PLOT SUMMARY

Synners (based, as one of the characters muses, on the word "synthesizers" and used to describe the creators of the near-future's rock videos) is an interwoven narrative of three characters: Gabe, who works in advertising for Diversifications, Inc.; his daughter Sam, a hacker; and Gina, a synner whose company has recently been bought out by Diversifications. Drugs have been supplemented by implants provided at "feel-good clinics", but implants are also used for more legitimate, productive purposes. Diversifications has come into possession of the plans for a new implant that provides prerecorded dreams and sees a ripe new market. Gina's coworker (and fellow synner) Visual Mark is selected to be the experimental subject due to his exceptionally visual imagination (as determined through brain scans). Meanwhile, Sam's friend Keely has been arrested for hacking into Diversifications and is serving his house arrest as a pet hacker for Manny, Gabe's boss. The dream-implant hits the market and is a roaring success. Manny threatens Gabe's job; Gina bitterly resents Diversifications for using Visual Mark as a guinea pig.

Then (inevitably) all hell breaks loose. The dream-socket is released to wild success, but Visual Mark's death leads to an implausable stroke-inducing virus infecting the Net, targeting those who have the implant. Gina and the recently-divorced Gabe meet, ally against Manny, and begin a relationship. Sam discovers the existance of Dr. Artie Fish, creator/inhabitant of Dr. Fish (the world's greatest virus) and artificial intelligence. Through the collective works of Keely, Sam, Artie, Gina, and Gabe, the death toll is minimized, Keely is sprung from his corporate imprisonment, and Artie verges with the consciousness of Mark, leading to a new type of artifical being. All is restored, though the market forces that birthed Diversifications remain in effect. Despite the hand-waving vagueness associated with the stroke-virus and a somewhat-too-neat ending, Synners is a satisfying and solid read, helped by its sympathetic portrayal of a middle-manager, a type rarely seen in cyberpunk.

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