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Zero Day
by Mark Russinovich, Howard Schmidt
by Mark Russinovich, Howard Schmidt
This book is a first novel by a computer expert with a number of non-fiction computer books to his name, and this book has a definite agenda to it (ie People don't pay enough attention to protecting computers from malicious code).
Arab terrorists want to start a new 9-11, except now they are using viruses to attack western computers. A few computers (with their system dates set wrong) start crashing, and in some cases people die as a result. The hero and the heroine are on the track of these viruses, even though people in power seemed to want to ignore it. Will our computer-dependant world be destroyed?
First off, the good. The story is actually pretty interesting, although I found the climax to be improbable, and the epilogue left me wondering just what had been done to warn people. The writing is also very serviceable, although the tech-speak emails and texts were so over the top that it put my teeth on edge (even if it was accurate to the culture, it should have been toned down a bit).
The not so good was the characters. The villains were almost mustache-twirling evil. The weasel couldn't simply be in it for money, we had to find out about how he married for money, only to find out that the girl didn't have money, and since she is (of course) not terribly attractive, he plans to dump her when he gets enough money (and why didn't he already?)
The hacker isn't just a russian, he is a russian put in a wheelchair by a Chechnyan bomb (which turns out to be blunt foreshadowing), with a gorgeous girl who stayed with him.
And the hero. He's a geek, but he's handsome and a rugby player. He also has the tragic past of having uncovered the original 9-11 plot, only to have his boss (the weasel) bury it, leading to the death of his beloved in the attack and his deciding to become a consultant. The heroine is a computer geek who looks like a blonde supermodel, and is tragically sought after by men *just* for her looks. Oh woe. Marty Stu meet Mary Sue.
Still, it was an enjoyable quick read. Worth reading, ate least from the library.
Arab terrorists want to start a new 9-11, except now they are using viruses to attack western computers. A few computers (with their system dates set wrong) start crashing, and in some cases people die as a result. The hero and the heroine are on the track of these viruses, even though people in power seemed to want to ignore it. Will our computer-dependant world be destroyed?
First off, the good. The story is actually pretty interesting, although I found the climax to be improbable, and the epilogue left me wondering just what had been done to warn people. The writing is also very serviceable, although the tech-speak emails and texts were so over the top that it put my teeth on edge (even if it was accurate to the culture, it should have been toned down a bit).
The not so good was the characters. The villains were almost mustache-twirling evil. The weasel couldn't simply be in it for money, we had to find out about how he married for money, only to find out that the girl didn't have money, and since she is (of course) not terribly attractive, he plans to dump her when he gets enough money (and why didn't he already?)
The hacker isn't just a russian, he is a russian put in a wheelchair by a Chechnyan bomb (which turns out to be blunt foreshadowing), with a gorgeous girl who stayed with him.
And the hero. He's a geek, but he's handsome and a rugby player. He also has the tragic past of having uncovered the original 9-11 plot, only to have his boss (the weasel) bury it, leading to the death of his beloved in the attack and his deciding to become a consultant. The heroine is a computer geek who looks like a blonde supermodel, and is tragically sought after by men *just* for her looks. Oh woe. Marty Stu meet Mary Sue.
Still, it was an enjoyable quick read. Worth reading, ate least from the library.
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