The Atrocity Archives (Laundry Files #1)"

by Charles Stross, 2004

Two parts Men In Black, two parts The Office, and two parts of the "H.P. Lovecraft Mythos." all squared with computer nerdiness and factoids. In short, it's a bit of a wacky "Call of Cthulhu" type adventure peppered with a lot Computer Science and hacker terms from the mid 2000's.

Starting from an absolutely brilliant premise -- that there's a point where higher mathematics and Lovecraftian monsters meet, and computer hackers are as likely to tap into that realm as sorcerors -- Charles Stross digs deep into the bureaucracy of intelligence operations to come up with one of the niftiest plotlines about left-over Nazi occultism ever. 

The book is comprised of two stories that center on the Laundry, the secret branch of UK government agency responsible for keeping the Things Beyond Our Reality from invading and destroying the world.

Bob is a hacker who was recruited by the Laundry to help save the world from horrors who threaten to blot out the sun and other such occult-ish monsters while maintaining "Total Quality Management" and keeping Parliament from cutting back from their office supply budget.

Brilliant premise to begin with, but fizzled and droned toward the center, and nicely ties up the end.

★★☆☆☆ (2 out of 5 stars) - It was ok.

Description from Goodreads:

The Laundry is a secret UK agency fighting dark forces in and out of our world. Bob Howard computer whiz asks for more active role at work than form-filling for Bridget and Harriet. Bob rescues 6' stunner Mo. Angleton sends them to see atrocities in archives of Nazis who summoned evil. The Concrete Jungle has heat weapon to stop monsters, turned on Bob and policewoman Jo.