Doby, a curious and resourceful software engineer, plays an online computer game that rapidly invades his computer and his life.

After encountering a sensual virtual character, and discovering the game’s nefarious intentions of dominating its players, he attempts to keep from being sucked into the game . . . and to stay alive.

This speedy and suspenseful book presents the reality of an internet world where one’s personal preferences are monitored for marketing purposes, and as a means to dominate and control. It is imperative that you understand this power; otherwise you may unwillingly become part of the ‘Social Code Society’. Social Code: "The rules are good."

From the Publisher
At last, a unique and fun to read novel about a computer geek, but the book is not so geeky that technical trivia gets in the way of the plot. The story is about Doby, a "firewall expert and researcher" (basically a hacker), who plays an online computer game that gets him into real trouble. It starts with something that many internet users encounter, that is, Doby’s computer gets bombarded by popup ads and spyware. The problem is, it is pretty malicious stuff and he isn’t able to remove the troublesome code. Then he finds that the code is imbedded into his operating system and is growing, "like a cancer", and upon further research he discovers that the code is being put there by ‘Social Code’, an online computer game he has been playing.

Rather than quitting the game, he gets curious and decides to play on. Lynette, a sensual virtual character leads him from level to level and he feels himself increasingly drawn into the game, where hypnotic techniques are used to gain control of his mind. Doby resists and makes an effort to find out about the real-life people behind the game. He meets a young woman who is working for the company producing the game, and that’s where the cat and mouse game really begins, a game played between virtual characters in the game, and real characters in real life.

The book is very fast paced and it is difficult to put it down. At the same time, Cass Tell is dealing with a number of underlying themes relevant to anyone using the Internet. First of all, there is the common theme of techniques used by online marketers to force people to buy their goods, including invasion of people’s privacy to monitor their Internet behaviors. What’s worse, the people behind the game are using hypnosis and behavioral conditioning to gain control of people’s behaviors, with even more sinister objectives in mind. Then there are themes of dependence and addiction to the Internet, which is increasingly becoming a problem in society. Any computer user understands the magnetic pull that the Internet has. Cass Tell also deals with themes of religion, but more as a background toward developing the intentions of the evil antagonist.

These themes are plausible and show the potential dangers of when unscrupulous people attempt to use the Internet for their sinister purposes. While the capabilities of the game are a bit futuristic, it is not so futuristic that the book would be considered science fiction. You sense that the capabilities are technologically just around the corner.This is not a complex literary study, but a light, fast-paced, fun novel, with deeper undertones, ideal to be read on a holiday, and as a interesting basis for book discussion groups. Cass Tell has written other novels, soon to be released.