Conspiracy.Com: A Novel [Mass Market Paperback]

R. J. Pineiro (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 2002

Hunted by the top companies in America, Michael Patrick Ryan was offered the world: high starting salaries, stock options, and signing bonuses. Ryan set his sites on SoftCorp, Inc., a company with only one client-the Internal Revenue Service.

But Mike Ryan has also fallen into the sights of the FBI. Millions of dollars have been smuggled out of the country, and Karen Frost suspects it's someone in the IRS. The deal: federal protection and immunity for information. But Frost has already lost one informant. Someone who got too close to the truth. As Ryan closes in, he realizes that he is a puppet in a ring masterminded by one man. One man whose agenda is designed to bring America to its knees.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

It takes almost 300 pages for the Criminal Investigation Division of the Internal Revenue Service to get the bad guys in this tepid remake of The Firm, but when they finally do, it's enough to convince you that these wolves in accountants' clothing are the scariest guys in town. It would be better to pay taxes on every cent of your income than bring them down on you. Murder a bunch of innocent people? They'll hardly notice. But try to cheat the government by diverting IRS funds offshore and evading taxes on your ill-gotten gains? Now that's a crime! When SoftCorp hires Michael Ryan, fresh out of Stanford, and lures him to Austin with plenty of perks and promises of more to come, he has no idea that his boss and some higher-ups in the company's only client--the IRS--are lining their pockets with government wealth. But when a dogged FBI agent goes solo to tie Softcorp to the murder of one of her own and finds herself thwarted by higher-ups in her own agency, she partners with Michael and his wife to uncover the conspiracy and save the day. Of course, she has to call in the CID to do it, but by that time the reader has spent so much time in the virtual reality program Michael created to make catching tax cheats easier that it's all a blur of bytes and bits. R.J. Pineiro's real talent is for making complicated technology understandable, but that's not enough to turn this into a read for anyone who's not halfway there already. --Jane Adams --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

A young high-tech exec and his banker wife join forces with a fortyish female FBI agent to take on a ruthless killer with powerful friends and a few high-tech tricks of his own in this cyberspeed thriller. After Mike Ryan completes his doctorate in virtual reality systems, Nasdaq biggies toss money, but an unknown Texas high-tech firm, SoftCorp (one of several nifty bits of wordplay that keep the lingo light), makes the best offer, not only assuring Mike's financial future but also coming up with a job for his wife, Victoria, with Capitol Bank, the firm handling SoftCorp's finances. The lure of money, house, car and unlimited research funding for Mike's work with SoftCorp's only client, the IRS, hook the pair, and they move from California to Austin. Meanwhile, FBI special agent Karen Frost, checking a tip on IRS agents gone bad, finds the mutilated remains of a missing field agent and links his fate to SoftCorp. But when the FBI director is murdered, Frost is left out in the cold, especially when the new man in charge swallows framed evidence that she has turned rogue. Frost uses the Web to contact Mike and Victoria just as they discover their dream home is bugged, and they agree to work with her. But then Victoria is kidnapped, and Frost is actively pursued by her former employers. Pineiro (Shutdown) writes with humor and flair and turns the high-tech field into an accessible playground for the uninitiated. The thrill of hacking and evading capture equates with the rush of dodging bullets as Pineiro manages a major translation of techie dreamworld into mainstream adrenaline rush. (Apr.)Forecast: Already an established name in techno-thrillers, computer engineer Pineiro is due an upgrade in reputation and perhaps sales with this entertaining story.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Forge Books; First Edition edition (April 15, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812575059
• ISBN-13: 978-0812575057
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,570,062 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars High-Speed Cyber Thriller..., June 24, 2001

By 

Christine "loves to read" (Setauket, NY, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Conspiracy.Com: A Novel (Hardcover)

Stanford honors graduate and computer engineer "extraordinaire" Michael Ryan is being courted by every big name high-tech company imaginable, including MicroSoft and Oracle. However, like Grisham's protagonist in _The Firm_, Michael gives in to the promise of a bright and very lucrative financial future with an unknown company, this one named SoftCorp, whose only client is the Internal Revenue Service. What Michael doesn't know (but we all easily deduct) is that SoftCorp has some serious skeletons in the closet, and will go to any lengths to protect their company's secrets. SoftCorp is also the focus of a botched FBI investigation in which one agent and one informant have already been killed. When Karen Frost, the current special agent in charge, approaches Michael and his wife Victoria about helping with the investigation, they all become disposable pawns in a deadly game of hide and seek masterminded by one corrupt individual. Pretty soon people with powerful political agendas, (and corporate executives who were puppets to these agendas) start to die, leaving Michael to use his expert computer programming skills, and a little ingenuity, if he is to keep himself and Victoria alive.

This book is a cyber thriller/political intrigue mix. Through his protagonist R.J Pineiro introduces us to the high-tech world of virtual reality programming and back door politics, without drowning us in a heap of technical jargon. He also shows how vulnerable our economy is to the advances taking place in technology. What makes this story line work so well is the high tech solutions used to wither away from the constant threat of danger, and the unrelenting pace and suspense built in by the author. Pineiro really knows how to keep his readers on the edge of their seats...when the action gets really hot, his chapters become shorter, making the plot race almost as fast as your heartbeat. This is a must read if you love explosive suspense thrillers with a good dose of high-tech solutions thrown into the mix.

4 and 1/2 stars...only because the basic premise is all too familiar...but Pineiro digresses sharply from Grisham-dom early on with his cyber-tech theme. And the ending is superb.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 4 1/2 stars, May 2, 2001

By 

Konrad Kern (OFallon, MO United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Conspiracy.Com: A Novel (Hardcover)

See story summary above.

R.J. Pineiro comes through again with another hi-tech thriller. The action blends smoothly with the techno-babble in this outstanding adventure featuring the IRS and FBI along with some other very powerful characters. You find yourself cheering on the underdogs with vehemence rarely felt in a novel. There were a few flaws in the editing, but overall I felt it was a well rounded story with a high entertainment value. Keep it up RJ.

Highly recommended.

5.0 out of 5 stars Make Way, Crichton, March 17, 2005

By 

Ahmed A. Khan (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Conspiracy.Com: A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

Earlier, I had read "Shutdown" by R.J. Pineiro. I had found that book a real page turner and one of the most unputdownable books I had ever read. (Read my review of that book). Well, if it is possible, Conspiracy.com is even more unputdownable than "Shutdown". To use a cliché, R.J. Pineiro has done it again.

Michael Ryan is a fresh graduate, a computer genius specializing in AI. He has a beautiful wife Victoria Ryan, who is an MBA in finance. His future beckons in the Silicon Valley. He is confident that he can land a job at Microsoft or Cisco but then, a company called SoftCorp makes him an offer he cannot refuse.

SoftCorp is doing some work for IRS. Michael starts working for them. And then FBI agent Karen Frost contacts the Ryans and informs them that all is not as it should be at SoftCorp. Money laundering in billions of dollars is going on behind the façade of SoftCorp. Shapiro and Wittica, the top hats at SoftCorp are deeply involved in it and so are several officers of the IRS, a senator and a multi-millionaire Cuban called Orion Yanez.

They are a dangerous bunch - so dangerous that they snuff out several FBI agents without batting an eye. Karen Frost and the Ryans have to succeed where others have failed. And the pace mounts and mounts and the reader comes up for air only after finishing the book.

There are several elements in this book that are similar to the ones in "Shutdown": the starting scene where an FBI agent is caught by the criminals and brutally murdered; the hi-tech atmosphere; a female FBI agent; involvement of foreign powers (it was Japan in "Shutdown", it is Cuba in this book). There is also an echo of John Grisham's "The Firm", but of course that could be a co-incidence.

Irrespective of the above, I reiterate the fact that the book is a veritable page turner. Recommended reading.

Ahmed A. Khan
http://ahmedakhan.journalspace.com