Jeanette Cottrell, Reviewer, eBook
Reviews Weekly, Author of Sliding on Rainbows
Raymond
Brown is the genius behind the Atlas Operating System, which transforms
a computer into a sweet-voiced, intelligent friend. Dianne Morgan is the
autocratic, power-hungry CEO of
VantagePoint Software which owns Atlas. While Ray gives his fierce
concentration to perfecting artificial intelligence, Dianne turns hers
to forcing Atlas into the premier operating system of the entire world.
When an
experimental robot goes mad, Ray discovers a peculiar virus deeply
embedded in its software. The PeaceMaker has been proliferating
throughout the Internet for years. With deep unease, Ray explores the
virus, and discovers that it holds the power to shut down vital
computers worldwide. Power grids will fail; traffic controllers will
cease to operate; nuclear reactors will melt down, wreaking havoc with
radioactive waste. Who developed the virus? Terrorists? Vengeful
competitors? Or perhaps Dianne, his sometime lover, now slipping over
the edge into megalomania?
Ray is a
complex, driven man whose passion for work matches a passion for
alcohol. His anguish over his failures with wife and sons is compelling.
Dianne is more enigmatic but fascinating. Mr. Ronco's realistic dialog
gives flavor and edge to his characters. The climax is taut and
powerful.
PeaceMaker is reminiscent of an Alan Dean Foster technological thriller.
I particularly liked the fact that Mr. Ronco's characters break the
usual molds of misunderstood-heroine and hero-who-
saves-the-day. Right to the very end, I never knew who would live or
die, or just how far the catastrophe would extend.
Read PeaceMaker and you'll never see your computer in quite the
same way again. I kept watching my laptop for smoke while I wrote this
review... Mr. Ronco has a flair. I'm sure we'll see his work for years
to come.
*****
RebeccaBrown, Editor, RebeccaReads.com
In a bid for global domination,
a software corporation infects the Internet with an intelligent virus.
Well, the computer doesn't do it on its own, it's got Dianne Morgan, CEO
of the largest computer software company, who is one lethally-minded,
childhood-warped woman with a serious itch to rule the world, by any
means possible, including murder. She is surrounded by minions & moles
who do her bidding (or not), with or without persuasion. & of course,
there are her competitors.
Then there's Ray Brown, erstwhile drunk, colleague, husband & dad who
sees his son being destroyed by his computer. As a computer engineer Ray
knows this shouldn't be happening, especially since he was one of the
original designers of the Atlas operating system. Now he has stumbled
upon a conspiracy, & is fighting for sobriety, family, his friends & his
life.
Then there's Dianne's arch-enemy who is also out to rule “da woild”,
which means he's got to eliminate Dianne & her company.
For a debut thriller, PeaceMakeris quite inventive: lots
of computer-speak, sex, violence & betrayals ... & a need for editing,
especially in the dialogue which often turns into lectures on how
computers work, & what the evil-doers are intending.
All in all, PeaceMaker
is a rip-snortin' adventureset in the future when computers
literally control our everyday life (as if they don't already) & what
people will do (or not) for total power. I especially liked the news
items with which each chapter begins.
Quite well thought out & an earnest effort, more a thriller than science
fiction.
*****
Victoria Strauss, author of
The Burning Land and other novels
PeaceMaker
is a fast-paced and exciting speculative thriller. Dan Ronco uses his
inside knowledge of the software industry to craft a chillingly
plausible cautionary tale about the possible consequences of the world's
growing reliance on computer technology. A truly enjoyable read.
*****
Donald Mitchell,
Amazon Top Ten Reviewer
Rating:
PeaceMaker
transports the action novel into a world of dueling software
billionaires and operating system developers. The story has an
underlying value in helping us consider the small degree by which our
reliance on computers keeps out danger from our lives. Let that reliance
become vulnerable to evil doers, and we are all in the soup.
Ray Brown is the hero of the book, but he's the kind of modern hero that
we have all come to know . . . the man who has feet of clay but
overcomes his weaknesses to do the right thing. Ray has destroyed his
family through his alcoholism, sexual infidelity and obsession with
software development. In his fall, he loses everything that matters to
him except the software development. Then, one day he finds a bug in the
operating system that he runs . . . that unexpectedly shuts his computer
down.
As he begins to track down the bug, he becomes certain there's a
computer virus involved. Hostile influences soon intrude to make it more
difficult. As those influences grow, you will find out about a
conspiracy to use a virus to obtain unlimited power.
The character development of Ray Brown is quite good. The other
characters are not well developed. Many of them are caricatures of "mad
scientists" and Nazi interrogators from bad 1930s movies . . . but
there's a sort of campy fun as you imagine that these characters might
be loosely based on some real people you've heard of. The technical
details of how such a virus might work were realistic and interesting.
The writing sometimes leaves you stranded wondering what's going on . .
. but you can usually pick up the thread in a few paragraphs.
Anyone who works in software will probably think this is five-star fun!
*****
Kevin R. Tipple, Reviewer, Blue
Iris Journal
The problem
with technology is that when everything is turned over to computers, the
computers can and do go haywire. Not just disrupting lives with minor
inconveniences, but the computers can actually kill. That is the
backdrop theme to this soon to be released adventure/disaster style read
from author Daniel J. Ronco.
The computer
system in this case is the Atlas Operating System, which is almost
universally used in the very near future. Created by Ray Brown and his
team from Vantage Point Software, the product has beaten all
competitors. So much so, the company was a target of an anti-trust
trial. A trial they ultimately lost and as a result the company was
broken up into theoretically separate units. But despite the breakup,
the company is still under her control of beautiful CEO Dianne Morgan,
who has plans. Dianne is charming, sexually confident and aggressive,
ruthless and relentless in her obsession to destroy the competition, the
government, and anyone else who stupidly stands in her way.
The lovely
Dianne has two motives. Not only does she want her company to succeed,
but she also wants her shadowy group within and without her company,
known as "The Domain", to succeed in their plans to take over the world.
To do so, they will unleash a virus lurking deep within the operating
system. The virus will cause a systematic shutdown of everything
everywhere until her goals are met.
The virus's
name is "PeaceMaker" in reference to her vision of the future under her
control. But Ray Brown has discovered a form of the virus and has seen
in it violent action. He intends to stop it. Initially not realizing
that his lover CEO Dianne Morgan is behind it all, he sets out to
destroy "PeaceMaker" and can only watch as the evolving and possibly
self aware virus not only defeats his every attempt, but others are
retaliated against for his actions. And while Dianne plots to take over
the world, she has yet to understand that others within her group plot
to oust her and use "Peacemaker" for their own nefarious purposes.
With at least
three major storylines, this book shifts constantly in third person
between them in this adventure/disaster style novel. As such, character
development is rather limited and somewhat stereotypical of the genre.
For example, Ray Brown is portrayed as a brilliant alcoholic constantly
at war with his inner demon need for a stiff drink while the fate of the
world hangs in the balance. Then there is the achingly beautiful Dianne
Morgan who reminds one of a figure from Greek tragedy. Not only will she
sleep with any man necessary to get her way, while at the pinnacle of
success, she throws it all away on a quest for yet more power. And of
course, what would any adventure/disaster read be without the pov of
various minor characters doomed by the actions of the "PeaceMaker"
virus. Some will live, some will die, and some of those deaths will be
horrible as chaos ensues and society collapses.
Having said
all that, for what it is in the genre, this is a pretty good book.
Unlike many such novels, the focus isn't so much on the fate of the
characters, but more a commentary on society, current and future, as a
whole. With allusions to recent computer trials in the news, at least in
the mind of this reviewer, this novel serves more as a dire warning of a
future we may unwittingly be creating each day as we turn more and more
control of our lives over to computer systems. While the read is
enjoyable and fast, the issues this novel raises deserve serious
consideration before the next power blackout or other disaster-man made
or otherwise.
