In 'Agency,' William Gibson Builds A Bomb That Doesn't Boom (And That's OK)

He uses this tick-tock ratcheting of tension and brief, bright flares of action to move the plot -- an extended, punctuated chase scene that starts early and continues through 400 pages. Verity and Eunice are the rabbit. The hounds are contract assassins, military contractors, tech-bros in over their heads. And Gibson, in his Gibsonian way, just keeps winding the wire around his explosive core, looping in gig-economy surveillance applications, outlaw makers, a barista, a time-traveling robot, a housewarming/launch party complete with helicopter assault.