Peacemaker

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

"Peacemaker" by Dan Ronco, is the first in his sci-fi thriller series. I read the second book, Unholy Domain, first and gave it 5 checks. His last, "Tomorrow's Children", will be out in the spring of 2009. On Dan Ronco's website, DanRonco.com he says he came up with the idea at work. At the time, he was a general manager at Microsoft. I thought "Wow, a book about Microsoft's goal of being the only software in the world!" However, it is not. It's better! I'm not going to summarize the plot, there are many other reviews that already do that. But I will say the two competing operating systems are Atlas and Companion, similar to Windows and Apple/Mac. The software systems and an anti-trust lawsuit by the government are the only similarities to the Microsoft and Apple. Peacemaker has a subtitle, A Thriller, and that is dead on! I read in one day, a Sunday, and it was an exciting and fast-pace story. The writing was not as smooth as the second book as there were spots that repeated itself; however, it did not take anything away from the up and down suspense of the plot! Even though I know what was going to happen from reading the second book, it drew me in and captivated me. Piers Anthony wrote: "Exciting, violent, thoughtful, and unfortunately true to life...a powerhouse of computer adventure." I definitely will be in line for third book, "Tomorrow's Children".

Dan Ronco, with PEACEMAKER, promises us another writer cast in the Chalker mold. Here he shows how flimsy the wall is that now separates man from machine, animate from inanimate. With the advent of talking, feeling software entities, even an adolescent geek like his character, David Brown, could find companionship. Although this story is set in the future, today's news is full of stories of spyware snuck into your personal computer to record every keystroke. This story couldn't be more current. Big Brother has arrived with computer controlled camera-mikes that can track one's every move. It is disturbing how this tale mirrors our everyday life. It suggests that even today, business may be controlled by a technologically elite group that has escaped detection. Goodbye privacy! My reaction to this story was to delete all the cookies on my browsers. As in Phil K. Dick's BLADERUNNER, where Nexus Six Androids returned to meet their maker, the PeaceMaker virus began to evolve into an entity smarter than its maker, into an entity that could kill its maker. The character, Ray Brown, who created a voice activated operating system, The Atlas, for the good of mankind, is pitted against power hungry CEO Dianne Morgan. Ms. Morgan wanted to pervert the Atlas' peaceful use by hiding the PeaceMaker virus within it. Using the PeaceMaker virus to shut down all the world's computers, she could then grab power. Ray must fight not only Dianne, but himself. Ray's tragic flaws, as in Greek Drama, are his alcoholic addiction and his enslavement to Dianne's body. These cost him both his happy marriage and contented fatherhood The internal conflicts generated within Ray are enormous. His nightmares keep driving him back to his bottle. When you read PEACEMAKER, be prepared to surrender your naivete about the future's computer driven world.

Michael Crichton move over. Dan Ronco's PeaceMaker is the 21st century sci-fi version of a tale of two cities providing us with the intense drama and emotion of a Dicken's classic combined with the imaginative, yet realistic, view of a Crichton novel. This book was so good, I barely could put it down. Thrilling, exciting, filled with heroes and villains, providing the reader with every possible range of emotions. Ray Brown is a modern day, believable hero with whom we can all relate. Diane Morgan is a classic villain, willing to sell everything, even her soul, to get ahead and gain more and more power and money. Their fight consumes both of them, driving one into an alcoholic state and the other into the fires of absolute power. Yet in all of this, a story of how computer technology became the crutch which eventually took over our lives. A story of how we allowed ourselves to become the victims of our own desires and wants. A story which we may be playing out - even today! Given all of the material published in a year, this is the one book which is a must read for someone who appreciates not only a great plot, storyline, and character development, but just plain great writing. From those of us who enjoy a great read - THANKS MR. RONCO!

PeaceMaker is a thrilling and suspenseful read packed with memorable characters, witty dialog, and a satisfying dose of computer jargon. Dan Ronco's futuristic techno-world is realistic and its plight all too plausible. The first of a trilogy that promises to probe the blessings and curses of an emerging technological society, PeaceMaker explores a timely question: how much technology is too much? It is the year 2006, and at the witness stand of a lengthy anti-trust trial sits Dianne Morgan, the powerful and beautiful CEO of VantagePoint Software. She listens as VPS, the mega-corporation responsible for the world's dominating computer operating system, is ordered by the Department of Justice to split into smaller competing companies. "I won't forget this," Dianne warns the judge. Fueled by rage, a hunger for power and a misplaced hope for world peace, Dianne makes it her mission to stun the global economy with an insidious and deadly blow. Six years later, a VPS software developer named Ray Brown stumbles across PeaceMaker, a computer virus that threatens to cripple billions of computers across the globe - computers upon which the technologically advanced society of 2012 depends upon for its very survival. Ray's discovery of Dianne's sinister plan launches him on a dangerous and seemingly impossible quest to stop PeaceMaker and save the world. An alcoholic with a broken marriage who knows his two young sons suffer from his absentee fathering, Ray struggles to overcome past personal failures to rise to his task. His mission is further complicated by his passion for Dianne, a woman who will stop at nothing to see her goal met. Read it and enjoy!!!