. First the power for lights, hot water, cooking, pumping gas, refrigeration; then data hackers affecting the cooling of nuclear reactors, communications between people and nations limited or nonexistent. Next a run on banks that have to limit withdrawals or close....the list goes on. Black market on gas, food, medicine rampant, theft and unrest part of daily life. This after only 10 days.

So, middle of winter, what do you do? Planes, trains and automobiles grounded because no power to pump or deliver fuel. Is this even a plausible scenario? We can only hope that we never have to find out but I think we may be farther into this global wide dependency than we know.

“Blackout” by Marc Elsberg grabbed me from the start with a car crash caused by a traffic light outage; traffic signals should work and to be obeyed. What happens when electricity goes out -- everywhere? In this non-stop thriller with action ripped from the headlines, life comes to a screeching halt as a massive power failure hits all over Europe and the players desperately try to find the cause and the culprit as the outage spreads.

The main character in the book is the power grid itself where generators and power traders supply energy to people and industry through computer-controlled grids and smart electric meters. This tightly interconnected grid provides electricity to people and industry much as the circulatory system takes life-blood throughout the body. When the grid goes down, everything else falls like dominoes, transportation, shopping, food supply, health care, industry, even civilization itself.

The plot follows several groups of “secondary” characters (after the main character, the power grid), and as the action jumps back and forth all over Europe, each section is carefully defined with the geographic local to help readers keep track of the action. The characters represent a cross section of society devastated by the loss of power, the elderly, the reporter, the power representatives, the IT specialists, the law enforcement personnel, and the underground society.

No one escapes the devastation, and no one remains unscathed. The book has death and destruction, but it is not graphic, just incredibly gut wrenching and frighteningly realistic. This is the digital age’s worst nightmare, and as one reads, the possibility that this could actually happen becomes all too real.

NetGalley gave me a copy of this book in exchange for my review, and this book was so real that it was terrifying. The book was originally published in Germany, and the translation into English was first-rate. In the years since its publication, the scenario has become even more real and even more frightening.

This is not the sort of book I usually read, but this one was fantastic and frightening at the same time. I'm glad I read it -- I think. The next time any of us laugh at reports of fringe “preppers” practicing for the end of the world, we should, perhaps, think again.

I enjoyed this book but it was a little tricky to keep all the characters straight. I felt the ending was abrupt. I still wanted to know more about Lauren Shannon and did she go on to have a career with CNN or……..Fast read and it did keep you reading into the night.

Much of this book reads like a documentary. The events and actions are way too real to be fiction. The story is terrifying, and the characters are very real. The story is a reflection on how our lives are dependent on the countless interactions of "smart" devices throughout the world. This is a thriller of a different sort, where the possibilities it create bring your heart into your throat. The writing is crisp and clear, and the unfolding of events never stops. This is a great book to have on your shelf and to use for discussions.

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"OK, so we've only ourselves to blame, because back then, everyone wrote off the dangers as so much craziness from doomsday prophets. Naturally, it's also a question of cost. Security costs money."
"Well, events have now shown that it costs even more to ignore it."
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This was an excellent thriller - and cautionary tale... Europe suddenly finds itself in the throes of a massive - and inexplicable - blackout. No one can figure out what happened, or why it doesn't seem to be resolving itself, until an Italian hacker discovers the unbelievable - it was intentional. Incredible as that sounds, the tale as it unfolds from there is more incredible still - not in the sense of unbelievable, but of altogether too much so...

We live in a world that is increasingly susceptible to hacking because we are increasingly reliant on computers to run our lives - daily and on an ongoing basis; personally and globally. This was as timely a thriller as I've ever read - and one of the scariest as a result. It's been said (by a variety of sources, with minimal variations in exact wording) that we are all a handful of meals away from anarchy; the wide-reaching effects of a prolonged power cut (e.g., mechanized farming/animal husbandry, computerized banking, electronic locks and thermostats) render that statement as potent as ever in the modern world. Elsberg delivers the horror and panic of such losses through a well-paced and plotted story populated by all too human characters (on the sides of good and bad). The story is relatable, engaging, and rather horrifying in its implications. Here's hoping the story remains a story and doesn't become prophecy...