Breakpoint [Audio CD]

Richard A. Clark (Author), Robertson Dean (Narrator)

Book Description

Unabridged Compact Discs

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Books on Tape
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1415934614
• ISBN-13: 978-1415934616
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (61 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,080,699 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I started writing books after a thirty year career in government writing bureaucratic papers. It was quite a shift. Cyber War is my fifth book and my third non-fiction. People often ask which genre do you prefer to write, fiction or non-fiction? They are both a challenge and both are exciting to attempt. Fiction may be the greater challenge, because of the need for imagination, characterization, dialogue, and plot twists. Non-fiction may actually have some real world effects. I've posted excerpts and other information on my web page; www.richardaclarke.net.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating World View of Technology, January 17, 2007

By 

Mel Odom (Moore, OK USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Breakpoint (Hardcover)

Richard Clarke has just shot to the top of my list of people I'd love to interview. In only three books, one nonfiction and two fiction, he's grabbed my attention and paranoia about all the scientific and technological changes that are going on -- and that will be going on -- in the world.

BREAKPOINT isn't the best writing to hit fiction because there are writers who paint pictures and characters with words better, but there's no one I can think of who writes with the easy authority Clarke brings to his novel. The author has been involved in Washington politics since 1973, and been involved in the clandestine evolvement of scientific advances with DARPA and other think-tank institutes that work on defense technologies.

The novel centers on a terrorist threat against the United States that starts with the destruction of communications nodes that allow the internet to work. With those avenues shut down, banking, investing, business dealings, and even political diplomacy get crippled in a matter of hours. Clarke points out how pervasive the emerging technology is, and how everyone seems to have integrated it into their lives. Presented even in fiction, this is truly scary stuff and I found myself thinking about the possibilities as much as the plot and characters.

Two crack agents of the Intelligence Analysis Center are assigned to ferret out the truth. Although almost paper-thin characters, Jimmy Foley and Susan Connor pull the reader through the frantic chase for the truth behind the attacks. There's just enough insight behind the characters to flesh them out, but not get in the way of the plot. BREAKPOINT is about technology, not people, and Clarke keeps his focus sharply on delivering a summation of what's out there in the world that's just out of sight, and to what ends those things might go.

The plot is straightforward, though there are enough surprises to keep the interest there, but Clarke's views on what's going to happen through the Transhumanist Movement and the overload of technology on old communications systems are the best.

I found myself reading sections of the book over and over again, not concerning characters, action, or plot, but about the information Clarke deals out with the no-nonsense rapidity of a blackjack dealer. He shows you the cards, but you have to form your own opinion about what you think, though Clarke isn't shy about suggesting what you should pay attention to and probably think.

Clarke is a writer a cut above most technology thriller writers. He's a man who has been behind the scenes and witnessed all of these things he writes about. There's a credibility there that I haven't found in anyone else's writing. And Clarke writes well enough that readers will understand easily what he's getting at.

I'm looking forward to more. This isn't just entertainment. Clarke is providing and education as well. Read the book and prepare to learn a lot of scary information that's all true.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Story, January 25, 2007

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Book Reviews Weekly - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Breakpoint (Hardcover)

I didn't read Clarke's earlier novel, but I found Breakpoint to be entertaining. I noticed some people complained about his writing style, and I admit it's not perfect, but I read a book for the story and the entertainment value. Breakpoint is indeed a very fast read, and I thought he did a great job tying in new and emerging technologies to create a story that is set in the future, but is imaginable. Will the book win a literary award? Not even close. Is the book entertaining? Absolutely. The characters are not deep, and you will not feel an emotional tie to them, but the pace is fast and the story is interesting.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Keep An Open Mind, January 22, 2007

By 

Harrison S. Miller (Arizona) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Breakpoint (Hardcover)

Whether it's judging future applications of scientific advancements or determining whom our enemies are,

"Breakpoint" illustrates the need to not leap to erroneous conclusions. Rather, the meat of this novel is very

good at stressing the axiom, "think before you act".

The only faults I find have to do with cardboard characters and dialogue that sometimes reads like something

from a "B" movie. However, it is the discussion and use of technology which saves the day.