One of Gibson's latests works, Pattern Recognition takes a step away from his usual style of futuristic sci-fi. An engrossing
work, with a slick, casual sense of flair.Set in relatively modern times, Pattern Recognition follows an adventure of Cayce as she uncovers a strange, compelling mystery. Throughout the book, we are teased by nuggets of information, and grow desperate to find closure.On the surface, the plot follows Cayce through an aggressive marketing plan, as she is one of the most respected marketing consultants. Things get hairy when her house gets broken into and nothing is stolen - cause for alarm, but a mystery, nonetheless.Events accelerate around her, until she realizes that these unusual circumstances also involve her spare-time hobby, a
fascination with an anonymous Internet meme known as 'the footage'. The conspiracy twists and imbeds itself into our conscious even further as unlikely allies provide murky support.Gibson uses his trademark style of
ending chapters with teasing bits of information, and it's used in full force here. This book is as well-written as any of his previous works, and the polish is evident. Without giving away the ending, on a personal note, I felt a little disappointed with the work, building up to such a tumultuous height, and then dropping down a half-metre.It's not to say that the end isn't worth it; it is, naturally, and you'll have felt like you've travelled the world with Cayce as she leaps from place to place. Perhaps you'll even start to respect her unique, yet pretentious fascination with style, or at least, her avoidance of terrible style.Willaim Gibson coined several phrases that have become mainstream, even though, as the world changes rapidly, some of them have already fallen out of use. Pattern Recognition is a fine piece of work, and it's worth reading to at least have some insight into the opaque and mysterious mind of William Gibson.