Fools' Experiments

This SF/horror thriller gathers considerable momentum before concluding weakly. Computer researcher Doug Carey uses virtual reality to help people mentally control prosthetic limbs, but other, less benign programmers are producing destructive viruses and worms. The military-industrial complex recklessly encourages the development of a problem-solving program that soon becomes independently intelligent and escapes control. Crises escalate until the entity fries some scientists' brains, causes nationwide network outages and takes charge of the U.S. arsenal of nuclear missiles. Lerner (Fleet of Worlds ) convincingly shows the development of the electronic consciousness and its groping interaction with humanity. Nonelectronic characters are streamlined, but usually bright and sympathetic even when they're fatally wrong. Though warnings against invasive, malicious machine intelligences are nothing new, good science and entertaining writing make this a fast, fascinating read. (Nov.)