Heavy handed techno thriller
594603
One of the reviews quoted here compares the author to Larry Niven.  I consider that an insult to Larry who I had the pleasure of knowing before he was published.  Both of us were members of LASFS, the Los Angeles Science Fiction Society.

This is difficult reading and at times seems to be more of a textbook than a novel.  It's much more techno than a thriller.  I don't recommend this.  Read or reread some of Larry's work instead for truly good techno-thriller reading.
4604773
Novelist, Nic Stiles, is experiencing his career wane in comparison to that of his bestselling rival Grayson Fallon. While trying to regain his groove he receives a mysterious package. He soon discovers the object contained therein has strange powers which have previously been used for nefarious purposes by serial killer Robert Polanski.

Outsourced reminded me of old seventies thrillers by the likes of James Herbert and Stephen King with the paranormal element, but the author brought that flavour bang up-to-date and in to the twenty-first century.

While the plot was highly competent, the story advances via the perspectives of Stiles, Fallon, Polanski and a government agent named Mason interchangeably and here I feel a trick was missed. The lack of focalisation didn't allow me to identify with and therefore become more involved with a lead character. As a result I struggled not with the likeability factor but due to a lack of intimacy which left me questioning why I should care. Had the story kicked off with one main viewpoint and contained a little more character development, it would have been easy to resolve while still telling the story from multiple viewpoints.

There were occasions when I would have appreciated seeing the off-stage action fleshed out and shown in a scene of action rather than being told about it, in particular one where Polanski leaves a boat and we discover that the six people who boarded were not the same six whom alighted. That piqued my interest and would have made for an entertaining scene.

These niggles aside, Outsourced is gripping once it gets going. The scenes where Polanski is unaware hes being watched while burglarizing an apartment, while a government agent along with other interested parties are on their way, are deftly handled as the author skips from the A story to the B story and back again.

I enjoyed the added mystical elements and the tech stuff and the authors simplification of various theories of quantum mechanics was no mean feat. The plotline was rendered feasible despite its supernatural nature and I enjoyed going along for the ride so will definitely look out for more from this author in future. All the signs are there for more exciting reads to come.
1916226
A near-future techno-thriller that mixes elements of Clive Cussler's Oregon series with the covert operations of a Tom Clancy thriller.  The first of what appears to be a series, the novel spends quite a bit of time demonstrating the skill sets of Marshall Hail's crew, ships, and drones as well as the beautiful CIA agent assigned to be his liaison for a covert operation.  The rest details an operation pulled off by the heroes.

There are plenty of sequel hooks, and future novels won't have the issue of introducing the origins and abilities of the main cast (it's why many superhero film sequels are better than the originals; they can devote more time to the plot instead of explaining why you'll believe a man can fly).

I'll try to work the next books into my busy reading schedule.
1168483
A science fiction thriller, or a technothriller, take your pick. There are two strands to the story. In one, Jake finds himself in a hedge fund responsible for his boss's questionable financial dealings, and for a mafia boss's money Jake's boss has lost. The police are after Jake, the mafia is after Jake, and Jake has no idea why. Then Jake gets a letter from his friend Sean, which contains cryptic clues. Something really bad is going on. Meanwhile, in China, something similar is happening to Jin. Gradually, we learn how to make sense of Jake's cryptic clues, and Jin finally makes it to America, to get closer to Jake's problem, which eventually they learn is mediated through the darknet, another part of the internet where almost anything goes. Amongst further problems for Jake is an upgraded Murder Inc, where rewards are posted for assassinations. Jake and Jin are designated targets.

The book is well-written, structurally sound, and moves with really quick action. The problem is novel, and more to the point, the attempted solution is rational, as is the response by the bad side. For me, there were only a few blemishes. The first is general; the evil side is so powerful and Jake and Jin have so few resources they both should die fairly early into the story. If Sean is going to send a letter, he should include a statement as to what the enemy really is. If a policeman stands five paces behind a bad guy with a pistol drawn and aimed, the bad guy either surrenders or is shot. It takes surprisingly little time to pull a trigger! Finally, the bad guys are so powerful that the ending needs something approaching deus ex machina to reach a conclusion. Nevertheless, this is a great story, well worth the five stars, and one of the clearly better thrillers I have read for some time.
4271230
While this may not be science fiction, it certainly is a thriller with a fair bit of technology. It's a fun story with twists and turns, and likable central characters. It has some interesting commentary on multiplayer online gaming, and feels well researched. I'm not sure how well the book will age, it's quite contemporary, but it's a fun read. Just keep in mind that this book shares more with Tom Clancy than with some of Stephenson's other works.
2309722
Secret Service Agent Kevin Quinn tries unsuccessfully to poison the President at a dinner party.  Quinn wants revenge after witnessing the President killing his wife and unborn child, as well as confessing to other evil murders.  But while on the lam, Quinn contacts his boss receives a shocking revelation that things aren't what they appear to be.  A couple of mercenary killers find his hideout, and he learns that his memory has been tampered with by an evil man, and that Rachel Howard, the world's preeminent neuroscientist, is next on the hit list.  Kevin teams up with Rachel to find who is behind the evil plot, what happened to himself, and why the evil mastermind wants her dead.  [There's a lot more to the plot, but that's the gist of it.]

This book is a "techno-thriller," Richard's expertise.  The story is set in 2022, so it is slightly futuristic.  The technology is very well researched, and while it seemed like I was reading science fiction, the author explains in the Afterword that most of the technology described in the book either exists or will soon.  Scary!

Typical of thrillers, you find out who the bad guy is in the first half of the book, the hero repeatedly gets put into impossible situations and finds a way to escape, and the ending gets a little wild.  Although the book was very well written, one has to be in the right mood to read techno thrillers, and I wasn't.  So now comes the tough part: my rating.  I would give the writing and story 5 stars, but that's not what the Amazon rating system says.  It's based on whether I liked the book, which I didn't so much.  Being an engineer, I found the science fascinating, especially when I learned that most of it is real.  So my feeling about the book is best described as "it's okay," mostly since I'm not a big fan of techno-thrillers.  But that's on me.  If you're a fan, I'd highly recommend this one.  I'm going to compromise and say 4 stars.
1416156
"Allah's Revenge," is a self-published debut novel by Pete Barber, and a bloody good technothriller it is, too. Central to the plot is David Baker, as he is known to the Americans he has lived among, studied among, and worked among.  Dawud Ferran, as he is known within the Arab community.  He is a young, fervent Moslem, and a genius who has created a nanotechnology breakthrough that may be used to create ethanol gas from garbage.  Or as a weapon capable of destroying the human race, as they say.  Yet small enough to hide an amount sufficient for a mass kill in a bottle of perfume.

Dawud is recruited by Allah's Revenge, a Palestinian terrorist organization.  Soon his weapon suffocates the passengers on a crowded London train in 90 seconds, filling their lungs with hard black charcoal. First on the crime scene is Quinn, an English detective, who has a link to Abdul Ahmed, English journalist of Arab descent, who has a link to the terrorists.  Quinn begins to work with Ahmed, but before he can make much progress, the terrorists strike again, as their demands for the release of prisoners have not been met.  So Allah's Revenge wipes out world leaders attending the G20 summit in South Korea, including the U.S. Vice President.  Despite the fact that South Korea has spent one billion dollars trying to secure the premises.  Quinn tracks the terrorists to their Jerusalem lab, and then the fun really begins, as the killer nanobots are taken to U.S. soil, in Phoenix, Arizona.

The book certainly is a substantial thriller.  It's well-written, good narrative, dialog, descriptive writing.  The plot was interesting enough to keep me turning pages, and the macguffin, as famed Anglo-American film director Alfred Hitchcock called it, that which all the fuss is about - the nanobots, here, carried its weight.  Mind you, Quinn rather too much for my taste resembles Jack Reacher, the hero created by Lee Child, another Englishman now resident in America, though one I think who probably had a more privileged background than did Barber.  I don't really fancy heroes who can save the world single-handed.  And people who want even-handedness in their thrillers may be disturbed by the fact that bad Arabs seem to outweigh the good in this book.  Furthermore, I wish Barber had given his female characters more to do.  And although I know that the original Dragon Lady was Asian, I wish all Dragon Ladies weren't until this day portrayed as Asian.  But, still this novel is quite a debut.

Barber was born into a blue-collar family in Liverpool, England, and as did his peers, grew up working with his hands, until an aptitude for building computer software was discovered.  That aptitude allowed him to trade overalls and hard-hat for suit and tie, and to immigrate to the US in the early 90s, become an American citizen, and live the American dream.  After twenty successful years in the corporate world, he bought a run-down, dog-friendly motel in Carolina Beach, North Carolina.  He sold the motel, apparently at the top of the real estate bubble, and moved to Lake Lure, North Carolina, where he and his wife raise llamas.  Well, I've had a soft spot for working class Liverpudlians since the Beatles, and many years ago now, went to that city to follow the Beatles' tracks in an article published in New York's "Village Voice" that was much talked about at the time.  And I now live in Carolina Beach, N.C., and know exactly where Barber's motel was, so how could I resist reviewing the book?  Glad I did.
3090164
I enjoy techno-thrillers so this book was right up my alley. I received an invitation from the author to read the book and will definitely read the next in his series. There was just enough plausible technology to carry the story - drones, traveling wave reactors, etc. He also strung enough internal economics on how his "empire" was built to be believable. The characters are a stereotypical - the main hero is haunted by his past tragedies, the main females are either plain or absolutely beautiful. However, the story moves along quite well. I'd give it a try, you won't be disappointed.
2791757
"Y2K", while some may think it's outdated due to its title, is still an entertaining read.  Pineiro, the author of numerous techno-thrillers, combines the action of a good Ludlum novel with a high tech background story.  While better than many techno-thrillers, this one is not the best of Pineiro's works.
The story opens on a high note with the massacre of a CIA team due to a slip in security procedures.  The lone survivor, a 19 year veteran of the CIA, decides to leave the force and start her life anew.  Little does she know that she can't leave her past totally behind her.  She falls for the CEO of a company that has developed a software application designed to fix parts of the dreaded Y2K problem.  However, there are others who want the code -- some want it for the good of the world and others want it in order to hold the world hostage.
While the book does start well and develops well, the chase to retrieve the Y2K code becomes a bit tedious and, at some points, a bit hokey.  With all techno-thrillers, the reader needs to suspend rational thought a bit, but this one seemed too farfetched in places.  The tie-ins with the enemy and the other party involved in obtaining the code is too unbelievable.  Although the days of Y2K are now behind us, this is still a good read for fans of techno-thrillers.  Just be prepared to stretch your imagination a bit more than with other similar novels.
3868513
Wings to Redemption is an unusual hi- and bio-tech thriller with a strong central plot based on science fiction which could rapidly become science fact with all its chilling implications for the survival of the species.

The main character appears initially amoral but is certainly much more than a mere tart with a heart as she reveals immense powers of resolve to undo the damage she has wittingly, even callously, caused.

The author also reveals an eye for the Brett Ellis Easton style accoutrements which give the modern thriller verisimilitude in a world which few can experience and most only dream of. His characters operate in this shadowy world of terrible betrayal and calculated self-interest of the jaw-dropping rewards of industrial and commercial espionage and they become some of the ingredients upon which the more mundane world turns.

Although I am not generally in favour of cliff-hanging endings it is more than permissible to top and tail the main plot whilst leaving open for a sequel the romantic theme and some other themes which underpin it.

All in all an intriguing read which, after the absorbing, corkscrew climb through the twists and turns of the development, hurtles you downhill in a helter-skelter toboggan ride to the denouement.
2126737
This is the third book by Romina Wilcox that Ive read, and I have to admit, the scope of the authors talent is jaws-dropping. From Pinkslipped to The P.I.G. Mantras and now this techno-thriller called, Cold Eyes, and in each book, your interest in consuming the rest of Wilcoxs works only grows.

Cold Eyes, like other well-crafted suspense thrillers, starts with a deaththat of a prominent researcher whose work is coveted by many, opposing interest groups. Yet, author Wilcox cleverly chooses the slow-burn build-upshe sinews this trigger event with believable eventualities so that by the time you're reaching that part of the story where the motive behind the murder is unravelled, you're just helplessly hooked. The massive amounts of data the dead researcher has accumulated have been corrupted, giving the authorities reason to believe it was a murder committed either for the datas sake or to cover up the killers identity. In an attempt to solve the  murder, the Feds get the help of software developer Joanne Gravitz, whose program, Cold Eyes, is considered key in finding who hacked the researchers system, and most importantly, to trace the physical location of the computer used to do the hacking. But Gravitzperhaps so appropriately named, considering that the threads of this murder mystery eventually gravitates around herdiscovers that

As mentioned, Cold Eyes is deeply addictive and meticulously craftedthe last few chapters are so enjoyable only because the preceding ones succeed in pushing you into that tight little place of tension. A cyberpunk thriller in the tradition of, say, Michael Crichtons Next or Gibsons Neuromancer or even Dan Browns Digital Fortress, Cold Eyes delivers the goods with such power you're simply gobsmacked in the end. Incredibly enjoyable. Get a copy.
3412203
This is John Sundman's first book and what a great book it is too. Sundman has written a techno conspiracy thriller that mixes nanotechnology, biotech engineering, Gulf War syndrome, Frank Zappa and the insidious rise of an all powerful software corporation and it works. This is very much in the vein of Neal Stephenson, before he got long and irrelevant (although Sundman denies having read him when he wrote this book) but with rather more narrative drive. At the start I had some concerns that my ignorance of hardcore computer engineering was going to alienate me from this tale (Sundman occasionally displays his tech credentials rather too obviously) but once power crazed billionaire ubergeek Monty Meekman appears on the scene to tempt our jaded protagonist with promises of world domination, we know we are in for a hell of a ride. Sundman has a strong grip on narrative and he knows how to keep those pages turning, but beneath it there is a dystopian vision that resonates long after the final page. Highly recommended.
363633
Dan Ronco, with PEACEMAKER, promises us another writer cast in the Chalker mold.  Here he shows how flimsy the wall is that now separates man from machine, animate from inanimate.  With the advent of talking, feeling software entities, even an adolescent geek like his character, David Brown, could find companionship.

Although this story is set in the future, today's news is full of stories of spyware snuck into your personal computer to record every keystroke.  This story couldn't be more current.  Big Brother has arrived with computer controlled camera-mikes that can track one's every move.  It is disturbing how this tale mirrors our everyday life.  It suggests that even today, business may be controlled by a technologically elite group that has escaped detection.  Goodbye privacy!  My reaction to this story was to delete all the cookies on my browsers.

As in Phil K. Dick's BLADERUNNER, where Nexus Six Androids returned to meet their maker, the PeaceMaker virus began to evolve into an entity smarter than its maker, into an entity that could kill its maker.  The character, Ray Brown, who created a voice activated operating system, The Atlas, for the good of mankind, is pitted against power hungry CEO Dianne Morgan.  Ms. Morgan wanted to pervert the Atlas' peaceful use by hiding the PeaceMaker virus within it.  Using the PeaceMaker virus to shut down all the world's computers, she could then grab power.  Ray must fight not only Dianne, but himself.  Ray's tragic flaws, as in Greek Drama, are his alcoholic addiction and his enslavement to Dianne's body. These cost him both his happy marriage and contented fatherhood  The internal conflicts generated within Ray are enormous.  His nightmares keep driving him back to his bottle.

When you read PEACEMAKER, be prepared to surrender your naivete about the future's computer driven world.
1889069
This was an OK thriller that has to do with the bad guys using computer technology to secretly mess with peoples' brains and their memories. But why? The main character, a medical blog writer and former doctor named Nat Idle, and his grandmother Lane are running around San Francisco trying to figure out why her dementia is progressing so rapidly and what memories of hers have been tampered with or altered. Nat is detracted from solving the mystery by suspicious characters at every turn. He can't seem to get answers from the caregivers at the nursing home where Lane lives or from her neurologist, nor from a quasi military type venture capitalist named Chuck who appears out of nowhere to save Nat and his grandmother from an attack by a gun toting man in a Prius.

The action scenes are there and the ingredients for a fast paced thriller are in place, but the story and the main plot really don't go anywhere. The narrative seems to be more a social commentary about the danger to human minds because of multitasking and the internet than a real suspense thriller. The revelations about the "big secret" that Grandma Lane has and the resultant case breaking clues that are finally exposed aren't really very exciting and the story sort of limps to a less than compelling or satisfying conclusion. The moral of the story seems to be that humans should stop using computers and have more face-to-face interactions with their loved ones lest we all forget simple things, ruin our long term memories and our brains.

Fine, escapist beach read -- don't expect a high octane thrill ride because it's not found in these pages.
2133088
Russian techno-thugs, an evil billionaire businessman, a technology expert who is trying to restore his reputation and a fast-paced techno-thriller about an attempt to use technology to destroy a major financial system!  If you aren't frightened about the technology threats we are facing today and will in the future by reading the daily headlines, this books should make you shake in your shoes.

While the story revolves around technology, the story is understandable to the non-techy types like me. The characters are interesting.  The characters are well-drawn.  You'll find yourself pulling for certain characters and hating others and for each caring about the outcome.  The story charges forward at an unrelenting pace.  I couldn't wait to get to the end to see how everything would turn out.
3932428
I enjoyed this book: it combined an unusual (for science fiction) political perspective with an action plot.  That said, it comes on too heavy.  The author creates a future for earth that looks like a Tea Party conservative's nightmare for no good reason.  The characters perspectives win out easily, and the plot wraps up too neatly.  Nice story, but not great.
3547539
Being in the IT field, I was excited to read this book, both for the subject matter and considering the Russinovich's accomplished experience in the field. Plus, I'm a sucker for a good thriller. Unfortunately, maybe my IT background was also what made it somewhat disappointing to me, with certain plot details and even writing styles being a bit annoying to me.

One incredibly irritating example so divorced from reality that cropped up again and again was how everyone--EVERYONE--seems to be so sorely inconvenienced by their keyboards that they can't type a single word to completion when in IRC, forums or IMs. Granted, many abbreviations are used (and abused) today in text messages and IMs, but I have never seen it as ridiculous and ludicrous as Russinovich makes it, especially among professionals (who make up the main characters). One would think that Russinovich's knowledge of the field was limited to Hollywood's version of it and not reality!

Another example is the various effects of the viruses, some of which are just inconceivable. On the one hand, most of the targeted computers just shut down and "die". But, then you have the bizarre ones (for plot effect, I suppose), such as the assembly line machines attacking a person. Twice.  And why most computers would "die" while an airplane's computer can somehow be rebooted successfully is another inconsistency.

And that's to say nothing of the "blue screens" followed by the "black screens" with the Hollywood-style simplistic messages. (Why the simplicity with those messages, but the ridiculously technical text dumps of the assembly code in other parts of the book?)

While I'm highlighting the negative aspects of this book, let me add one more: THE ENDING. Absolutely terrible. It was almost as though Russinovich just ran out of time or steam and just "hmmm, I'll just write a whole load of neat plot wrap-ups into a detailed memo from one character to another (deus ex machina style)". And that's to say nothing of the unsatisfying ending just prior to those wrap-ups. I was sorely disappointed and would have given the book 4 stars if it weren't for this severe disappointing ending plus lazy, copout wrap-up.

Now the positives: it was fast-paced and exciting, and the characters--while not exactly exciting or really fleshed out--were adequate enough to support the exciting plot. The book won't win any literary awards, but that's the point: no flowery prose, no rambling tangents; just a page-turning, rapidly-moving plot that makes you want to read the whole thing in one sitting. And that was good enough to keep me entertained for almost all of it, and to get a solid 3 stars.