Comparisons

If there were any time I wished I was a cyborg its now. Strep sucks (at least I think its strep)

Anyways, onto the real topic.

I get the feeling that this book is relating a lot to Japanese culture. The neon lights, the protagonist Hito, the "Deliverator" favoring samurai swords over guns, and the Nipponsae (not sure if this is spelled right). Even though the book takes place in America, it still feels like its referring to Japan, more specifically Ghost in the Shell, though its not quite to that point, as there are no androids with souls here (though I could be vastly misinterpreting Ghost), although, once could ask if the hackers themselves are cyborgs or not. Hito may not necessarily be one, as he has an outside life and job, such that he isn't "just" a hacker. If you take his tools away, he will still be able to function in society, similar to Neo in "The Matrix". He worked for an accounting firm or something along that line. I also like that Hito seems to be working for the Mafia/Mob (Cosa Nostra is the proper term for the Sicilian Mafia), which would be fronting as a pizza delivery service. It's an idea of his real life identity versus his hacker identity, which he would like to keep hidden.

Note that I use the term hacker loosely. Many people that are hackers don't aim to wreck things, but to simply improve them. Those that do aim to do harm usually are able to cover their tracks. Recently, someone hacked (in the attacking sense) the US Government website and added the tag 'failure' to the biography of George W. Bush, so that if someone searched for the word 'failure', they got Bush's biography. Remember though that these people often don't know any other means. Take away their tools and they have nothing, thus they could be considered 'cyborgs'.