Prominent software developer Daniel Skye is working on the best idea he's ever had: an interactive movie/game hybrid for tablet computers that will forever change the way we see entertainmentthat is, if it doesn't ruin its creator first.
Wired Magazine once called him "Orson Welles with a laptop." But now Daniel's on the verge of both bankruptcy and divorce, obsessed with a vision that has sucked everything else from him. He flees to Shanghai, where an old friend may be able to help him locate new investors. But Pierre has his own concerns. The photojournalist is involved with a shadowy group of Chinese dissidents, and on the eve of a global conference on carbon emissions, they're desperate to publicize the human cost of Shanghai's real estate explosion.
Daniel refuses to get involved in the dangerous games that Pierre is playing with corrupt officials and brutal property developers. But as he searches the back alleys of Shanghai for pictures of a disappearing city, Daniel's drawn deeper into a world of violence, arson, and even murder.
In the end, Daniel will have to choose. How much is he willing to sacrifice for the best idea he'll ever have?
The Great Firewall is a fast-paced, multi-layer thriller for the twenty-first century, capturing the jagged intersections of technology and humanity in the fastest-growing city in the world.