Customer Reviews

PeaceMaker

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Peacemaker" is the debut novel by author Dan Ronco. Ronco has experience in the software industry so it is with personal knowledge and experience that he crafts the story of artificial intelligence and the future of the technology industry. Ronco presents this novel as what could be a worst case scenario with software terrorism and a future where this could be an issue as serious as nuclear war.

Dianne Morgan is the CEO for VantagePoint Software, the maker of Atlus, the most popular computer operating system in the world and one which is in nearly ninety percent of the world's computers. This obviously brings to mind a company called Microsoft. Morgan brought to trial by the United States government in an anti-trust lawsuit and her company is broken into smaller companies. This is something that has happened several times in our nation's history. Her revenge is to unleash a computer virus called Peacemaker. Peacemaker has the capability to infect and shut down nearly every computer on the planet. Her goal: nothing less than global domination. The only man who can stop Peacemaker is Ray Brown, a software developer who helped make Atlus the most popular piece of software on the planet.

The novel becomes something of a cat and mouse game as Ray stumbles across Peacemaker and learns of the scope of this virus which is so sophisticated that it is an artificial intelligence. Dianne Morgan is preparing to unleash Peacemaker on the world and while she needs to stop Ray she also wants to convert Ray to her side since they share a past together.

The concept behind "Peacemaker" with the ideas of software terrorism and the artificial intelligence and just the scope of the issue is fascinating and helps the reader press on through the book because I certainly wanted to know how things played out. The problem is the writing and the characters. The characters seem to be mainly one dimensional and Ray's inner struggles regarding his alcoholism seem somewhat childish. The other characters are not any better and most are even more one dimensional. Before each chapter there is a one or two quotes from a future newspaper or novel regarding some of the characters. What this does is let the reader know a little bit how the events of this novel will play out and affect the world years down the road. It kind of takes some of the tension out of the book.

Ronco has a good deal of potential as an author because he has one very important gift that can't be taught: the ability to come up with a very interesting story idea. I have no doubt that his skill as a writer will come as he continues to write. "Peacemaker" was a very fast and easy read, but it is not without some serious flaws in the execution of the novel. It is difficult to recommend "Peacemaker", but the positive is that the concept behind the novel is a good one.

-Joe Sherry

I finished this book within 24-hours. I almost finished it in one sitting. I was captivated by the interesting and fast paced nature of the plot. The storyline was simple enough, but believable enough to be scary. I am a "hard" science fiction junkie, and I liked how this novel had an element of "hardness" to it, but was not overly complicated with details and really focused on moving the plot forward and creating complicated situations for the compelling characters.

I found the characters to be likable, but obviously flawed. The female characters simply oozed sexuality at every encounter. With the background and preliminary story developed for each character in the opening chapters, it was easy to follow and believe in each move they made and their motivations were expected and not randomly generated.

This book met, and exceeded, my expectations for a first novel. It was short, easy to read, captivating, and unique (which is probably the most important). It was not only unique in the idea of the computer software virus, but unique in the direction that the story heads afterward. It's one thing to create a world shattering event, but it is another thing to take that story in a direction that will become more interesting, both of which Ronco excels in doing. Using the analogy of a post apocalyptic book, I would not want the apocalypse to be the most interesting part of a book. You want the characters reactions and the story of their survival to be the most compelling, which "PeaceMaker" achieves in its own right. The "PeaceMaker" virus is just the tip of the iceberg. It is everything else that makes this book worth reading.

I look forward to the rest of this series (I think I read it will be a trilogy) and more to come from Dan Ronco. I'm glad I got in early in his writing career.

Highly recommended. This book was a breath of fresh air compared to the massive numbers of like-minded, similar stories that are churned out each week.

J.Stoner

The problem with technology is that when everything is turned over to computers, the computers can and do go haywire. Not just disrupting lives with minor inconveniences but the computers can actually kill. That is the backdrop theme to this soon to be released adventure/disaster style read from author Daniel J. Ronco.

The computer system in this case is the Atlas Operating System, which is almost universally used in the very near future. Created by Ray Brown and his team from Vantage Point Software, the product has beaten all competitors. So much so, the company was a target of an anti-trust trial. A trial they ultimately lost and as a result the company was broken up into theoretically separate units. But despite the breakup, the company is still hers and under her control and beautiful CEO Dianne Morgan has plans. Dianne is charming, sexually confident and aggressive, ruthless and relentless in her obsession to destroy the competition, the government, and anyone else who stupidly stands in her way.

The lovely Dianne has two motives. Not only does she want her company to succeed, but she also wants her shadowy group within and without her company known as "The Domain" to succeed in their plans to take over the world. To do so, they will unleash a virus lurking deep within the operating system. The virus will cause a systematic shutdown of everything everywhere until her goals are met.

The virus's name is "Peacemaker" in reference to her vision of the future under her control. But Ray Brown has discovered a form of the virus and has seen in it violent action. He intends to stop it. Initially not realizing that his lover CEO Dianne Morgan is behind it all, he sets out to destroy "Peacemaker" and can only watch as the evolving and possibly self aware virus not only defeats his every attempt but others are retaliated against for his actions. And while Dianne plots to take over the world she has yet to understand that others within her group plot to oust her and use "Peacemaker" for their own nefarious purposes.

With at least three major storylines, this book shifts constantly in third person between them in this adventure/disaster style novel. As such, character development is rather limited and somewhat stereotypical of the genre. For example, Ray Brown is portrayed as a brilliant alcoholic constantly at war with his inner demon need for a stiff drink while the fate of the world hangs in the balance. Then there is the achingly beautiful Dianne Morgan who reminds one of a figure from Greek tragedy. Not only will she sleep with any man necessary to get her way, while at the pinnacle of success, she throws it all away on a quest for yet more power. And of course, what would any adventure/disaster read be without the pov of various minor characters doomed by the actions of the "Peacemaker" virus. Some will live, some will die and some of those deaths will be horrible as chaos ensues and society collapses.

Having said all that, for what it is in the genre, this is a pretty good book. Unlike many such novels, the focus isn't so much on the fate of the characters, but more a commentary on society, current and future, as a whole. With allusions to recent computer trials in the news, at least in the mind of this reviewer, this novel serves more as a dire warning of a future we may unwittingly be creating each day as we turn more and more control of our lives over to computer systems. While the read is enjoyable and fast, the issues this novel raises deserve serious consideration before the next power blackout or other disaster-man made or otherwise.


Book Facts:

Peacemaker
By Daniel J. Ronco
www.danronco.net
Winterwolf Publishing
www.winterwolf.com
August 1, 2004
ARC


Kevin R. Tipple © 2004

Michael Crichton move over. Dan Ronco's PeaceMaker is the 21st century sci-fi version of a tale of two cities providing us with the intense drama and emotion of a Dicken's classic combined with the imaginative, yet realistic, view of a Crichton novel. This book was so good, I barely could put it down. Thrilling, exciting, filled with heroes and villains, providing the reader with every possible range of emotions.

Ray Brown is a modern day, believable hero with whom we can all relate. Diane Morgan is a classic villain, willing to sell everything, even her soul, to get ahead and gain more and more power and money. Their fight consumes both of them, driving one into an alcoholic state and the other into the fires of absolute power.

Yet in all of this, a story of how computer technology became the crutch which eventually took over our lives. A story of how we allowed ourselves to become the victims of our own desires and wants. A story which we may be playing out - even today!

Given all of the material published in a year, this is the one book which is a must read for someone who appreciates not only a great plot, storyline, and character development, but just plain great writing.

From those of us who enjoy a great read - THANKS MR. RONCO!

PeaceMaker transports the action novel into a world of dueling software billionaires and operating system developers. The story has an underlying value in helping us consider the small degree by which our reliance on computers keeps out danger from our lives. Let that reliance become vulnerable to evil doers, and we are all in the soup.

Ray Brown is the hero of the book, but he's the kind of modern hero that we have all come to know . . . the man who has feet of clay but overcomes his weaknesses to do the right thing. Ray has destroyed his family through his alcoholism, sexual infidelity and obsession with software development. In his fall, he loses everything that matters to him except the software development. Then, one day he finds a bug in the operating system that he runs . . . that unexpectedly shuts his computer down.

As he begins to track down the bug, he becomes certain there's a computer virus involved. Hostile influences soon intrude to make it more difficult. As those influences grow, you will find out about a conspiracy to use a virus to obtain unlimited power.

The character development of Ray Brown is quite good. The other characters are not well developed. Many of them are caricatures of "mad scientists" and Nazi interrogators from bad 1930s movies . . . but there's a sort of campy fun as you imagine that these characters might be loosely based on some real people you've heard of. The technical details of how such a virus might work were realistic and interesting.

The writing sometimes leaves you stranded wondering what's going on . . . but you can usually pick up the thread in a few paragraphs.

Anyone who works in software will probably think this is five-star fun!

Peacemaker is the perfect guy novel. Not that women wouldn't enjoy it as well--I'm sure they do. A fast paced exciting read with a likable however flawed hero in Ray Brown versus a sexy villain in Dianne Morgan. It's 2012 and a computer virus called Peacemaker has attacked the internet and plummeted the world into economic disaster. Sexual tension, violence, action, and page turning suspense Peacemaker has it all. Dan Ronco's first novel has what it takes to keep readers reading. Unholy Domain is Ronco's next techno-thriller in the series followed by Tomorrow's Children in the spring of 2009. Would I recommend Peacemaker? Yes. Will I read the two sequels...definitely!

"Peacemaker" by Dan Ronco, is the first in his sci-fi thriller series. I read the second book, Unholy Domain, first and gave it 5 checks. His last, "Tomorrow's Children", will be out in the spring of 2009.

On Dan Ronco's website, DanRonco.com he says he came up with the idea at work. At the time, he was a general manager at Microsoft. I thought "Wow, a book about Microsoft's goal of being the only software in the world!" However, it is not. It's better!

I'm not going to summarize the plot, there are many other reviews that already do that. But I will say the two competing operating systems are Atlas and Companion, similar to Windows and Apple/Mac. The software systems and an anti-trust lawsuit by the government are the only similarities to the Microsoft and Apple.

Peacemaker has a subtitle, A Thriller, and that is dead on! I read in one day, a Sunday, and it was an exciting and fast-pace story. The writing was not as smooth as the second book as there were spots that repeated itself; however, it did not take anything away from the up and down suspense of the plot! Even though I know what was going to happen from reading the second book, it drew me in and captivated me.

Piers Anthony wrote: "Exciting, violent, thoughtful, and unfortunately true to life...a powerhouse of computer adventure."

I definitely will be in line for third book, "Tomorrow's Children".

PeaceMaker is a thrilling and suspenseful read packed with memorable characters, witty dialog, and a satisfying dose of computer jargon. Dan Ronco's futuristic techno-world is realistic and its plight all too plausible. The first of a trilogy that promises to probe the blessings and curses of an emerging technological society, PeaceMaker explores a timely question: how much technology is too much?

It is the year 2006, and at the witness stand of a lengthy anti-trust trial sits Dianne Morgan, the powerful and beautiful CEO of VantagePoint Software. She listens as VPS, the mega-corporation responsible for the world's dominating computer operating system, is ordered by the Department of Justice to split into smaller competing companies. "I won't forget this," Dianne warns the judge. Fueled by rage, a hunger for power and a misplaced hope for world peace, Dianne makes it her mission to stun the global economy with an insidious and deadly blow.

Six years later, a VPS software developer named Ray Brown stumbles across PeaceMaker, a computer virus that threatens to cripple billions of computers across the globe - computers upon which the technologically advanced society of 2012 depends upon for its very survival. Ray's discovery of Dianne's sinister plan launches him on a dangerous and seemingly impossible quest to stop PeaceMaker and save the world.

An alcoholic with a broken marriage who knows his two young sons suffer from his absentee fathering, Ray struggles to overcome past personal failures to rise to his task. His mission is further complicated by his passion for Dianne, a woman who will stop at nothing to see her goal met.

Read it and enjoy!!!

In the interest of full disclosure, Mr. Ronco wrote me and asked if I would be willing to read and review this book. No promises were asked or made as to what I would say about it. My basic problem with the story is that the characters are not fleshed out very well. We find them already formed, already bent on trying to introduce PeaceMaker to the computers of the world or prevent it from happening, depending on the character. The character of Dianne is far too manic in her mood swings to be believeable, just for starters. Her motivation is said to be the humiliation she received when held in contempt by the court at the anti-trust trial involving her computer company. If so, her reaction is extreme and otherwise unexplained. The book reads more like the outline of a larger book in which there is an interesting story to tell if done right. It just does not get done very well.

Dan Ronco, with PEACEMAKER, promises us another writer cast in the Chalker mold. Here he shows how flimsy the wall is that now separates man from machine, animate from inanimate. With the advent of talking, feeling software entities, even an adolescent geek like his character, David Brown, could find companionship.

Although this story is set in the future, today's news is full of stories of spyware snuck into your personal computer to record every keystroke. This story couldn't be more current. Big Brother has arrived with computer controlled camera-mikes that can track one's every move. It is disturbing how this tale mirrors our everyday life. It suggests that even today, business may be controlled by a technologically elite group that has escaped detection. Goodbye privacy! My reaction to this story was to delete all the cookies on my browsers.

As in Phil K. Dick's BLADERUNNER, where Nexus Six Androids returned to meet their maker, the PeaceMaker virus began to evolve into an entity smarter than its maker, into an entity that could kill its maker. The character, Ray Brown, who created a voice activated operating system, The Atlas, for the good of mankind, is pitted against power hungry CEO Dianne Morgan. Ms. Morgan wanted to pervert the Atlas' peaceful use by hiding the PeaceMaker virus within it. Using the PeaceMaker virus to shut down all the world's computers, she could then grab power. Ray must fight not only Dianne, but himself. Ray's tragic flaws, as in Greek Drama, are his alcoholic addiction and his enslavement to Dianne's body. These cost him both his happy marriage and contented fatherhood The internal conflicts generated within Ray are enormous. His nightmares keep driving him back to his bottle.

When you read PEACEMAKER, be prepared to surrender your naivete about the future's computer driven world.