From Publishers Weekly
Would that Sandford, creator of the marvelous and bestselling Prey thrillers, had heeded Thomas Wolfe's advice about going home again. Instead, he's resurrected a hero from his previous crime series (The Fool's Run, etc.) in his latest thriller, which begins when the infamous KiddAartist, computer expert and master criminalAis called in to investigate the mysterious death of a former colleague in Texas. Working with the victim's sister, Kidd slowly uncovers a massive computer conspiracy masterminded by St. John Corbeil, the president of a Texas microchip company, whose excesses spiral out of control when the company's product (after gaining a foothold in the world of intelligence) bombs in the commercial marketplace. At first Kidd is inclined to steer clear of the seamier side of the conspiracy, but when several members of his own high-powered criminal group are implicated and the National Security Agency begins scrutinizing his operation, he brings in his part-time partner and lover, LuEllen, to help with the investigation. Their probe turns dangerous when the corporate kingpin hires a pair of assassins to hunt down Kidd, eventually forcing him to focus on a mano-a-mano duel with Corbeil. Sandford pens plenty of stirring action scenes as Kidd's encore unfolds, and it's clear that the author likes playing with his hero's shady sensibility and the chemistry he enjoys with the versatile and erotic LuEllen. But despite his edgy and sometimes provocative narrative style, Sandford struggles to bring a sense of urgency to the narrative. Kidd's return will be welcome news for Sandford fans, but the tepid plot makes his comeback a pedestrian affair. 400,000 first printing; major ad/promo. (Oct.) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Before the chilling Prey novels, Sandford made his mark with computer genius Kidd. Now Kidd is back, but his colleague Jack Morrison is missing, and Kidd himself is being targeted in a national manhunt. Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile
For those who thought computers were only for nonviolent geeks, John Sandford's THE DEVIL'S CODE certainly dispels that notion. The thriller, a high-tech suspense novel in which superior intelligence defeats money and power, is augmented by Frank Muller's flawless narration. When Jack Morrison is shot to death in what looks like a burglary gone bad, his sister Lane and friend Kidd, have reason to believe otherwise and begin to investigate. Kidd and Lane uncover a widespread conspiracy involving Anmath, Morrison's employer, and an array of government bureaucrats. Despite being outmanned, Kidd, Lane, and their band of computer geeks and hackers eventually succeed in revealing the conspiracy and confirming that Jack's death was not as it seemed. Muller is particularly effective in distinguishing the voices and personalities of the characters, and gives each scene the drama it deserves. D.J.S. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Booklist
Jack Morrison, a computer consultant to AmMath corporation, is shot to death in Dallas. It looks like a simple break-in gone bad, but the victim's sister, Lane Ward, doesn't believe it. She contacts her brother's old associate, Kidd, who has a secret life as an information highwayman--a thief who deals in software, data, and anything else of value that moves from modem to modem. Kidd uncovers a vast electronic conspiracy that involves both AmMath and a cadre of U.S. government bureaucrats who use technology to cover up murders and to blackmail prominent citizens. Despite the resources of the opposition, Kidd, along with his renegade band of hackers and telephone wizards, brings the bad guys to their knees. Sandford, whose best-selling Prey novels feature sometimes-nasty police detective Lucas Davenport, began his career with two Kidd novels but then rested the character for nine years. His return will have particular appeal for those readers with a sense of paranoia regarding the new Web world. Kidd is a unique protagonist whose toughness is derived not from flashing fists or big guns but from superior intellect and moral certitude. It won't be nine years before the next Kidd novel. Wes Lukowsky
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Book Description
Kidd and LuEllen get caught in the crosshairs of an assassin hell-bent on conning the life out of the ultimate con artists.

FROM OUR EDITORS

Our Review
A Criminal to Die For
The pseudonymous John Sandford is best known for his durable series of suspense novels (Night Prey, Eyes of Prey, etc.) featuring Minneapolis homicide detective Lucas Davenport. But earlier in his career, writing under his given name of John Camp, Sandford produced a pair of striking -- and very different -- thrillers featuring the artist, hacker, and occasional criminal known, simply, as Kidd. Nine years after his farewell appearance in The Empress Files, Kidd makes a welcome return in a cleverly conceived cyberthriller called, appropriately, The Devil's Code.

Kidd is an intriguingly contradictory antihero: a successful painter who supplements his income through illegal computer activities, a pragmatist who believes in the predictive qualities of the tarot. His latest adventure begins with a pair of enigmatic, seemingly unrelated murders. First, Terence Lighter, a midlevel bureaucrat for the National Security Agency, is shot to death outside his Glen Burnie home. One day later, Jack Morrison, a fellow hacker and former associate of Kidd's, is likewise shot to death, ostensibly while breaking into the data banks of AmMath, a high-tech firm specializing in the development of encryption software. Shortly afterward, Morrison's sister, convinced that her brother was an innocent victim, enlists Kidd's aid in uncovering the circumstances that led to Jack's death.

Kidd, along with some colorful cohorts from his checkered past, soon finds himself imperiled on two related fronts. First, his investigation into AmMath's shadier dealings inadvertently triggers a second series of murders. At the same time, his supposed connection with a mythical hacker/terrorist group named Firewall makes him the target of an intense, highly publicized federal investigation. Kidd's attempts to exonerate Jack Morrison, unearth the details of a treasonous conspiracy, and avoid capture by the combined forces of the FBI and NSA form the substance of this furiously paced, unfailingly entertaining novel.

Although The Devil's Code may be less viscerally exciting than the Lucas Davenport books, it still offers a full display of its author's many gifts. These include his clean, no-frills style, his flawless ear for dialogue, and his precise reporter's eye for character and setting. But the most impressive aspect of The Devil's Code -- and the true heart of the book -- is its convincing re-creation of the arcane world of the professional hacker. Sandford's familiarity with that world, together with his easy mastery of abstruse technical details, enhances the narrative at every turn, lending it an air of seamless, unobtrusive authenticity.

--Bill Sheehan

Bill Sheehan reviews horror, suspense, and science fiction for Cemetery Dance, The New York Review of Science Fiction, and other publications. His book-length critical study of the fiction of Peter Straub, At the Foot of the Story Tree, has just been published by Subterranean Press (www.subterraneanpress.com).

ANNOTATION

It wasn't the official agencies that worried Kidd so much as the very dangerous men with the very different agenda that he suspected were acting behind the scenes. And he knew that unless he and LuEllen found what had really happened to Jack, and quickly-the next people to vanish might very well be themselves.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Kidd and LuEllen get caught in the crosshairs of an assassin hell-bent on conning the life out of the ultimate con artists.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Would that Sandford, creator of the marvelous and bestselling Prey thrillers, had heeded Thomas Wolfe's advice about going home again. Instead, he's resurrected a hero from his previous crime series (The Fool's Run, etc.) in his latest thriller, which begins when the infamous Kidd--artist, computer expert and master criminal--is called in to investigate the mysterious death of a former colleague in Texas. Working with the victim's sister, Kidd slowly uncovers a massive computer conspiracy masterminded by St. John Corbeil, the president of a Texas microchip company, whose excesses spiral out of control when the company's product (after gaining a foothold in the world of intelligence) bombs in the commercial marketplace. At first Kidd is inclined to steer clear of the seamier side of the conspiracy, but when several members of his own high-powered criminal group are implicated and the National Security Agency begins scrutinizing his operation, he brings in his part-time partner and lover, LuEllen, to help with the investigation. Their probe turns dangerous when the corporate kingpin hires a pair of assassins to hunt down Kidd, eventually forcing him to focus on a mano-a-mano duel with Corbeil. Sandford pens plenty of stirring action scenes as Kidd's encore unfolds, and it's clear that the author likes playing with his hero's shady sensibility and the chemistry he enjoys with the versatile and erotic LuEllen. But despite his edgy and sometimes provocative narrative style, Sandford struggles to bring a sense of urgency to the narrative. Kidd's return will be welcome news for Sandford fans, but the tepid plot makes his comeback a pedestrian affair. 400,000 first printing; major ad/promo. (Oct.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

Library Journal

Before the chilling Prey novels, Sandford made his mark with computer genius Kidd. Now Kidd is back, but his colleague Jack Morrison is missing, and Kidd himself is being targeted in a national manhunt. Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.\

AudioFile

For those who thought computers were only for nonviolent geeks, John Sandford's THE DEVIL'S CODE certainly dispels that notion. The thriller, a high-tech suspense novel in which superior intelligence defeats money and power, is augmented by Frank Muller's flawless narration. When Jack Morrison is shot to death in what looks like a burglary gone bad, his sister Lane and friend Kidd, have reason to believe otherwise and begin to investigate. Kidd and Lane uncover a widespread conspiracy involving Anmath, Morrison's employer, and an array of government bureaucrats. Despite being outmanned, Kidd, Lane, and their band of computer geeks and hackers eventually succeed in revealing the conspiracy and confirming that Jack's death was not as it seemed. Muller is particularly effective in distinguishing the voices and personalities of the characters, and gives each scene the drama it deserves. D.J.S. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

Sandford reaches back to the dim past before his fabulously popular Lucas Davenport thrillers (Easy Prey, p. 327, etc.) to resurrect his even pulpier hero, artist/hacker/design-thief Kidd (The Empress File, 1992, not reviewed), for this tale of computer skullduggery on an epic scale.