Tom Clancy's techno-thriller is set in the not too distant future, in a world where control of the Internet means total global power. The FBI has set up NetForce, an organisation dedicated to rooting out potential techno-tyrants, but in the aftermath of an internal assassination, Commander Alex Michaels discovers just such a character loitering with intent on the Information Super Highway. Naturally, lots of noisy shootouts are necessary in order to stop him. The words "scraping" and "barrel" spring to mind.