Thursday, April 28, 2011

Counting from Zero by Alan B Johnson

Programmers don't begin with the number one.  They begin with zero.  Computer language is based on binary code.


The author sent me a copy of this eBook for review (thank you).  Get it on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Sony Reader Store, Diesel eBooks, Stanza, and Smashwords.


This is every person's worst nightmare:  Secret, damaging code sent in through a back door to take computers down.  Start with one, then move to every other one connected to the network and from there, on and on exponentially.  If it is dispersed far enough into the system on the right computers, it could should everything down...


The potential for such a disaster exists.  That's why we have computer security professionals constantly devising new ways of blocking such acts and analyzing any new code they find to see how it works.


Mick is one of those professionals and he happens to run across a bum code while at a conference.  With the help of his friends there, he restores the system there and then begins to track the code.


Mr. Johnson has created a very savvy male character who is smart, suspicious, and careful.  He finds himself drawn to a woman he met at the conference that specializes in firewalls and he knows he hasn't time for commitments.  He also realizes that when his personal user name and password (which he continually changes) are used to send false messages someone close to him must be involved...


This is pretty geeky reading, but the author creates conflicts between the characters involved and keeps your interest even if you aren't into computers that much.


The story flow is good, the idea intriguing and the villain was a surprise to me.  Why not get yourself a copy and see if you can figure it before it before the end.  I didn't.


Happy reading!

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