Deadline Y2K [Hardcover]

Mark Joseph (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1999

On New Year's Eve 1999, a chain reaction of computer malfunctions turns what was to be a global gala into a catastrophe. When computers begin to fail along the international dateline, the infection moves westward, causing massive power failures, train and airplane wrecks, and general havoc. As the "Millennium Bug" passes hour by hour through each time zone, it moves inexorably toward the epicenter of the global economy, New York, and the thousands of computers that control the world's monetary systems.

The Midnight Club, a group of cyberpunks led by Michael "Doc" Downs, has the solution--but they also have an adversary: energetic venture Capitalist Donald Copeland, who has designs on using his technological prowess to "capitalize" on the impending disaster.

Around 10:30 a.m. on December 31, a Safeway in New York is hit by the Bug, sent all the way from Guam. All systems freeze, and what begins as a simple malfunction snowballs into looting and rioting. Pandemonium reigns on the streets of Manhattan. As the day progresses, the blaze of fear increases to the point of insanity.

In the style of Michael Crichton and Stephen Coonts, Mark Joseph has created a techno-thriller that is sure to touch a nerve in everyone as the millennium draws closer.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

They're heeeere. Spawn of the ungodly amount of hype surrounding the dread millennium bug, Y2K thrillers have been sneaking onto bookshelves for months now. Deadline Y2K comes a little late to the game, but if you still haven't acquainted yourself with the new genre on the block, this gripping, well-researched read is a fine place to start.

The book's central plot device may strain credulity--a band of six good-guy hackers called the Midnight Club spends the late '90s secretly preparing to save the entire New York City infrastructure from millennial disaster. However, the story line makes a nice vehicle for getting readers up to speed on Y2K issues without slowing down the action, and it gives them a likeable, multicultural cast of characters to root for.

The main attraction is, of course, the main event: the tick-tocking countdown from the early morning of December 31, 1999, to the fateful midnight hour. It's no spoiler to tell you that all hell eventually breaks loose, but Y2K skeptics may find themselves surprised at how convincing Joseph's tightly paced and vividly rendered worst-case scenario feels. As disaster creeps around the globe, knocking out power grids and national economies one time zone at a time, Manhattan watches the approach via an increasingly spotty world communications network, while mounting revelry, rioting, and religious hysteria mingle surreally in the streets. It's enough to give even diehard doubters a goosebump or two. --Julian Dibbell

From Publishers Weekly

The worst fallout from the Y2K problem won't be this marginal thriller, but it's reason enough to regret the whole crisis. The dawn of the next century is greeted by a chain of catastrophic computer failures that leave a trail of disasters behind; the reaction is working its way east to threaten New York with chaos and the world financial markets with paralysis. In response, a stalwart band of hackers led by one Michael Downs rallies, defeating the nefarious schemes of venture capitalist Donald Copeland in the process. There's little to recommend this novel other than its timely title, which should attract a few buyers, and some cursory scenes of panicked America that may be prescient. The characterizations are stock, the dialogue wooden, the exposition lumpy and the plotting simplistic. Joseph has published two naval thrillers, To Kill the Potemkin and Typhoon. Both were far better than this. Agent, Nick Ellison.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 294 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr; 1st edition (February 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312202024
• ISBN-13: 978-0312202026
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,012,277 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very informative on the Y2K bug, but a little sensational, December 8, 1999

By 

D. W. Theriault - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Deadline Y2K (Mass Market Paperback)

Since I work in the computer industry and have for the past 15 years, I am well aware of the Y2K bug. For someone who knows nothing about computers, this book is like reading a horror story. Everything that has a computer in it, will have massive problems (at least according to this book). While many of the problems are exaggerated, the Y2K issue is presented in a very enjoyable story. I really enjoyed this book, as long as I took the impending diasasters (planes falling out of the sky, nuclear reactors shutting down, etc.) with a grain of salt. Still a very good, fast paced read.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars DO NOT BUY (OR READ)! Loaded with mistakes, poor writing, May 2, 2000

By 

Richard Sevrinsky - See all my reviews

This review is from: Deadline Y2K (Mass Market Paperback)

I finished reading this book just to see how bad it could get by the end. Released in September 1999, the author should have known that Y2K was already big news, even with the Everyday Joe. He writes about embedded chips (that have no need for any date or time information) failing and causing massive systems failure. He has nuclear reactors failing or being taken offline. In perhaps the most egregious error, he suggests that the NY subway could fail due to computer error -- when in reality, it is well-known that the display board at Jay Street was never correctly wired, and all switches and signals are mechanically controlled.

The plot is severely lacking. Four geeks rewrite the entire city infrastructure in two years -- and are stuck on some control passwords! A multi-billionaire wants to cheat the bank whose systems his company is rewriting!

This book has no basis in reality. Any similarity to Planet Earth as we know it is coincidental.

4.0 out of 5 stars Deadline Y2K: a great thriler novel, April 12, 2000

By 

Joshua Lovato (New Mexico, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Deadline Y2K (Mass Market Paperback)

The book Deadline Y2K is about what might have happened on January 1st 200. It describes two interesting characters. One is a computer programer who wants to find a solution to the Y2K computer bug, and the other is a successful businessman who's only interest is making an ungodly amount of money. The story is very well written and some of the events described are very realistic. However I think that this book was prompter by some public fears that the Y2K computer glitch would do an extreme amount of damage to peoples lives. Maybe the author could have taken a more realistic approach to the situation. Overall I think it was a good book and it certainly was very interesting to read, it was hard to put down.