Meet Speculative Fiction Writer Dan Ronco,
Author of PeaceMaker and soon-to-be-released Unholy Domain
Unholy Domain
Dan Ronco
A deliberately staged IT catastrophe leaves the world sunk into depression and the US government ineffectual. The secretive and powerful Domain, using organized crime to spread its technology, seeks to take humankind to the next level of evolution through artificial intelligence. The fanatical Army of God battles to stop them. Dan Ronco’s fast-paced techno-thriller depicts a world of violent extremes, where religious terrorists and visionaries of technology fight for supreme power.
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Hello, and welcome to my passion --- near-future thrillers. PeaceMaker, my first novel, was released by Winterwolf Publishing in August, 2004 and Unholy Domain will be released by Kunati Publishing in spring 2008. Although still available at Amazon and many bookstores, PeaceMaker will appear on this website as a serial novel. You can now read the complete story free of charge. If you’d like to begin reading, just pull up PeaceMaker/Prologue and jump in. Every week an additional chapter will be added.
*** Chapter Nine Now Posted ***
Ray Brown's Warning To You!
The following message from Ray Brown is pure fiction and, hopefully, you'll find it entertaining. Ray and Dianne Morgan are the lead characters from PeaceMaker, my thriller exploring the intersection of software viruses and artificial intelligence.
January 15, 2012
While working on the next release of the Atlas operating system, I discovered PeaceMaker, a lethal computer virus, and I have decided to do everything in my power to defeat it and expose the people who developed it. I’m scared, and I thought about walking away from it. I can’t do that. Since you received this message, I must have failed.
I’m getting ahead of myself. Here’s the story. Humiliated by the federal government in an anti-trust trial that tore apart her software company, CEO Dianne Morgan has become obsessed with a plan to unleash PeaceMaker and shut down computer systems across the world. She is determined to crush the global economy unless the nations of the world agree to share power with the Domain, the clandestine organization she leads. She recruited some of the best computer scientists in the world into the Domain and these people developed PeaceMaker.
Before we go any further, I have to admit Dianne and I were lovers several years ago, and she left me because I couldn’t control my drinking problem. I have been clean for six years and I attend AA meetings most weeks, so I have it pretty much under control.
I’m working on a method of destroying the virus, but it’s going to take some time. Dianne has already murdered one of my friends because he discovered PeaceMaker, and now she has agents watching everything I do. In case she gets to me before I can attack PeaceMaker, I created this time-delayed message to alert you to the danger. Unless I reschedule this message every other day, it will be sent as a warning to you. Since you are reading this, I must have been captured or killed. In addition to my associate Dan Ronco and me, Dianne knows that you are also aware of PeaceMaker. So it's up to you and Dan.
One last thing – there is a mysterious third force that has discovered PeaceMaker and plans to attack the Domain. I don’t know who they are, but Dianne has made many enemies over the years.
The one person you can trust is Dan Ronco. He knows the entire story and can provide as much information as you need. You can contact him at
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to coordinate your plans, but make sure your communications line isn't bugged.
And watch out for Dianne.
Ray Brown
Chief Software Architect, Atlas Operating System
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