Pattern Recognition by William Gibson
Twelve people showed up for this discussion, plus we heard emailed comments from one person. Everyone had read at least part of the book, and of the five who hadn’t finished it, most did plan to finish later. All but one had read Gibson before.
Set one year after September 11 (although that wasn’t clear enough–several of us thought it was set ten years later), this book contains no science fiction elements. However, only a science fiction writer of Gibson’s caliber could have