During a global hunger crisis, a virtual-reality public-relations firm named Edges is hired to promote fishing restrictions around Antarctica. The seemingly straight-forward commission is quickly complicated by corporate cover-ups, geopolitical maneuvers, and murder. Bouncing between the digital and the real, the members of Edges struggle to unmask a conspiracy before it destroys their group.

A thrilling concoction of sleek SF gadgets and messy human politics, Whiteout posits convincing possibilities for the future uses of network technology. It feels, in many ways, like a successor to William Gibson's Neuromancer, but where Neuromancer was rooted in the disposable nihilism of the 1980's, Whiteout is influenced by the DIY agency of the '90's, a decade that seemed full of possibilities and capabilities. Whiteout is cyberpunk with hugs. Nowhere is that touchy-feely aesthetic more apparent than in the Edges themselves, a group of artists and scientists so intricately (and incestuously) linked through virtual reality that they share every tactile sensation experienced by each member. ( )

A William Gibson kind of look at a situation where people interact more in cyberspace than they do in the real world. A team of people are hired by a Japanese fishing company to help sway world opinion toward their policy. One of the team goes to the Antarctic to check things out, and disappears, so another of the team members goes to find him. She does, but then his rescue helicopter crashes and he dies. In the meantime, the team finds that the Japanese company has misled them, and their goals are not what was explained to the team. A story with plenty of intrigue.