Breakpoint

October 9, 2006
Veteran counterterrorism official Clarke, author of Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror
and the novel The Scorpion's Gate
, proves once again that authenticity, insider information and top-secret access artfully applied trumps fancy writing with this cutting-edge, nail-biter techno-thriller set in 2012. Clarke's intriguing plot centers on the development of Living Software, a massive computer program designed to travel throughout the Internet correcting computer errors and creating software without any help or oversight from human beings. Volunteers would be connected to this program in a project aimed at reverse engineering the human brain. Added to this fascinating mix is the Transhumanist movement, whose labs grow designer children with extra chromosomes. Mysterious entities who would deny this progress are blowing up government Internet connections, killing scientists and destroying the labs participating in this research. Savvy readers will ignore the evidence that points to the obvious suspect, but still be surprised at the identity of the perpetrator when all is revealed.

November 1, 2006
Controversial former national security advisor Clarke has written an intriguing but flawed second novel (after "The Scorpion's Gate") with a very timely premise that focuses on the vulnerability of the global computer networks on which we all depend for our information, our security, and, in many cases, our livelihoods. When attacks on our computer systems threaten the security of the United States, massive efforts are launched to find the enemy. Is it a foreign power? Terrorists? Or people opposed to the perceived godlessness of computer technology? Sadly, an exciting plot idea descends into a morass of computer tech-speak and mumbo-jumbo that bogs down the story and results in a confusing and overly complex tale. Moreover, the major characters are poorly developed. The result is a thriller that isn't very thrilling. For larger collections. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 9/1/06.]Robert Conroy, Warren, MI

Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2006
In the year 2012, a clandestine team is sent to investigate the sabotage of U.S. cyberspace connections in remote outposts. The team: Susan Connor, a Harvard graduate and national security agent; Jimmy Foley, an NYPD detective; and Soxster, a wiseass computer hacker. Within days, terrorists destroy technology targets, disconnecting the U.S. from Internet communications; robotic personal assistants jump out of windows after having downloaded their owners' personal information onto the Internet; and military technology turns against its users in a secret desert military installation. The escalating attacks on American technology heighten political tensions and pressure on the president to react--but against whom? As high-powered American and European figures learn that the "Global Village is held together by a very few, fragile strands," suspicion turns to the Chinese. Connor, Foley, and Soxster race to find the villain before the U.S. goes to war against China. Clarke's second novel employs a dizzying array of characters and locales, from Boston to Beijing to the Bahamas. In the author notes, Clarke, a former national security advisor to four presidents, recalls his first novel, " The Scor"pion's Gate (2005), a futuristic look at oil and geopolitics that was not meant to be predictive but turned out to presage recent developments in the Persian Gulf region. By contrast, Clarke declares this novel is "meant to be predictive" about technology and the promise--or threat--to human genetics. That assertion will boost interest in this fast-paced and fascinating novel.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)