1998 Past Reviews:
 Reviewed in August, 1998
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Bad Memory, by Duane Franklet
paperback, Pocket Books, 1997, $6.99, 408 pages
 A hacker breaks through the network security at Houston's fictitious Simtek Corporation, the world's leading computer manufacturer. His first move is to garble thousands of orders for mail order computers. When his demand for a million dollars is rejected, he escalates his terrorism against the company, from introducing an insidious virus that zaps the hard drives in the accounting department to (my favorite) inserting a tiny glitch in the operating systems of almost a half million computers that . . but that would be giving too much away.
Anyone with network experience will go gaga over this book. It's a terrifying roadmap of the devastating penalty a corporation can pay if it cuts corners in network security. The real beauty of this book, however, is that Franklet, a Houston-based computer trouble shooter, makes the high-tech hijinks comprehensible to someone who can't tell the difference between software and tupperware. The characters are believable, and the twisty plot had me guessing until the very last page.
Reviewed in August, 1998
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Killer.app, by Barbara D'Amato
paperback, Tor Book, 1997, $5.99, 350 pages
 Computer conglomerate SJR DataSystems manufactures radio equipment for police cars, the sensors on the wings of Navy aircraft and data management software for credit card companies and hospitals. This extends their tentacles into every nook and cranny of business and government. Their renegade leaders collect and alter data on people, which they use to control financial markets, blackmail politicians and to mount a plan to assassinate the President. Chicago cop Suze Figuroa gets sucked into the morass when her sister, a senior SJR programmer, stumbles into the conspiracy and is left comatose after a suspicious car accident.
Could it happen? Pair a power-hungry computer company with a corner on the database market with the vast amounts of computerized information that is being compiled on every facet of human activity and it is just possible. Geeks will appreciate the technical realism, right down to the screen prints, while the less nerdish among us will be swept away by the societal implications.
Reviewed in September, 1998
Hard Drive, by David Pogue
paperback, Ace Books, $5.50, 288 pages, 1995
 A brilliant, greedy programmer turns traitor and plants a destructive virus in a groundbreaking MacIntosh voice recognition program. The bug is designed to be discovered before the product is shipped to cause enough of a delay to allow the competition to release their rival product first. The virus slips through during the beta testing and ends up in the final release version. A band of young programmers race against the clock to kill the virus and save their company.
If you read this book you will never, never, never insert a floppy disk, download a program from the Internet or even breathe before you run a virus checking program. This is an engaging, fast-paced and realistic scenario of how a virus spreads and the awful destruction it can wreak. There were tears in my eyes as an officer of the Houston Mac Users Group ignores the beeps of his anti-virus program and spreads the virus throughout Texas. Pogue is the author of the popular "Mac for Dummies" books and he knows his stuff. Highly recommended.
Reviewed in October, 1998
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f2f, by Phillip Finch
paperback, Bantam Books, 1996, $6.50, 307 pages
 When a San Francisco online service receives a death threat the subscribers assume it is a tasteless prank. But there really is a serial killer on the prowl. He lures his victims into his trap, then integrates video of his kills into a macabre virtual reality game called "try.me." It takes all the wits of a pre-teen hacker and the online service's brilliant systems operator to bring the killer to heel.
f2f is online jargon for a face to face meeting, and if this book doesn't make you feel vulnerable, it should. Nothing is sacred. Good and bad guys hack into your cell phone and steal your codes. They grab your credit card number. Worm into your computer and read your most personal documents. It's all possible and it's as scary as all get out. Touchstone has bought the movie rights to this most excellent cyber-thriller.
Reviewed in October, 1998
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Virus, by Graham Watkins
Paperback, St. Martins Press, 1994, $5.99
 Emergency rooms are puzzled by a dangerous new disorder whose sleepless and malnourished victims neglect themselves until they collapse. Another epidemic emerges: computer gamers suffer seizures and die. Both conditions are linked to an innovative software caching program, Penultimate. A team of Duke University Hospital physicians, joined by the software's programmer, races against the clock to kill Penultimate - before it kills them.
Virus has something for everyone -- it's a medical mystery and techno-thriller with a dollop of romance tossed in. If you are computer literate you will become engrossed with trying to figure out how Penultimate works. It leads you through the logic of disk compression, networking, encryption, viruses, caching and artificial intelligence. Above all, it's a walloping good tale with well-drawn characters, a believable plot and a rousing ending that takes place in a Doom maze. Highly recommended!
Reviewed in November, 1998
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A Calculated Risk, by Katherine Neville
paperback, Ballantine Books, 1994, $6.99, 343 pages
 A young banker, infuriated that her boss not only vetoed her proposal for a much-needed computer security upgrade but also squelched her chance for a plum job at the Federal Reserve, launches a plan to embezzle millions as a demonstration of the bank's vulnerability. Her mentor joins the fun by betting her that his scheme to waylay Wall Street bonds just long enough to skim the interest can net more cash in a shorter time.
A delightful romp with a parade of cock-eyed characters and a rare insider's view into how money moves around the globe. The technical details were dazzling and the relative ease with which the protagonists cracked the system may drive me to stash my money under the mattress. Somewhat marred by a mushy romantic sub-plot and a series of flashbacks to the 18th century that never resolves itself with the contemporary action, but still worth reading.
Reviewed in November, 1998
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Trading Reality, by Michael Ridpath
paperback, Harper Collins, 1998, $6.99, 440 pages
 The founder of a virtual reality development company on the brink of a major breakthrough suspects that his stock is being manipulated and asks his brother, a London bond trader, for advice. A few weeks later he is murdered. The brother takes control of the company and gets a crash-course in virtual reality as he tries to save the fledgling business, track the source of the strange market fluctuations and unmask his brother's killer.
Something for everybody in this tightly written thriller, especially for those interested in how high-tech, high-stakes startups are financed. There was an intriguing glimpse of how bonds will be traded in the future -- the London trader uses an experimental virtual reality program, "bondscape," to guide him through a rough day's trading caused by Alan Greenspan's prediction of a rise in interest rates. The author is a former bond trader who now works with a venture capital firm. He knows his stuff.
Reviewed in December, 1998
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Back/Slash by William H. Lovejoy
paperback, Pinnacle Books, 1997, $5.99, 528 pages
 A cyber-terrorist dubbed by the media the "Frowning Face"can crack into any computer system, from the Internet to banks, hospitals and the CIA. As data is destroyed and security compromised, the world erupts in turmoil. While an international task force tries to solve the crisis, the special agent in charge of the FBI's Computer Crimes Squad secretly enlists the aid of ace hacker "Renegade" who goes mano-a-mano with the Frowning Face. Is :-( a lone crackpot with a left-wing political agenda or an international conglomerate fomenting turmoil to give their new online service a boost?
Not for the faint-hearted: at times this novel sounds like John Woody giving his packet switching lecture to the Jumpstart Internet class (although John would never suggest telnetting via an e-mail address!). At the core of the plot is the stark reality of how much of everyone's life is tied to computer networks. When they go down, we do too. If you don't take it too seriously and get a kick out of picking apart inaccuracies and inconsistences you will have fun with Back/Slash.
Reviewed in December, 1998
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Final Victim, by Stephen J. Cannell
paperback, Avon Books, 1996, $6.99, 380 pages
 A maverick customs agent and a bored psychologist spring a hacker from jail to help them infiltrate an Internet remailer suspected of hosting a support group for serial killers. At first crack the improbable trio uncovers The Rat, a psychopathic hacker who travels cross-country collecting body parts to construct a clone of his hated stepmother. The two super-hackers face off, and the psychologist sets herself up as the bait - the final victim.
The reviewers hated this book, claiming that the plot was bogged down by excessive computer detail. For geeks like us, nothing perks up a novel more than a screen capture or two. Especially compelling were the descriptions of breaking into building security systems - the vulnerable point is the elevator's emergency telephone. Cannell is best known for his Emmy-winning TV scripts, including the Rockford Files, the A-Team, Wiseguy and the Commish. Explicit sex and violence.
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