4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A good thumping yard of the 1984 variety, March 3, 2001
This review is from: The Code (Paperback)
Let us start by considering a certain on-line company that sells all sorts of music and video recordings as well as tools and other items, a company with whom many of us have done business. Naturally we cannot object that they keep a record of every purchase we have made from them, and some of us are even a little in awe of how they give us personal recommendations whenever we enter their website, basing what they think we would like on what we have already demonstrated liking through our purchases.
Now carry that a step further. Assume they know a lot more about us from computer data banks: our school records, our hospital records, even our jail records (if any), our financial records--you name it. And now go an extra step and assume they can enter any of these records and change them without leaving a trace by creating a "trapdoor" for themselves. Finally assume that you are contacted by some Higher Up in the company who begins by sending you out to recruit new customers and ends by ordering you to murder anyone actively working against them.
And add to this that along the way you have been brainwashed into thinking that you are doing all of this for the greater good of mankind! There, by a close analogy, is the plot and theme of "The Code."
Ken Sheldon's experience in the computer field got him started on this novel, but he had to do some extra research about how San Francisco homicide detectives really work, how the FBI uses data banks to track criminals, and how religious cults attract new members. Also, like any other author, he has been influenced by the writings of Ludlum (with his countless "conspiracy" novels), Crichton (with his science-fiction works such as "The Andromeda Strain"), and doubtless specialists who study how large masses of people tend to act under given circumstances.
"People need community," Ken wrote to me. Often the greatest sin is to turn against a member of your special group. Rather, we tend to advertise our allegiances on T-shirts, on our car bumpers, on our hats, around our necks. As Ken puts it, we join a "tribe" and remain faithful to it just to give some meaning to our lives, a meaning we cannot find in other ways.
Now add to that the increasing number of mergers of lesser giant corporations with larger giants, mix in some politicians who are bought and sold by those corporations, and you can see how websites can become a most dangerous tool to manipulate the "joiners." He likens the Internet to "the wild west during the land rush of the 19th century." The difference here is that it is far easier to hide your associations with other organizations if you operate electronically.
So "The Code" should be enjoyed by those who are against this sort of Big Brother threat, especially by those who have become slightly paranoid over it all, as well as those who can see how computers can be used in a positive way really to help us and not enslave us. Of course, this novel sticks to the Dark Side of the Force, very much in the tradition of "Brave New World" and "1984" with just a touch of Asimov's "Foundation" trilogy mixed in. In other words, it could happen here. And it has already started.
Ken Sheldon admits that he is no Henry James (thank goodness, say I) and that he aimed no higher than a good read. Here he succeeded, I believe, very nicely. I found myself eagerly looking forward to the next chapter. If I must criticize (in a negative sense) anything, it is that his hero, Randall McLagan, has just enough personality to keep the plot moving; but he is not particularly interesting in himself. He is simply an Everyman trying to find out why his friend fell from the Golden Gate Bridge and running at every turn into something called The Code. Sheldon uses the "third-person omniscient" point of view so we always know more than Randall does; and you can guess all you want about the identity of the Arch Villain behind it all without being right--except by pure chance.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Awesome cyber-thriller, August 12, 2000
This review is from: The Code (Paperback)
This is the kind of book that you'd better not have anything else important to do while you're reading it, because you won't be able to put it down. Sheldon uses current issues and topics (big software companies, cyber-crime, viruses) as the background to a fascinating, fast-paced story. No wonder he gets the details right: he's a former West Coast bureau chief for Byte Magazine.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A marvelous page-turner, October 23, 2000
This review is from: The Code (Paperback)
Ken Sheldon has produced what so many readers want and often don't find. An intelligent, well-written book that is also a page-turner. The situation and characters grip from the beginning, thrusting the reader into a transfixed feeling of 'This could be me.' And when entering the astonishing concluding scene, will find themselves asking, 'What will I do now?' THE CODE is more than another thriller, however. Sheldon is a fresh, talented emerging writer who can create complex characters and multifaceted circumstances. His ability to lull with the ordinary, then suck his characters slowly down into disaster, puts him in a class with the best of contemporary writers. Ken Sheldon will no doubt acquire a following of fans after this outstanding debut
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