Shutdown (Mass Market Paperback)

by R. J. Pineiro (Author) "A light fog lifted off the tranquil swamp, enveloping concrete piers supporting a double set of railroad tracks that disappeared in the darkness..." (more)
Key Phrases: sabotaged computer chips, sabotaged components, sabotage scheme, Erika Conklin, Sakata Electronics, Derek Ray (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Erika Conklin can hack her way into any computer--a talent that has turned her into an indentured servant for the FBI. The agency caught her making an illegal entry into classified government files and offered her a Hobson's choice: go to prison for a long time or go to work for them. She's sleepwalking through her long, boring days, fantasizing about the lucrative jobs that might have been hers in Redmond or Silicon Valley. Suddenly a series of high-tech failures, ranging from a bloody railway accident in Florida to an industrial disaster in Texas, kills hundreds of people. Almost as disturbing, inexplicable computer shutdowns threaten America's dominance in the semiconductor industry.

Analyzing the computer failures, Erika realizes that sabotage is causing the technology meltdown. She traces the campaign of terror to the Japanese government's effort to destroy public confidence in American-made chips and thereby win the race for economic hegemony in the new millennium. From tracking down computer viruses to accompanying special agent Brent McClaine and his team on a high-risk mission to bring the perpetrators to justice, Conklin is a sassy, savvy heroine whose unique talents are all that stand between the successful future of American technology and a shutdown. R.J. Pineiro, a computer engineer, made a good run at the bestseller lists with two previous millennium thrillers (01-01-00, Y2K). This time, in Shutdown, his writing is more assured, his characters more fully explicated, and his pacing tighter. - -Jane Adams --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal
YA-Fast paced and cutting edge, this novel grabs readers early on and presents a truly frightening scenario. In an effort to wrest the international technology lead from the U.S., a rogue faction within the Japanese Defense Agency has put a diabolical plan into action. Using disgruntled loner engineers as pawns, the Yamoto Ichizotu plants defects in U.S.-manufactured semiconductors. Two years later, the faulty products begin to break down and cause strategic computer systems to malfunction. A train crashes, killing hundreds; two planes collide and incinerate their passengers; and Detroit experiences a complete blackout. Enter the protagonist, FBI analyst Erika Conklin. Caught hacking into computer systems as she was graduating from Berkeley, she was given the opportunity to avoid federal prison by serving a six-year stint in the FBI, enabling the agency to combat technocriminals like herself more effectively. Her knowledge proves crucial to victory in this new technological battlefield. The appeal to young adults stems from the personalities of Erika and the government forces with which she works. No mere computer nerd, she can take care of herself, as a harrowing escapade with a rat demonstrates. Readers are taken along on a mission by a crack Navy SEAL team whose exploits, abilities, and bravery are compelling and illuminating. The explanations of system attacks, computer-virus operations, and technological exploits should appeal to teens who have grown up in a world that has become frighteningly technology dependent.
Carol DeAngelo, Kings Park Library, Burke, VA
Copyright 2000 Reed 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: 384 pages
• Publisher: Forge Books; 1st Mass Market Ed edition (January 7, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812575040
• ISBN-13: 978-0812575040
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,504,755 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars 300 Pages Of Recycled Ideas Together With Advertising, May 13, 2000

By	taking a rest - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Shutdown (Hardcover)

It is not always possible to read Authors that are already known quantities. There were no reviews on Amazon so I took a chance as the book was endorsed by more than one well-known Author. Never again will I rely on another Author.

I will not say this is the worst book I have read because something else will surely come along. But my observations are as follows.

The Author is an engineer at AMD (Advanced Micro Devices), I felt is was reasonable to presume he could write a decent work on computer chips as that was his "day job", and one that he surely should keep.

I have never before commented on the quality of proofreading. This book is so filled with bad spelling and groups of words masquerading as sentences that it was distracting to read. In one section three consecutive pages contain the most basic spelling errors.

Entire scenes from the book have been in either another book or movie. Remember when a Japanese bad guy uses a naked woman as a table for Sushi? Well I do, it was in a Sean Connery movie, adapted I believe form a Crichton novel. The writer's imagination was limited to substituting one girl for two.

The book is an endless product endorsement as the world's chip manufacturers are victimized, AMD is of course immune. AMD is also the processor of choice with detailed explanations on why the main character in the book chose it over....you guessed it a Pentium III. The name of the notebook is mentioned dozens of times.

The author's knowledge of a SEAL Team he portrays in the book is zero. Again they were equipped at The Sharper Image and can not check the time without mentioning the brand and model of their watch, their GPS equipment is also a store brand and it beeps when turned on! Exactly what a SEAL team needs when hiding several feet from an enemy, beeping equipment, and watches that could be seen from a couple hundred yards.

The Author also decided to make a woman a member of the SEAL team, and then has her in a relationship with a team member who she chats with about having children as they approach the beach. I know it sounds like I must be making this up but it's sadly all in the book. The President Of The United States carries a football with him constantly. His deepest thought is whether or not he could run the Country without his football!

The bad guy from the Japanese side is named......."Slick Willy". I wish I were kidding. The SEAL commander is Derek Sting Ray. Every time someone wants his attention they say, "Sting?", and the next sentence is "Ray turned, Ray smiled, Stingray, Stingray. My favorite was when he leaned back in a chair that was bolted to the floor of the submarine!

Please let this book die a quiet death. You have read what's in it before, if you like the Authors who endorse the book don't buy it, it strains credibility to believe they think this book has any merit.

The only information this book offers is a repetition of hardware and software companies, and the CEOS that run them.

Most everything that is wrong with lousy, commercialized, recycled fiction is in this wretched book. And when the writing isn't annoying you, the 300 pages of product endorsements may stop you from reading this. I finished it because I won't comment on a book unless I do.

My money was wasted, as was my time. I write this in hope that I save both of yours.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Do yourself a big favor..., June 7, 2000

By	tom lembo (ny) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shutdown (Hardcover)

This book will be a genuine waste of time for a reader that is well educated, it is insulting to our intellegence that works of this nature are published. Simple gramatical errors are acceptable for a high school book report... not a piece of literature. The concept seemed interesting enough, to pick it up. I feel that it is my civic duty to inform you, the reader, that this is a read you can pass up.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Good Pineiro Book!, January 20, 2002

By	Melvin Hunt (Cleveland,, Texas United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This book well documents the computer wars between the U.S. and Japan. After some disasters as a result of computer equipment
sabotage Erica Conklin discovers that the sabotage was carried out by members of the Japanese government.She is teamed up with Brent MacClaine an F.B.I. agent.Agents of the Japanese(including
a Japanese terrorist group) attempt to kill them.Erica is working for the F.B.I. because of being caught hacking into computer systems.Erica and Brent stave off several assasination attempts by the forces. Erica and Brent participate in a SEAL operation aimed at getting to the bottom of the computer chip sabotage.Action abounds in this book. The ending is also very good.I stll wait for the day when one of R.J. Pineiro's books is made into a movie.A good book. Read it.