Computers all over the world may revert back to the year 1900 when the clock strikes midnight on January 1, 2000. In this compelling novel, society experiences a "meltdown" with crashing financial institutions, chaotic transportation systems and a crippled national defense.
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Editorial Reviews
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
January 6, 2000. The air was pure, sharp, and cold, heavy leaden with drama and disquiet, as befitted Epiphany. A frosty mist hung along the banks of the snaking river and a slip of it lingered in the growing darkness of the little dell below. It was not yet quite dusk, but the first stars had come into the sky, twinkling through the snowy boughs and illuminating a narrow path toward the crest of the hill.
Will Ajax looked out at the picture postcard panorama before him. A little farmhouse was set snug into the hugging hills. Surrounded by several carefully situated outbuildings, barns, pens and gardens, the homestead was crisscrossed by a series of fences, walls, pathways, and hedgerows. A thin wisp of wood smoke rose from the chimney. The aroma of fresh bread wafted randomly upward. A kind of indescribable glow radiated from the scene-with all the deep inglenooks of memory and home.
The intoxicating spell was suddenly snapped by the harsh crackle of his radio headset. "The team is in position, sir."
Ajax looked off to his left. Through the trees he could see eleven men arrayed along the crest of the hill. They wore winter woodland camouflage and were weighed down with a bevy of assault weapons, telecom appliances, magellan devices, and directional op-mechanisms. Their faces were obscured by night vision goggles. But their intentions were clear enough.
"Right. Recheck the perimeter. Containment is essential. We don't go until they're all in the house."
Ajax allowed himself the hint of a smile.
It didn't look at all the way Bob Priam imagined the end of the world would look. If anything it looked more like its beginning. He was walking in the garden. A sharp moon, just visable over the tree-lined horizon, was fighting with the flying rags and tatters of a storm. He couldn't quite tell if it was coming or going-but he didn't really care one way or the other. He was lost in the magnificence of the moment. He drew in a deep breath of the crisp evening air. A bracing winter wind whipped the top of the encircling hills, but only the slightest hint of a breeze reached him there. He felt safe, secure, and satisfied.
"Dad?" A voice broke his concentration. "Hey, Dad? Are you out there?
"Over here. Next to the gate in the wall," he answered.
It was Priam's daughter, Cassandra, silhouetted against the silvery hillside. "Dinner's ready. Mom asked me to come and get you. Whatcha doing?"
"OK, Cassie. I'm on my way. I just can't get over how much I love this place."
"Yeah, I know. It's really just too good to be true, isn't it?"
A sudden chill came over him and Priam shivered as he turned toward the house.
Ajax lowered his binoculars as the two small figures below were caught in the light of the open doorway. His pulse was racing. He could taste the saccharined cusp of adrenaline at the back of his throat. It was now or never.
He looked over at the men fidgeting in their positions. One was rechecking his weapon for the umpteenth time. Another was repositioning his duffel carriers and tow straps. Yet another was toying with his goggles, trying to et a more comfortable fit across his brow. The rest were gazing down at the odd convergence of pristine beauty and desolate wonder that marked their target.
He took a break and gave the signal to strike.
The men immediately scramble to their feet and began to move across the frozen terrain down toward the house. Despite the weight of their gear, the steep embankment, and the necessity to maintain stealth, they kept themselves aligned in perfect formation all the way down to the house.
The moment felt like eternity, as moment of mere temporal consequence so often do-discerning the difference between what may be the beginning of the end and what may be the end of the beginning is almost always impossible.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
If you have access to no other Y2k book, read this one.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Y2K: The Day the World Shut Down (Paperback)
I really wanted to like this book.The author wraps an excessively complex, pointless "plot" around a thin discussion of Y2k issues. In Priam's Y2k, everything works pretty well, except there are a few National Guard checkpoints? Oh, that's scary. First reaction after finishing the book... "Hunh? That's IT?". Second reaction, I flipped it over to see what I had paid... glad I got a good deal at Amazon
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Hurried but heart-felt.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Y2K: The Day the World Shut Down (Paperback)
Here is a novel by an accomplished author who obviously had insufficient time to create a work of more depth. Its plot and characters are embryonic; however, it is easy to see how they might have become much more memorable. Homeric themes give the story a charming archaic tone which is wholly absent from most modern novels, and the emphasis placed on community and family is very refreshing. By the book's conclusion, the reader discovers that the authors' intent was not to provide a sensational account of apocalypse; but to show that, whatever its outcome, no catastrophe can ever subsume our highest call to family and covenant community.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Misleading Title; Unbelievable Characters; In Short - Dreck,
By Mack Draper (mdraper@dese.com) (Huntsville, AL) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Y2K: The Day the World Shut Down (Paperback)
I really wanted to like this book. I have been preparing for Y2k for the better part of a year and wanted to see what vision the authors would apply to the days, weeks, and months following January 1st, 2000.Unfortunately, the first two thirds of the book dwells on the year and a half leading up to Y2K. Worse than that, someone who is already familiar with the Y2K mythos will be bored to tears, as the authors launch into lengthy descriptions of what Y2K is and what it might do. There is a sub-plot involving a Computer Hacker who takes advantage of Y2K to build back doors into systems he repairs, allowing him to loot the company's funds later. But at the end of the novel he goes off the deep end, shooting up the farmhouse of the consultant that got him into the business, destroying all of his Y2K supplies, and kidnapping his daughter to boot. I could not for the life of me figure out what was motivating this joker or the goon squad with him. The moral of the story seemed to be that it is pointless to make individual preparations, as paramilitary Ninjas will just raid your house and take it all away. The moral seemed to be that you should just band together with your neighbors and sing Kumb-ba-ya and ride out this whole Y2K thing together. In fact it was hard to tell that much of anything that was happening post Y2K because of the book's narrow focus on the central characters. From what little I could painstakingly deduce it looked like the "Bump in the road" or no big deal scenario. This book was a waste of time and money. There is much better material out there than this, from both a literary and a contentual standpoint.
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