Acts of the Apostles (Mind Over Matter Series) [Paperback]

John F. X. Sundman (Author)

Book Description

Series: Mind Over Matter Series | Publication Date: November 17, 1999

As American-led forces assemble in Saudi Arabia for the largest military operation since Normandy, computer designer Todd Griffith discovers a secret function burried within the Kali chip. That night he is shot. Five years later, burnt-out Silicon Valley software engineer Nick Aubrey boards a "red-eye" flight to Boston and winds up seated next to a very disturbed man who claims to know the secret of Gulf War Syndrome. Over Utah Nick's chance companion meets a dramatic demise, and the police accuse Nick of murder. Soon the police are the least of Nick's worries. On the run from the CIA and paranoid cybermilitias, tracked down by billionaire venture capitalists and exotic foreign beauties, Nick must solve the Gulf War enigma or spend the rest of his life on the lam. All clues lead to a pharmaceutical laboratory in Basel Switzerland, where scientists are working on submicrosopic machines to rearrange human DNA. But Nick can't find the solution without Todd's help, and Todd's been in a coma for nearly half a dozen years.

Editorial Reviews

Review

An ontological thriller-sensuously technical, technically sensuous, Acts of the Apostles lyrically, hypnotically pretends to be an investigation of Gulf War Syndrome, but its real subject is Kaczynski's Postulate: that technology and freedom cannot be reconciled. God, two-pass compilers, SCUD warheads and the convergence of biological and digital technology are grist for Sundman's mill, and what a mechanical marvel his mill is. -- Betcham Review Services, 10/99

About the Author

John Sundman, recipient of the STC Award of Distinguished Technical Communication and Brazil's Rei do Lixo medal, has been a truck driver, chair of Sun Microsytem's Software Development Architecture Team, and construction laborer on an internet billionaire's high-tech island Xanadu. He states for the record that this book was written by him, not an Artificial Intelligence construct. Nor was it purloined from the back seat of an illegally parked car. There is no truth to the rumor that he is a retired New York City Police detective.

Product Details

• Paperback: 360 pages
• Publisher: Rosalita Associates; 1st edition (November 17, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 192975213X
• ISBN-13: 978-1929752133
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (78 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,607,280 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

John (F.X, Compton, Damien) Sundman grew up on a small farm in New Jersey, attended Xavier (Jesuit, military) High School on 16th Street Manhattan, got a degree in anthropology from Hamilton College, did a two year rural development stint in Peace Corps, then: Purdue grad school agricultural economics, 25 years or so high tech hardware software Boston area & Silicon Valley, drop out Martha's Vineyard, truck driver, warehouseman, construction worker, working class hero, poverty & embarrassment. Wrote technoparanoid novel, metafictiony geekoid novella, dystopian illustrated phantasmagoria; back in and out of high tech; firefighter; husband, father of 3, essayist for Salon.com; food pantry worker.

My website is http://www.wetmachine.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This was a page-turner!, November 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Acts of the Apostles (Mind Over Matter Series) (Paperback)

I enjoyed this book a great deal. To me, the story flowed much better than recent efforts by some of my other favorite technothriller authors. If this is really the author's first effort, the book certainly doesn't read like it.

I enjoyed the character development the most. The protagonist is a wonderfully fallible Everyman. Some of the other characters are recognizably based on real players in the computer industry. Some of those players will probably recognize themselves, and more than a few oversensitive Silicon Valley noses may be left a bit out of joint. The primary bad guy is a brutal pastiche of the least pleasant traits of the CEOs of several major Silicon Valley heavy-hitter firms, with an extra dollop of attitude, and a couple tabs of the brown acid left over from Woodstock folded in just for spice!

Bottom line: I liked it, and I finished it in two sittings. It feels like what might have resulted if Tom Clancy had decided to write "Soul of a New Machine", but base it in a somewhat maleveolent parallel universe. You don't have to have worked in the high-tech industry or be a conspiracy theory addict to get into this one.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Cyber futrue, April 15, 2000

By 

ed watkins (Albany, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Acts of the Apostles (Mind Over Matter Series) (Paperback)

Mr. Sundman has written a provocative yet humorus view of a future where the cybercrats and DNA researchers have gone too far. The book should appeal to any reader who has misgivings about technology as the "New Savior" There is plenty of wit to balance the the tale of a new "Big Brother" headed our way; one who thinks nothing of murdering thousands of people to achieve the "New Age."

While the plot may at first glance seem a little far out, one only needs to see Bill Gate's new commercial, (I am a nice guy, here to help everyone) to realize that the new Computer Age may not be totally benign. As Nick, Bartlett and Paul discover, there are dark forces about.

Mr. Sundman makes good use of current political and medical events, the gulf War, AIDS, DNA research to create a feeling that his novel is closer to fact than fiction. His insights into high-tech companies is obviously basd on first-hand knowledge. That makes the book that much scarier.

I recommned you turn off your computer and read this book. You may not be in a hurry to log back on once you have finished Acts of the Apostles

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A thriller that actually thrills, December 19, 1999

By 

Meg Fullerton (Montclair, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Acts of the Apostles (Mind Over Matter Series) (Paperback)

Smart and exciting, this debut novel is everything a thriller should be - an absolutely gripping page-turner that gives you sympathetic real people to relate to and care about as they wander through a dangerous world. The science is completely convincing (clearly the author must have been some sort of scientist in an earlier incarnation), but is rarely difficult, and is always cutting edge. The themes are not only timely but important as well, issues we all should be thinking about as biotech brings us closer to the answers at the heart of the mystery of life and consciousness. The ending is a total surprise and will literally make you gasp out loud. I hope this book finds an audience, because I'd love to read more from this author.