Blackout - by Marc Elsberg (Paperback)

About the Book

When the lights go out one night, no one panics. Not yet. The lights always come back on soon, don't they? Surely it's a glitch, a storm, a malfunction. But something seems strange about this night. Across Europe, controllers watch in disbelief as electrical grids collapse. There is no power, anywhere. A former hacker and activist, Piero investigates a possible cause of the disaster. The authorities don't believe him, and he soon becomes a prime suspect himself. With the United States now also at risk, Piero goes on the run with Lauren Shannon, a young American CNN reporter based in Paris, desperate to uncover who is behind the attacks. After all, the power doesn't just keep the lights on--it keeps us alive.

Book Synopsis

"Fast, tense, thrilling -- and timely: this will happen one day. Highly recommended." --Lee Child, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Jack Reacher series

This is no accident.

This is no act of God.

This is a Blackout.

When the lights go out one night, no one panics. Not yet. The lights always come back on soon, don't they? Surely it's a glitch, a storm, a malfunction. But something seems strange about this night. Across Europe, controllers watch in disbelief as electrical grids collapse. There is no power, anywhere.

A former hacker and activist, Piero investigates a possible cause of the disaster. The authorities don't believe him, and he soon becomes a prime suspect himself. With the United States now also at risk, Piero goes on the run with Lauren Shannon, a young American CNN reporter based in Paris, desperate to uncover who is behind the attacks. After all, the power doesn't just keep the lights on--it keeps us alive.

Review Quotes

"Part Dan Brown-style chase and part eco-thriller, this debut-a best-seller in Germany-will get people talking.
" - Booklist

..".intriguing and authentic, Blackout crackles with tension." - Grant Blackwood, New York Times bestselling author

"Blackout is truly terrifying in its all-too-realistic premise. The action jumps from country to country as the blackout spreads, racing towards an ending which is absolutely lights-out." - Sandra Block, ITW Thriller Award finalist and author of Little Black Lies and The Girl Without a Name

"Fast, tense, thrilling - and timely: this will happen one day. Highly recommended." - Lee Child

"Marc Elsberg's brilliantly written techno-thriller vividly shows how terrorists, instead of using guns and bombs, can sit at a keyboard and use computer code to bring the world to its knees." - Charles Belfoure, New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Architect and House of Thieves