Back Slash [Hardcover]

William H. Lovejoy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 1996

When a cyber terrorist seizes control of the Worldwide Information Network, computer crimes special agent Luanne Russell hunts down a second computer criminal on the run and challenges him to confront the terrorist.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

During a three-week period, an unknown computer hacker robs, ruins or shuts down various computer systems, starting with one in a small bank in New Mexico. The mysterious whiz even gets into the system of the National Security Agency, and at one point has governments frantically disconnecting their nuclear weapons from their computers. Pitted against him are, primarily, Luanne Russell, Special Agent in the FBI's Computer Crimes Squad, and genius hacker K.C. Conrad, a convicted felon on the lam whom Luanne impresses into service. In his hardcover debut, Lovejoy (Red Rain, etc.) painstakingly details every tap of the keyboard or move of the mouse made by his characters, who use their computers at every opportunity. The narrative employs a variety of typefaces, representing words on computer monitors, as it tells its tale in well-defined spurts, with each splash of words timed to the second ("DATE: SAT OCT 17 07:47:35 USERID: montana"). Perhaps computer mavens won't find this excessive, but likely even they will be disappointed with the coy denouement. Lovejoy knows computers inside-out and so will readers after surfing his pages, which present abundant and often fascinating digital lore. But stripped of its cyber-trappings, this is a routine thriller; and those not already in thrall to the silicon god might end up wishing that the operative word here wasn't back\slash, but backspace.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Paperback vet Lovejoy makes his hardcover debut a memorable occasion with an ultracool, swiftly paced tale of cyberspace chicanery. When a seemingly mad hacker launches an escalating campaign of destruction against the world's computers, industrial nations view the threat as serious enough to warrant establishment of an international task force in London. The American representative is Peter Martin, an upper-echelon CIA operative whose principal Stateside contact is Luanne Russell, head of the FBI's Computer Crimes Squad. While the multinational group gets organized, the vagabond vandal (whose user ID is a frowning face) strikes again and again; with but a few keystrokes, phone networks are disabled, interbank fund transfers come to a halt, databases are lost forever, NATO's satellite links rendered inoperative, and an arms dealer's ill-gotten gains transferred from his Swiss account to the Red Cross. In desperation, Luanne recruits maverick computer whiz Kirk Conrad, a man she'd jailed some years previously. Though suspicious of the government's motives, Conrad eventually accepts the challenge. To track down the saboteur (who's gone on to wreak high-tech havoc in Singapore, South America, and the missile silos of nuclear powers), Conrad (a.k.a. Renegade) hacks into GlobeNet, a supersecure commercial alternative to the Internet that's operated out of Zurich. Meantime, Luanne finds that she is working at cross purposes with shifty Peter, who wants the culprit's virulent software and viruses for his own agency. At the eleventh hour, however, Renegade (with a helping hand from his G-woman accomplice) manages to foil, if not identify, the perverse programmer, as Peter and a motley crew of computer cops stage an inconclusive raid on an Alpine redoubt. There's a fine, fairly played twist at the close, which could induce some readers to examine their predilection for sexist deduction. A grand user-friendly yarn that gives new meaning to the words computer error. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 419 pages
• Publisher: Kensington Books; First Edition edition (July 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1575660814
• ISBN-13: 978-1575660813
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,378,758 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Makes you wish there was an MST2K for books..., May 30, 2001

By 

"jessica6" (East Lansing, MI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Back Slash (Mass Market Paperback)

Somebody said that the people from the Midwest didn't "get" this book...frankly, one would either need to overlook massive technical errors and basic readability issues to enjoy this one. The dialogue is cringe-inducing. This author writes like someone who isn't used to speaking with actual human beings. The plot is promising...but it doesn't begin until more than halfway through the book and never really reaches its peak. Most of the characters are lame stereotypes, although Conrad and Russell had potential. It was disappointing that that potential was never tapped. I'd recommend this book if you're into computer-alarmist pulp cheese, but otherwise skip it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not only technical errors..., May 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Back Slash (Mass Market Paperback)

Not only is this book filled with technical errors (as outlined by many reviewers), it is also full of bad editing. In one scene Jerome wakes up early, is careful not to disturb Georgia, but by the time he drinks half a cup of coffee, the sun is high over the lake and Georgia is fully dressed and working...

These types of errors make the novel read more like some high school creative writing class.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars I never got to the "suspension of disbelief" point., July 21, 1998

By 

Kelley Oberhart "kelleyanne" (Durham, NC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Back Slash (Mass Market Paperback)

Because of the technical inaccuracies in this book, I kept being jolted out of the fictional world the author tried to create. I finally gave up half way through, because I couldn't stand trying to ignore them. I didn't even care enough about "who-dunnit" to finish the book.