Jigsaw

A cyber terrorist tries to wrest control of a laptop computer with artificial intelligence from its creator, Bella Quintera. Her former lover, Daniel Champlain, who is an agent with the National Security Agency, reunites with her and together they combine their resources to save her and her laptop computer from the terrorist. Jigsaw is filled with suspense and intrigue and kept me entertained from the first page to the very last page. The bigger than life characters are interesting and I cared for them a lot. The hero and the heroine are both strong willed and cling to their convictions and commitments even when those convictions and commitments are perilous to the other. The sexual tension between Bella and Daniel keeps building until they can no longer control their urges and desires. One of the best characters in the story is Fran, Bella's interactive laptop computer possessing artificial intelligence. Even with her vastly superior intellect, Fran's sometimes childish behavior parallels that of a developing child that you can't help but love to death. The story takes place in Michigan during its winter months and Nance vividly and evocatively used the frigid conditions to enhance the story. Many of the outside scenes had me shivering in my chair as I read. Computer technology rises to its highest in Jigsaw. I've always feared identity theft, but Jigsaw presented something even scarier: identity creation, where a savvy computer guru hacks police computers and creates false files and charges against Bella to discredit her. In an interesting and exciting scene, Bella and Daniel enter a virtual reality game with other computer gurus devoted to the sport and I felt like I was seeing it all as a movie, because it was so vividly written. The virtual reality action was exciting and later turned out to produce a crucial clue that wasn't detected until near the end of the story. Jigsaw is entertaining and filled with suspense and intrigue. I recommend it highly.

Kathleen Nance's Jigsaw rocks. A complex, believable thriller set in the frigid Upper Peninsula in the near future, the book sucked me in immediately and kept me riveting, with its compelling characters, sizzling romance, and nonstop action. Bella and Daniel make a terrific couple, but many of my favorite scenes involved the newly-awakened artificial intelligence, Fran, a combination of computer genius and childlike naivete that fairly leapt off the page. If you enjoy J.D. Robb, Catherine Asaro, or an action-packed, intelligent adventure, Jigsaw may just be the book for you. Very highly recommended.

You must meet Fran. Who is she you ask? Fran is the world's first alternate intelligence, a laptop computer with not only a brain but a heart, not to mention tons of attitude. Not many people are supposed to know about her before the Turing Competition, but too many do, and some of them are willing to kill or worse to steal her away from Bella Quintera, her maker. Daniel Champlain, once upon a time, was involved with Bella, but scandal drove them apart. Now, a clue ties Bella to a case the special agent is working on, and they are thrown together once more, reunited professionally and personally on a quest to save Fran from Lokus, a diabolical hacker who wants to use her to throw the world into computerized chaos. In a chase that goes from the real world to the virtual one, Daniel, Bella, and Fran are in a fight for their lives. ***** On many levels, this is a wonderful book. The action and suspense keep you on the edge of your seat; the complexity of the plot keeps you mentally engaged, and then there is the sheer fun. Fran frankly steals the show with her candid wit and innocence. If Artoo Detoo could talk, he might sound just like her. She's definitely one of the best AI's ever created. *****

Kathleen Nance is a beautiful writer. She has been doing some great series with the Immortals, distant children of the Old Greek Gods, and the Djinn series. But she really hit her stride with Day of Fire last May, the second book in the successful 2176 series for Dorchester Publishing. The Book blew me away! Nance is a near poetic writer, so that she wrote one of 2004 best Sci-Fi Romances really showed the range of her talent. She dazzles me again with this tale of Techo-Thriller Suspense, leaving me believing there is anything Nance cannot write! Agent Daniel Chaplain, a computer specialist is running an intercept on a terrorists' computer transmission when it is interrupted by a message from Lokus. Lokus is a `cyber soldier', a premiere hacker. This is not the first time Lokus has caused problems with an operation Chaplain was involved in and he would like to see him shut down. When he sees the name Isabella Q on a sex chat board on a web page of Lokus, Daniel has the odd feeling this may be a woman he was in love with once. His Bella betrayed him four years ago when he proved her father falsified important scientific data. Following her trail, he heads to Michigan to check on Bella, fearing that Bella just might be Lokus. Daniel arrives on the scene to save Bella's life. She was driving home on an icy road when her car is deliberately run off the road. Daniel's timely appearance saves her freezing to death. She is hiding `Fran' and artificial intelligent computer. She created it using her father's original plans for which he was accused of falsifying information. She plans on dropping the bombshell of `Fran' at an expose in a month's time. Only Lokus has learned of Bella's plans and that she has `Fran' and plans to steal it from Bella and will do anything to get it. Only Daniel stands between Bella and Lokus, but Bella cannot trust him after what he did to her father. However, `Fran' seems to trust him! Nance delivers a taught sci-fi/techno thriller that has a relentless pace right to the finale. It has the same rock' em, sock `em power that Day of Fire delivered, the same nail-biting, cannot-put-down storyline that never forgets the romance. Nance is clearly showing she can deliver a powerful story, with wit, a touch of humor and heart that sets her above others writing in this genre. A powerhouse of a book that just should not be missed!

NSA Agent Daniel Chaplain completes a case only to see the name Isabella Q appear on a sex chat line that is on the open web page of a computer of the enemy along with an electronic message from Lokus, Cyber Soldier, the premier hacker in the world. He wonders if this could be his Bella who he betrayed four years ago when he proved her father falsified scientific data. He heads to the Northern Peninsular of Michigan, but wonders if it is to see Bella, see her safe, or confront her if she is Lokus. Bella is driving home on terribly icy conditions when she is run off the road. Daniel arrives to rescue her from hypothermia, but she hides Fran an artificial intelligence computer that she created using her defrocked father's design. She plans to unveil Fran at the Turing Competition in three weeks. However, Lokus knows Bella has a major find and plans to take it from her at any cost including murder; only Daniel can keep the two females safe, but Bella does not trust him although Fran seems to have faith in their man. JIGSAW is a tense science fiction romantic suspense thriller that never slows down from the moment Bella is run off the road until the final confrontation with Lokus. The story line is action-packed, but it is the relationships between Daniel and Bella, and Bella and Fran (think of Johnny Five is alive) that make the tale spin as she needs him to survive, but distrusts him with her beloved Fran, a daughter to Bella. Fans will appreciate this fine tale that puts plenty of heart in the middle of a strong artificial intelligence story. Harriet Klausner