Peacemaker [Paperback]

"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

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