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Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... Amity Public Library | FIC CLARKE | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Monmouth Public Library | Fic Clarke, R. 2007 | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
Americas preeminent counterterrorism expert and #1 bestselling author presents the global village--an intricately intertwined network of technology that binds together the worlds economies, governments, and communication systems. Now a sophisticated group is seeking to disconnect the globe, in this novel available in a tall Premium Edition.
Author Notes
Richard A. Clarke is an American, born in 1951. He worked in national security for thirty years. He served under presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. He has served as a consultant for ABC News, and taught at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Currently he is the CEO of a cyber-security consulting firm.
He is also an author. His fiction books include The Scorpion's Gate, Breakpoint, Sting of the Drone, and Pinnacle Event. His nonfiction books include Your Government Failed You, Against All Enemies, Cyber War (with Robert K. Knake), and The NSA Report (with Michael J. Morell, Geoffrey R. Stone, Cass R. Sunstein, and Peter Swire), Warnings: Finding Cassandras to Stop Catastrophes (with R. P. Eddy).
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
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. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
Former presidential adviser and terrorist specialist Clarke (The Scorpion's Gate, 2005, etc.) offers a lights-and-sirens futuristic techno-fantasy. Massive simultaneous beachhead and underwater explosions on Sunday, March 8, years in the future, cripple American telecommunications systems (including satellites), effectively reducing the overseas armed forces' ability to carry potential wartime missions. The Pentagon and Homeland Security take up the alarm, dispatching two seemingly mismatched professionals to get to the bottom of this obvious terrorist strike. Jimmy Foley, an NYPD detective newly arrived in Washington, on loan to the Intelligence Analysis Center, and Susan Connor, head of IAC's Special Projects unit, are assigned to investigate what the government believes is China's retaliation for America's support of Taiwan's independence. The duo's mission is to find out who organized the bombings of key technological systems and what they plan to strike next. The novel's intricate narrative introduces a dizzying array of programs designed to trace international telecommunications, culminating in the supposedly flawless über-program Living Software, which would put all hackers out of business. Foley and Connor infiltrate pods of Harvard academics and Silicon Valley computer evangelists, entering a brave new world of genomics and reverse-engineering of the brain that "runs a risk of blurring what it means to be human," Susan observes. All of this points to a creepy movement called Transhumanism, which advocates the improvement of humanity through genetic engineering. (It's a real movement that holds regular meetings, states the Author's Note.) Clarke has certainly done his homework, tossing off asides on the organic evolution of technological trends from robotics and nanotechnology. Some may be confounded by this international cyber-maze, which reads more like a textbook than a novel. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
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 Scorpion'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. --Vanessa Bush Copyright 2006 Booklist
Library Journal Review
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 (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.