Hacker Fiction Net

Hacker Fiction History

A project to document hacker fiction, currently spanning over 60 entries. From sci-fi by Isaac Asimov and Philip K. Dick, via 80s cyberpunk by William Gibson and Pat Cadigan, to thrillers by Daniel Suarez and The Wachowskis.

Go to Historical Timeline

John Wilander

Portrait of John Wilander, author of near-future hacker fiction.

John Wilander has a PhD in Computer Science focused on cybersecurity and has spent the last decade+ doing security and privacy engineering in Silicon Valley. His love for hacker fiction began with WarGames in the 1980s.

John writes near-future thrillers and crime fiction with hackers front and center. His novels feature technical details and realistic hacks. You don't have to understand technology to enjoy the books, but it's there if you want it.

Go to John's Books

Review excerpts for John's books

If you enjoy hacker thrillers, check out John's debut novel, Identified.
– Daniel Suarez, author of Daemon
I LOVE the fact that it geeks out on real hacking with all the ways and means.
– Bradley Horner
Fantastic book! I enjoyed it from cover to cover. I will be recommending this book to everyone on my social media accounts.
– Joseph Bruce
This book was a thrilling ride that felt reminiscent of authors such as James Patterson and Tom Clancy.
– Heather D
This was a good book! It makes you think and it seems like these hacking scenarios could actually happen, since there is so much unknown with computers.
– Megan Davan
This is a compelling and compulsive read, with realistic hacks and technology that seems just around the corner (for better or worse!).
– Kirk
What impressed me the most is all facts can happen in real life! All the hacks, the government decisions, the behaviours of the heroes of the book …
– Carette Antonin
Fabulous book!! I want more!! Excellent story, plots within plots, technically sound regarding the hacking, great character development, exciting pacing …
– L. J. Erste
Fast-paced, great characters, and grapples with technology and society issues that are near-and-dear to hackers and will make any reader think.
– Dan Cornell
This was a really fun read in the vein of Hackers, Sneakers, the Net, and other great hacking movies. I loved the characters. The stakes felt real.
– John Wilker
It's a page turner. The suspense, the romance, the stage for the security-privacy near future plot make this a quick and delightful read.
– Adam Baso
If you enjoyed Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother, Homeland and Attack Surface, this book will feel just right, and fits in with their dystopian surveillance nightmare.
– KJ
Identified reveals the near future, in which the government surveillance apparatus, as revealed to us by Snowden, has grown immeasurably powerful.
– Ryan G
The story is great, the main characters are memorable, and the ending was satisfying.
– Mark Papadakis
More technically accurate than a typical hacker book.
– Adriana Porter Felt
A caper for computer geeks.
– Eric Lawrence

A mock book lying down at an angle with a cover looking as follows: underwater scene, a submarine's nose facing the viewer, title split into SUB and MERGED with the U in SUB upside down, and subsea cables on the ocean floor. Subtitle reads 'A hacker thriller' and at the bottom the author's name John Wilander.

Submerged

— A hacker thriller by John Wilander —

Grief goes deep.

More than a year after his girlfriend’s death, legendary hacker West Wilder receives a cryptic message: She’s alive. Who is trying to tear open his wounds? For what cruel reason?

Teaming up with his tinker friend Jitterbug, West embarks on a desperate hunt for answers. Meanwhile, the digital world plunges into chaos as all transatlantic internet cables go dark. Governments execute contingency plans but stay mum, corporations panic, and the media struggles to inform the public what’s going on.

With high-stakes action, cutting-edge technology, and an emotional quest at its core, Submerged is a gripping thriller that dives to the depths of the digital age, and the human heart.

Submerged

— A hacker thriller by John Wilander —

Grief goes deep.

More than a year after his girlfriend’s death, legendary hacker West Wilder receives a cryptic message: She’s alive. Who is trying to tear open his wounds? For what cruel reason?

Teaming up with his tinker friend Jitterbug, West embarks on a desperate hunt for answers. Meanwhile, the digital world plunges into chaos as all transatlantic internet cables go dark. Governments execute contingency plans but stay mum, corporations panic, and the media struggles to inform the public what’s going on.

With high-stakes action, cutting-edge technology, and an emotional quest at its core, Submerged is a gripping thriller that dives to the depths of the digital age, and the human heart.

A mock book at an angle with a cover looking as follows - , and the text 'A hacker thriller by John Wilander'.

Identified

— A hacker thriller by John Wilander —

West Wilder is released on parole with a promise to never hack computers again. He just wants to recoup his young adulthood.

But the world he knew has changed. The days of the NSA as a privacy-invading boogeyman seem almost quaint. Now a global security agency called G20S has its digital tentacles everywhere. Ordinary people are treated as threats just because they use the internet.

This hacker thriller, ripped from the headlines of today's newspapers, envisions a chilling future where citizen hackers are pitted against unaccountable global actors. Everyone who stands up against oppression has to ask themselves – is freedom worth it?

Identified

— A hacker thriller by John Wilander —

West Wilder is released on parole with a promise to never hack computers again. He just wants to recoup his young adulthood.

But the world he knew has changed. The days of the NSA as a privacy-invading boogeyman seem almost quaint. Now a global security agency called G20S has its digital tentacles everywhere. Ordinary people are treated as threats just because they use the internet.

This hacker thriller, ripped from the headlines of today's newspapers, envisions a chilling future where citizen hackers are pitted against unaccountable global actors. Everyone who stands up against oppression has to ask themselves – is freedom worth it?

Select Blog Posts

Hacker Review of Ghost in the Shell (1995)

I've been longing to dive deep on this modern classic.

Ghost in the Shell was originally published as a manga by Masamune Shirow in 1989-1990. It entered the wider pop culture with its anime (animated movie) release in 1995, directed by Mamoru Oshii. The anime is a combination of several of the manga pieces put into a tight timeline.

The Wachowskis were heavily influenced by Ghost in the Shell when they created the Matrix trilogy. Even the Matrix digital rain is inspired by the anime.

The digital rain with green characters pouring down on a black background.

Hacker Rating

Hacker Realism: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Hacker Plot Importance: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐
Hacks: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Continue reading …

The Origins of Cyberspace

The word cyberspace started out as something quite different from what we know it as today. Atelier Cyberspace was created in the 1960s by Danish artist Susanne Ussing and her partner architect Carsten Hoff. Here’s what Hoff said about it in 2015:

To us, "cyberspace" was simply about managing spaces. There was nothing esoteric about it. Nothing digital, either. It was just a tool. The space was concrete, physical.

Continue reading …