Virus

I am currently reading the book and am more than half way done with it. This is by far one of the best books I have ever read. It is very descriptive in details and has very realistic characters. The book makes you think that the characters are real and the story really took place. This is a page-turner that will be so enjoyable to read that you won't be able to put down until you finish it.

A great book to read.Indeed, Graham Watkins has braught us to the future.With all the Y2K around us, his story is indeed a great true and original script.So why the four stars? The rapid going book brings us to a falling end. The book ends too quickly and with no more room to be mistaken, the writer was eager to end it, so he ended it. I would have preferred the end to end alternetavilly. The human race should not always win.

This book can certainly not be compared with anything Robin Cook wrote. It is a different dimension. Cook wrote really weak novels and this novel is anything but weak. With the millenium bug approaching the scenario in this novel seems to be very realistic, and I think it is only a matter of time until something like that happens. We have enough crooks sitting in front of computers and there are enough "intelligent" software programs being processed at the moment, we can be sure some time there will be a disaster. The novel has its small flaws though. It is only readable for people who know computers. Maybe it would be much more interesting to people who do not know computers. And the side plot Mark - Alex is simply unnecessary. The motivation is wrong and it does not in any way promote the meaning or even the speed of the novel. Sometimes less can be more! But certainly, it is a good and suspensful read, if not a page turner. Definitely not a Robin Cook!

A book that bases itself around a computer may at first seem geeky and boring. Not so. Watkins uses a form of language that helps you to understand all of the technical babble that is needed for the story. Along with the amazing intricacies of the computer side there is the non sentimental human side. A love story that isn't really love but more lust, and small touches of human suffering and pain which add and enhance to this original novel. I had to keep reading the book as each page left me in suspense. There were no boring parts and no slow paced bridges between stories. Truly mesmerising and amazing.

This novel is technically quite accurate and appeals to the reader on many levels. If you have a high degree of technical knowledge, there are plenty of references which will keep you satisfied. However, if gigabytes and references to old computer systems are boring, the treatment of this subject matter is brief enough not to interfere with the plot movement. The style is clear and the story moves along quickly enough to produce the classic 'I couldn't put the book down' response. I found the book to be light enough not to be bogged down with the complexities usually found in near-future stories (the classic Cyberpunk styled ones, such as William Gibson's Virtual Light) - an excellent book, but a totally different style.