Books You Haven't Read But Should: Bad Voltage

Here's a good little write-up of this wonderful novel by an Amazon reviewer:

So you think William Gibson & Bruce Sterling are the only ones writing truly revolutionary "cyberpunk" sci-fi ? Think again ; this 1989 offering from Jonathan Littell is a brilliant novel which works within the genre and yet simultaneously manages to achieve its own distinct style. The novel's brilliance is evident in all its aspects ; from the generically non-traditional European setting, to its strong characterizations, its fast paced plot line and it's sheer street "cred" :-). Last but not least, Littell seems a lot less preoccupied with describing every detail of the advanced technology his characters make use of than Gibson. He concentrates instead on character development & reader empathy, and this makes "Bad Voltage" considerably more accessible to the "average" or first time (cyberpunk) reader than Gibson's "Neuromancer" will ever be...

Here's Jonathan Littell's wikipedia page - and here's the news that he won the Prix Goncourt for his other novel, Les Bienveillantes:

Jonathan Littell, a New York-born writer whose French-language novel about a murderous and degenerate SS officer has been the sensation of the French publishing season, on Monday became the first American to win France’s most prestigious literary award, the Prix Goncourt.