2003 Reviews:
 Reviewed in December,
2003
You can buy
this book from Amazon.com
Wink a Hopeful Eye , by Denise Danks
Paperback, St.
Martin's, 1994, $7.95, 265 pages.
 Georgina Powers, fired from her job as a
journalist for London's Technology Week, flies to Las Vegas to join a
friend for a gambling junket. While she's losing at the slots, Charlie
wins a suitcase full of valuable computer chips in a game of seven card
stud. There's a world-wide chip shortage and everyone wants to get his
hands on Charlie's silicon gold: a handsome gun-toting Hungarian black
marketer, the Japanese Yakuza, even the Columbian drug cartel. Georgina
chases the story, Charlie guards the chips and the guy who lost the chips
is brutally murdered.
Many computer thrillers grow stale as the technology becomes passé, but
this one retains its immediacy. There are fascinating of behind-the-scenes
details about the shortage of 1 MB dram ten years ago. The ending is a
technological and political stunner, even more shocking today that it was
when the book was written. Danks, a computer journalist herself, gets her
facts right and is an elegant writer. Be warned, though, that this is a
gritty novel: Georgina is a pregnant slut contemplating an abortion,
finely drawn but not a sympathetic heroine. Republished in April, 2003.
Reviewed in December,
2003
You can buy
this book from Amazon.com
Most Wanted , by Jordan Cray
Paperback, Aladdin,
1998, $3.99, 233 pages When California teenager Andy McFarland asks his mother for a
baby picture to use in a class project she explains that she has no
photos. She's reveals that he was adopted - his father is in jail for
murdering his mother. Stunned and angry, he goes online find out more. He
tracks down his dad, Silas, out of jail and working at a fish restaurant
in Maine. Andy exchanges e-mail with him but forgets that the Internet
works both ways: his father traces him, shows up on his doorstep and moves
into the family's garage. Andy's mother, subtly provoked by Silas, starts
butting heads with her best friend, with whom she owns an educational
software company. Is Andy's father a vicious murderer or a wronged victim?
This is a young adult novel, #7 in the danger.com series, and suitable
for middle school kids and older. These are well written potboilers,
tightly potted and with believable characters. Although the Internet
features prominently, the content is not technical. Would make a nice
stocking stuffer for a young relative.
Reviewed in November,
2003
You can buy
this book from Amazon.com
The Weedless Widow , by Deborah Morgan
Paperback,
Berkley, 2002, 194 pages, $5.99 Jeff Talbot, and ex-FBI agent turned
antiques picker, shows up for a fishing trip and finds the owner of his
favorite bait and tackle shop murdered. With the help of his wife, an
agoraphobic who expertly uses the Internet as her connection to the
outside world, he figures out that the victim had been spending the past
few months visiting Internet auction sites trying to figure out who stole
- and was now selling on e-Bay - a bunch of antique fishing lures stolen
from his collection.
This is the second in a new series - fascinating books for those
interested in antiques and computers. There's quite a bit about Internet
auctions in this volume, and there is even a "webliography" of related
Internet sites at the end. Recommended for those who like a cozy mystery
with interesting characters and just a touch of technology.
Reviewed in October,
2003
You can buy
this book from Amazon.com
The Courier , by Jay MacLarty
Paperback, Pocket
Star Books, 2003, $6.99 352 pages Simon Leondovitch, an international courier,
is hired by a Swedish firm to ferry papers and disks to their parent
company in California. The nervous chemist who hands over the material
slips in a second package - two computer disks to be sent to New York,
address as of yet undetermined. He says he'll call later with the address
but he can't - he's dead. The disks contain lab results of tests revealing
that a new miracle diet drug causes fatal liver damage. The California
pharmaceutical company hires a "hunter" to recover the disks and Simon is
forced to go into hiding to protect the disks and his family.
An edge-of-your-seat book; I couldn't put it down. Especially
interesting from a techie standpoint is the way that Simon keeps connected
while on the road - cell phone modems, patching into analog phone lines in
a pension, hot connections from the airport lounge, Internet Cafes in
Amsterdam - and his use of chat rooms to stay in touch. Highly
recommended.
Reviewed in October,
2003
You can buy
this book from Amazon.com
Secrets of the Wholly
Grill , by Lawrence Townsend
Hardback, Carol & Graf, 2002, $25.00, 330
pages
Thinksoft®'s new product - a modem-connected grill that uses a special
barbecue sauce infused with smoke crystals™ - is launched with a massive
marketing campaign that puts a shrink wrapped package of marinated steak
tips into every mailbox. The catch - the shrink wrap comes with an end
user license agreement. By breaking the seal you agree to two pages of
legal gobbledygook that gives Thinksoft® total control of your food and
your grill. Bumbling Lenny buys the $1,200 grill to cook his free steak
and is literally hooked. His grilling misadventures end up as the
centerpiece in a class action suit that challenges the broad language of
software licenses.
This is a powerful satire. By extending the licensing language and
methods (by opening this package you agree . . .) now generally accepted
for intellectual property to tangible goods - grills and food - the greed
and arrogance of software manufacturers is exposed and challenged. This is
one of the funniest books I have ever read, lampooning the social and
legal conventions we have become conditioned to accept. I read it straight
through, laughing all the way. One of my top ten: highly recommended.
Reviewed in August,
2003
You can buy
this book from Amazon.com
The Paris Option, by Robert Ludlum and Gayle Lynds
Paperback, St. Martin's, 2002, $15.95, 425
pages
Terrorists blow up the Pasteur Institute in Paris. Covert One, a secret
U.S. Intelligence Agency, fears that Emile Chambourd, a scientist there,
was close to developing a workable DNA computer. Chambourd is presumed
dead and his prototype is missing. Their worst fears are confirmed when
secure military communications go haywire - only a molecular computer,
capable of evolving, is capable of conducting the rapid computations
needed to crack the codes. Covert One agents are dispatched to Europe to
recover the prototype and save the world.
This is the kind of book my husband call a "shoot-em-up." Lots of
action, little character development. I was disappointed that there wasn't
more technical explanation of the DNA computer - if I hadn't read other
novels (for example, Prey and Society of the Mind) I would have been
totally lost. Not Ludlum at his best, although the series did make the New
York Times bestseller list.
Reviewed in August,
2003
You can buy
this book from Amazon.com
Betrayed,
by Rosey Dow and Andrew Snaden
Paperback,
Promise Press, 2001, $10.99, 267 pages Laura's father, a computer scientist,
betrayed his country by selling the code he developed for missile systems.
The man she was dating turned out to be an FBI agent, using her to get at
her father. Now living under an assumed name, she is trying to eke out a
living as a computer consultant. When the missile systems develop a virus,
Laura is identified as holding the key to rectify it and agents from half
a dozen nations are scrambling to find her.
This is a Christian mystery and both of the protagonists are led to the
solution of the puzzle through Jesus. I found that aspect cloying and
unnecessary. There is an excellent subplot about a computer consulting
company that cornered the market on Y2K remediation, and built glitches
into every system to guarantee them continued lucrative work. Not a bad
plot, but a bit soppy and romantic for my tastes.
Reviewed in July,
2003
You can buy
this book from Amazon.com
Spiked, by
Mark Arsenault
Hardback, Poisoned Press, July,
2003, $24.95, 318 pages When a dead reporter is dredged from a New England canal, Eddie
Bourque, a colleague and rival, has his stories about the incident spiked
by his editor. Undeterred, Eddie uses his nose for news to uncover a
complex and surprisingly realistic plot that includes a beautiful
Cambodian hit woman, city council corruption, urban renewal shenanigans
and jealousy run amok.
A reporter for the Providence (RI) Journal, Arsenault has written an
adept first novel. Stan, the paper's tech services guy, is an endearing
misanthrope who trades his computer expertise for stand-up comedy lessons;
parts of the plot revolve around a mysteriously introduced file-destroying
virus and the recovery of deleted computer files. Clever action, engaging
characters, and a twisty plot with a surprising ending make this a
compelling read. Recommended.
Reviewed in July,
2003
You can buy
this book from Amazon.com
Artemis Fowl: The
Eternity Code, by Eion Colfer
Hardcover, Hyperion Books for Children, May, 2003, $16.95, 320
pages
Dapper thirteen-year-old genius Artemis Fowl, heir to an Irish crime
dynasty, steals computer technology from the fairy underworld and creates
the C Cube, a do-everything computer that is 50 years ahead of current
human know-how. Intent on increasing his family's already bulging coffers,
Artemis attempts to blackmail Spiro, a mob-connected Chicago telecom
magnate: for a billion dollars, he'll keep the cube off the market. His
plan backfires when Spiro kills Butler the bodyguard and makes off with
the cube. Aided by his old rival, Captain Holly Short of the LEPrechaun
fairy police and Mulch Diggums, a tunnel dwarf, Artemis spins an elaborate
plan to rescue the cube.
If you've read all of the Harry Potter books twice and have run out of
Lemony Snicketts, Artemis Fowl is the next best thing for kids ages 10 to
100. This is the third in the series, and although it stands alone, it
would be better to read them in sequence. Well written and clever, they
are an amalgam of fantasy and action-adventure: Harry Potter meets James
Bond. Lots of fun.
There was no column in July, 2003
Reviewed in June,
2003
You can buy
this book from Amazon.com
Earthquake Games, by Bonnie Ramthun
Paperback, Jove,
2001, 352 pages, $6.99 A suicide at a military base and the discovery of the mutilated
corpse in Colorado's Great Sand Dunes draw police detective Eileen Reed
into a nightmare involving the "Taos Hum," suspected alien abductions and
killer earthquakes. An ambitious politician gets appointed as a regional
FEMA director and steals plans for one of Nikola Tesla's odder inventions:
an earthquake machine. Under the guise of legitimate government-sponsored
experiments, he carries out his real plan, to create a monstrous disaster,
declare martial law, and take over the Western US.
Computes play a minor, yet critical role. Reed's boyfriend, a Defense
Department war gamer, uncovers map coordinates that predict the location
of earthquakes hidden, using a technique called steganography, in soft
porn pix on a dead scientist's zip disks. He's able to plug the data into
his computer simulation (using a souped-up laptop he calls the
Frankenputer) to unearth the motive for the crimes. This is the second in
an excellent series - Ground Zero was reviewed in January, 2001. Geeks of
all varieties will find this a satisfying read.
Reviewed in June,
2003
You can buy
this book from Amazon.com
Claire and Present
Danger, by Gillian Roberts
Hardcover, Ballantine, 2003, 256 pages,
$23.95 Philadelphia high school teacher and part-time sleuth Amanda
Pepper interviews a new client, who wants her prospective daughter-in-law
checked out. The fiancée is a mystery woman, whose friends and lovers have
been felled by accidents, suicides and even murders. When the client
herself dies, the fiancée begs Amanda to discover why her life is such a
wreck.
Computers play only a minor role - one of Amanda's students is
undergoing a crisis, and she tracks it down to a nasty blog, a WebLog
maintained by a popular student who is using the Internet to ruin the
reputation of the persecuted freshman. This is the first mention of a blog
I've seen in a computer crime novel. This is the 11th in the popular
series.
Reviewed in May,
2003
You can buy
this book from Amazon.com
Click Here for
Murder, by Donna Andrews
Hardcover, Berkley Prime Crime, May, 2003, $22.95, 295
pages
Taking off where You've Got Murder left off, we find Tim, the
Universal Library's photocopy guy, set up in his own fledgling private eye
firm; Maude still toiling away as a secretary at the UL but slipping out
every afternoon to run Alan Grace, her new computer company and Turing,
the artificial intelligence program, doling out advice while preparing for
a move to Alan Grace. Tim is so involved with playing Beyond Paranoia, an
online role playing game that his misses a rendezvous with Ray, Alan
Grace's new technical genius. Ray is killed, Tim feels responsible. His
newly won detective skills are put to the test in finding Ray's killer and
fending off a worm attacking all the AIs.
You've Got Murder, now in paperback, was nominated for the
prestigious Dilys and Agatha mystery book awards. I admit to shamelessly
bugging Donna Andrews to get this next book done. My advice: read the
first one first. As befits a series, many of the details that form Turing
Hopper's quirky character were omitted from the sequel and you will miss
much of the charm of the series if you start with this second book. This
book is ALL about computers: virtual role-plating games that turn into
live action role playing (larp); worms and viruses and, in a stunning
twist at the end, the nature of computers and sentience. The ending is a
winner. Not to be missed.
Reviewed in May,
2003
You can buy
this book from Amazon.com
The Bride's Kimono, by Sujata Massey
Paperback, Avon,
Oct. 2002, $6.99, 400 pages Rei Shimura, an expatriate Japanese-American
antiques dealer, is hired by a Washington D.C. museum to courier several
valuable kimono from Tokyo and to lecture on kimono wrapping at the
exhibit opening. To her horror, an uninsured Edo-era (1615-1857) bride's
kimono is stolen from her hotel room and a young Japanese woman she
befriended on the flight over is found dead in a dumpster, carrying Rei's
passport. Accused by the police of murder, larceny and even prostitution,
Rei tries to juggle her complicated romantic life and a visit from her
parents while trying to recover the lost kimono and find the murderer.
The computer connections are tenuous, but this is the first book I've
come across that featured eBay as an outlet for disposing of stolen
antiquities. For that alone it is noteworthy. Rei is a computerphobe so I
doubt she'll be dealing in antique Japanese computers in future books.
This is the third of this series that I have read - the combination of
traditional Japanese culture and antiques coupled with contemporary
Japanese life is fascinating.
Reviewed in April,
2003
You can buy
this book from Amazon.com
The Dutch,
by Les Roberts
Hardcover, St. Martin's, 2001,
$23.95, 293 pages A grieving father, needing closure, hires Cleveland detective
Milan Jacovich to find out why his daughter committed suicide - "did the
Dutch" in cop slang. Ellen Carmine seems to have been a homely, lonely and
overweight young woman who found fulfillment in her career as a successful
Web designer. Deeper probing reveals that she has been spending all of her
spare time in lonleyhearts chat rooms and her employer makes most of its
money peddling porn. Just as Jacovich figures out that Ellen was murdered,
links to a snuff film start popping up and two tough guys try to bully him
into dropping the case.
This is the 12th in a solid series. Jacovich, a computer neophyte,
hires his teenage son's girlfriend to explain the intricacies of chat
rooms, and readers can learn along with him. Beware that some of it gets
more explicit than the more prudish among us may feel comfortable with.
There is also some password cracking and a mini-seminar on Web link
marketing. A decent private eye tale, well told, although a little preachy
in places.
Reviewed in April,
2003
You can buy
this book from Amazon.com
Monkeewrench, by P.J. Tracy
Hardcover, Putnam's,
2003, $23.95, 384 pages The staff of Monkeewrench software is devastated when three
local murders follow the scenarios of the beta release of their new
computer game, Serial Killer Detective. They are an oddball crew,
college friends who had been traumatized by a friend's murder. In fear for
their own lives, they changed their names, skipped town and developed a
game where the killer is always caught. Initially hesitant to blow their
cover by calling the St. Paul police, they come to the sober realization
that there are 17 more scenarios available for download from their Web
site - and 17 more potential victims. The killer could be one of the beta
testers, their old nemesis come back to haunt them - or one of the
Monkeewrench crew themselves.
P.J. Tracy is the pseudonym of a mother-daughter writing team. This is
their first book and it is a sure-fire winner. The plot was fast-paced,
the ending a shocker, and the Monkeewrench crew crackled with tension and
energy. The technical challenge of figuring out which beta testers have
progressed far enough into the game to have knowledge of the fatal
scenarios is a clever puzzle that database gurus will enjoy. Highly
recommended.
Reviewed in February,
2003
You can buy
this book from Amazon.com
Cyberterror, by RJ Piniero
Hardback, Forge, 2003,
$25.95, 400 pages Alamo PC has been good to R.J. Piniero. We invited him to speak
at our meeting. We listened, enthralled, as he read from his novels. We
bought his books, asked for his autograph, invited him back. So how does
he thank us? In his very next book, in chapter one, HE BLOWS UP SAN
ANTONIO. If we cheer louder next time, Rogelio, will you blow up Austin
instead?
Terrorists hacked into the computer programs that regulate San
Antonio's gas mains, increasing the pressure so that the lines exploded.
San Antonio was reduced to rubble, 70,000 dead. The new federal Counter
Cyberterrorism Task Force is soon on the tail of Cuban mercenary Ares
Kulzak, a slippery terrorist bent on revenge for the murder of his parents
by U.S. troops during the Bay of Pigs invasion and his beautiful Lebanese
sidekick, Kishna. Through Florida, into New Orleans and Austin, ending in
San Francisco, the good guys battle the bad guys pitting both brawn and
brain in a battle for the survival of America.
The virtual reality battles are just as gripping as the physical world
fights and the intelligent agent software programs, freed of their Turning
inhibitors, are brilliant antagonists. I learned more about practical uses
for the Ada programming language and von Neumann's solution to the problem
of infinite regress than I have a right to know. Piniero has a knack for
explaining complex, cutting edge technology in an understandable way, and
there's lots of technology to explain.
Perhaps because it opened in San Antonio, this novel scared the heck
out of me. Here we are worried about terrorists infiltrating our borders
while much of the havoc described in this book could be carried out with
the terrorist a continent away.
Although Piniero doesn't address it, San Antonio has become a hub for
defense against cyberterrorism. Anchored at the University of Texas in San
Antonio, the new Center for Infrastructure Assurance and Security (CIAS)
is training a new generation of cyber-professionals to protect the
information infrastructure that underpins our entire economy. Attracted in
part by the Air Intelligence Agency on Security Hill at Lackland Air Force
Base, more than 40 private companies here are in the infrastructure and
assurance field. The number is expected to double in the next five years,
fuelled by a new Information Technology and Assurance Academy which will
train workers at the high school through graduate school levels.
So next time, R.J., annihilate Amarillo. Level Lubbock. Terrorize
Tyler. But leave San Antonio alone. We're ready for you.
Reviewed in February,
2003
You can buy
this book from Amazon.com
The Eighth Day, by John Case
Hardcover, Ballantine
Books, 2002, $25.95, 379 pages Young Washington D.C. artist Danny Cray admits that
he's more of a Dumbo than a Rambo, so he's surprised when the biggest
client of the detective agency where he moonlights hires him for a
hush-hush side job. The elusive Italian millionaire asks him to track down
people who are slandering him and Danny, needing fast cash for a new
computer, accepts the assignment. From the Vatican archives in Rome, to
Istanbul and the wilds of Kurdistan, Danny becomes a fugitive, as his
client attempts to take over the small, wealthy Yezidi religion to get the
capital to keep his nanotechnology company afloat.
It's an omen that two big nanotechnology thrillers - this one and
Michael Crichton's Prey - both came out at the end of 2002. In a nutshell,
nanotechnology uses assemblers - tiny robots about 1,000 times smaller
than the diameter of a human hair - to construct matter at the molecular
level. This novel has an elegant explanation of the "gray goo" problem:
after two days, if you can't stop the replication of the assemblers,
they'll take over the world. Lots of computers, even more futuristic
technology and a compelling travelogue of exotic countries and cultures.
Recommended.
Reviewed in February,
2003
You can buy
this book from Amazon.com
Prey, by
Michael Crichton
Hardcover, Harper Collins,
2002, $26.95, 367 pages
Jack Forman was fired from his programming job for blowing the whistle, so
he was stunned to be hired back as a consultant to tweak an intelligent
agent program being used by the nanotechnology company where his wife
works. Spirited away to a remote Nevada fabricating plant, he finds that
the company claims to be making microscopic robots capable of curing
breast cancer while secretly developing swarming mini-cameras for military
surveillance. The robots have evolved into relentless flesh-eating
predators and only Jack has the guts and the know-how to stop them before
the world is destroyed.
This is a cautionary tale about scientific ethics and the corrupting
effect of money on science. According to Crichton, we now have the ability
to create new life forms but we don't yet have the skill to control them.
The movie rights have been bought by 20th Century Fox: and the book reads
like a screenplay, with one dimensional characters and a fast-moving plot.
For non-nerds, the frequent pauses for scientific exposition may be a drag
but that's what we crave, right? Not up to Jurassic Park standards, but
you've got to read it.
Reviewed in January,
2003
You can buy
this book from Amazon.com
Crouching Buzzard,
Leaping Loon, by Donna Andrews
Hardback, St. Martin's, January, 2002, $23.95, 297
pages
Sidelined from her blacksmithing job with a broken arm, Meg Langlow is
manning the switchboard at Mutant Wizards, her brother's software company.
Rob coasted through law school creating a role playing game, Lawyers From
Hell, which became a hit on the software shelves. Something's sour in the
company and Rob hopes his big sister with her nose for solving mysteries
will get it back on track. When the office practical joker is killed, Rob
becomes the prime suspect and Meg races to solve the crime to save her kid
brother.
Donna Andrews is a former programmer and a very funny woman. There's a
computer on every page, from the dysfunctional programming staff, to the
renegade game spoof, NUDE Layers from Hell, to a possible pornography ring
running on the company servers, to disgruntled former employees, spies
from rival companies, a hacker-blackmailer, rabid fans hoping for a peek
at the next release….it's geek paradise. Highly recommended!
Reviewed in January,
2003
You can buy
this book from Amazon.com
Stalking Moon, by David Cole
Paperback, Avon, 2002,
$6.50, 295 pages
Laura Winslow, the Hopi cyber sleuth, is hiding out in the Arizona desert,
protected by false identities and layers of technology. Two new cases -
one tracking laundered money and the other cracking a ring that smuggles
Eastern European women through Mexico to be slaves and prostitutes in the
U.S. - converge. Mexican and US law enforcement pierce Laura's aliases and
threaten her with arrest for old crimes unless she cooperates, and she
enters a borderland where human life is held cheaply and no one can be
trusted.
This is a dark, violent and ultimately confusing book. Read Butterfly
Lost and The Killing Maze before tackling Stalking Moon, or you'll never
keep the characters and their motivations straight. Although there are
computers throughout the book - including a clever ruse involving switched
Palms Vs to get access to a chat room - there is less technology in this
than in Cole's two previous Winslow books. The plot line about the illegal
trafficking in women is sadly true.
|
