Borderless

Peper returns to the future of the feed—“the information infrastructure upon which the world was built”—in this taut cyberthriller follow-up to Bandwidth. Lobbyist turned activist Dag Calhoun, the previous protagonist, now has a role supporting Diana, his lover and a top intelligence operative. Her mentor, Beltway strategist Helen, asks her to dredge up dirt on the San Francisco–based Commonwealth, the corporate owners of the feed and the curators of its global data stream. Although unquestioningly obedient at first, Diana is appalled to discover that Helen has manipulated her to facilitate a political coup through which she hopes to nationalize Commonwealth and the feed in the name of American sovereignty. Diana’s subterfuges to counter Helen’s play out mostly through discussions in boardrooms and governmental offices, but what they lack in dynamic action they make up for in clock-ticking suspense as she and her confederates scramble to make the necessary pieces fall into place. Readers will find that this novel’s near-future scenario resonates resoundingly with present-day headlines about net neutrality and global dependence on the internet, and the adventure story is satisfying. (Nov.)