I hate to dissent but I wouldn't recommend REAMDE under any circumstances. The first third or so begins lots of interesting threads about virtual worlds, econom

I hate to dissent but I wouldn't recommend REAMDE under any circumstances. The first third or so begins lots of interesting threads about virtual worlds, economies and especially ransomware, but the book then morphs into a fairly standard-issue spy thriller, and leaves the most interesting subplots (the ones that don't involve commandos and terrorists shooting at each other) unexplored or unresolved.