Customer Reviews

Acts of the Apostles (Mind Over Matter Series)

5 star:		(58)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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

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.

This book is four kinds of good. First, it is a good fictional illustration (and anticipation) of the nanotechnology fears that Bill Joy was writing about in his famous Wired article, "Why the future doesn't need us." The plot? Gulf War Syndrome is the result of some nanotechnology experimentation on soldiers during that conflict... [Author Sundman and Joy also share a history of employment by Sun.] Second, and more importantly, it is a pretty good first novel in the international conspiracy suspense action thriller genre (not easy to do), although we might further class it a geek action suspense thriller, since its protagonist is a programmer. Third, it is somewhat of a roman a clef, which provides extra entertainment as you compare its fictional world with the real world. And fourth, it is a very intelligent satire as well, reminiscent of the Terry Southern of Dr. Strangelove. Sundman understands that technology and science are not the bad guys, it is the drive of international and worldwide control of markets (read people) that is just too tempting for the occasional powerful plutocratic megalomaniac. The hero, Nick Aubry, is a man of our time: "Once upon a time Nick thought he knew what mattered to him. He would have said the meaning of his live came from taking part in the redefinition of human nature..." Elsewhere a sympathetic scientific character, Dieter, muses: "With this technology all things would become mutable: oil spill would become fish food, smog would become clean air, the cystic fibrosis gene would become sound. Imagine: the dying child lies on the hospital bed, a simple injection into his blood, and lo, behold the child arise and walk..." Everyone is optimistic and positive. However, one character, Monty Meekman, is the evil plutocrat who wants to rule the world by using a bacteriophage to gain control the minds of everyone in the world, to literally create an overmind that is his to control. Talk about dominant operating systems! Nick and some honorable characters fight back, but the news is not good. Anyway, the future is (quite literally) black. This book is an "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" for the new millienium.

Acts of the Apostles is the fin de siecle techno-thriller novel. It is an incredible read. In it a nightmare of nanotechnology and genetic manipulation of uncomfortable believability unfolds before us, the equal if not better of any work by any seasoned big name writer in this genre. As a first novel, its craftsmanship is quite beyond accounting. Author John F. X. Sundman has written a magnificent work of literature, and has simultaneously made a bold ethical statement about the inexorable but blind quest of science, the technological hubris that feeds off of it, and freedom of the individual mind that is threatened by it.

On the technical side, it is every bit as software and hardware aware as Soul of a New Machine, as fascinating as any computer techno-thriller written by anyone to date, but with a literary punch and authority that out shines most mystery or legal genres and much that passes for literary mainstream. Sundman cannot be dismissed as either a shallow techno-geek or an ivory tower aesthete, because as this novel demonstrates, the range of his intellect and sensibilities has it all covered.

Dramatic and finely tuned, this witty and insider-savvy roman a'clef narrative cuts a devastating swath through high tech industry, from silicon valley to the East Coast, sparing no one from Bill Gates on down. Acts is nothing less than a work of genius. The range of insights and arcane technical knowledge that pervade and inform the high-stakes international plot are balanced by a command of culture from Sunnyvale to Basel. Sundman's facile command of human relationships blows away once and for all the image of the technophile as a two-dimensional drone bounded by a finite memory-map of gadgetry. But if the complex heroes and villains in Acts possess a high intelligence, culture quotient and savoir-faire, so to do they exhibit respectively a nobility of spirit, and terrifying evil.

Unlike other techno-thrillers Acts of the Apostles does not merely sketch the high points of complex technical issues, it digs deep and explicates the arcane and turns it out for our wonderment and judgement. One does not have the feeling as in many techno-thrillers that the author is working at the limits of his own understanding with a handful of popularized science metaphors. Sundman peels through the layers of technology, genetic, nano, computer and electronic, as if he were thumbing through the most erudite technical journals, then serves it up with amazing clarity and vividness. The horror of Acts of the Apostles is the ring of truth that pervades it, tolling the demise of the free world, as nanotechnology would genetically transform us into placid zombies. This is not just an action adventure with high tech bells and whistles spliced on for the ride. Rather, it is a passage of horror into a perilous technological future that is all too plausible and imminent.

Every element of good techno story telling is present: a world-class dilemma with a high concept, mounting suspense, multiple points of view, a compelling plot that propels the reader frantically from chapter to chapter. High stakes hang in the balance: it is an urgent prophecy of technological evils that await us if science follows unfettered its amoral quest for knowledge without concern for human consequences. The larger than life characters include several megalomaniacs, the brightest lights in microelectronics, genetics and nanotechnology, conspiring with evil intent to dominate the world. The low-key burned out software developer Nick Aubrey, career and marriage on the rocks, dares to defy the new order, and he is targeted for extinction or absorption.

The deft fashioning of suspense and dread in this novel suspends the reader, stunned in a cold sweat. "If this novel doesn't fill you with dread, you haven't been paying attention," says one reviewer aptly. Mr. Sundman has forged a remarkable techno-thriller novel that deserves recognition at the top of its genre. It should be required reading for any college class on ethics in a technological age. Acts of the Apostles is a warning, and a call for ethical science.

Self-published and under-promoted, this novel reflects badly on the publishing establishment proper. Why does this work not have a big name house for an imprint? We book buyers would have done well giving up the latest Clancy, Crichton, Cook, King, or Grisham to have Acts of the Apostles on top shelf bestseller space in every chain bookstore. Jeez New York, how could you have all missed this one? What else have you missed? It bodes ill for even the best of new writers. It restates the sad tragedy of genius: excellence is apparently no bar to obscurity. The moral for literate readers is: dig deeper; investigate small publishers and self-published books; you may be missing the best. Acts of the Apostles is a case in point.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book! It was very thrilling and just when you thought you had it figured out, there was a new twist! The most noteworthy characteristic however, was that fact that me being only a sophomore in college was able to flow right through the book even with all the computer jargon it contained. It was certainly a page-turner and I could not seem to put it down. I am very impressed with the author's vivid descriptions making the reader feel as though they are one with the character. The book was very educational and seemed to put my previous knowledge to the test. It was so well written that the reader was able to learn a few new things, as well as sit back and enjoy the thrill of the ride. EXCELLENT! I, as well as many others, will be hoping for another work from this aspiring new author!

The opening chapter captured the thrill of software/hardware debugging. When a murder intruded on that opening I was captured. The author has a feel for the fast pace of the techno world and catches human emotions. The characters are developed, themes of evil and good are explored, flights of science fiction abound. Mostly though I enjoyed the interplay and tension around the brothers, the spouse and the chase. The book is well worth your time and investment.

This book encompassed many of the advances, problems, and conspiracies within our advancing existance. The ever struggle between freedom and technology, portrayed by highly developed characters that come across so real that you can live in their wolrd. Sundman is obviously very wise when it comes to technology, but he puts the story in plain english so that you can follow even if operating a microwave is the extent of your mechanical inclination.

John Sundman has crafted an intricate tapestry of deceit, lust, faith, and science in one gripping novel. The characters are developed logically, and their experiences and memories resonate with those of the reader, drawing them in as a shadow character within the story. The plot unfolds with all the usual twists and turns of an excellent thriller novel, as the Heros and Villains are carefully cultivated but not entirely revealed until the exciting and climactic ending. As a reader with an interest and background in science and technology, I found the book to be a fascinating blend of technological reference and creative thinking, and I highly recommend it as a good Summer read!

Tautly written coherent, exciting, thought-provoking, and technically right on target. Insiders will delight in the number of thinly-disguised familiar faces. Who can forget the gritty feel of the TWA red-eye from SFO to BOS, with the layover in JFK just before dawn.

Thank you, John. Apart from giving us a damn good novel, you captured our crazy world so well....