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COLD LOGIC
by C. J. R. Casewit
Metropolis Ink, May 2002
279 pages
$15.95
ISBN: 0958054347


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Terra Breaux has been running away from her cracker past for the last several years. While she was in college she manage to infiltrate several secure computer networks including Apple Computer and was never caught. After having a close call she decided to quit cold turkey and start a new life. She receives a contract offer from Silicon Silk, Inc. founder, Marc Elliot to work in creating a natural language program to make computers more user-friendly. SSI is a big company and Terra knew that she would have to be nuts to turn such a lucrative offer down. She decides to go to California from New Orleans and start what she considers to be her dream job. As luck will have it, that is not going to be the case.

Marc Elliot is aware of Terra's past and he wants to use it to their full advantage. Someone has been infiltrating his computer network and stealing code and intellectual property from the SSI servers without leaving a trace. He needs a cracker to get a cracker and that is why he hires Terra. When she learns that she has been tricked she tries to leave but cannot because of several clauses in the contract she signed. She reluctantly decides to work on Elliotís promise with the complete understanding that she was also going to work on the natural language program. Not five minutes since she started her first day, one of her co-workers has been murdered. Not only that, but Terraís sister, Marina, has left Louisiana State University to be with her sister after having her own set of problems. Things are not going to be easy for Terra and it is about to get worse. Several of her co-workers continue to die; some of the companyís latest work is on display and ready for download on the Internet; and one of Terraís suspects is dating Marina. Things start to get to a crescendo when everything is revealed in a bloody showdown at Marcís home.

The author uses her experiences in having worked at Silicon Valley in the writing of Cold Logic. Every thing that goes on at Silicon Silk seems realistic enough, but it might deter some readers with the extensive acronyms and technospeak. Casewit does her best to explain some of the computer terms and lingo, but there are so many that one needs to be computer literate to understand most of the concepts within the story. Another problem with the book is the inclusion of several scenes that do not have anything to do with the plot. There is a scene where Terra goes to a cybersex chat room to escape the daily pressures. The author could have used this setting to have the main bad guy exploit her weaknesses without her being the wiser. There is no evidence of this in the book. The last thing is that the storyís ending seemed to be rushed. Every possible suspect is murdered leaving the main suspect shining like a beacon; some important details are not revealed until the climax; the computer cracker does minor computer damage to the company; and there are no major surprises at the end of the book.

As a first novel, this author shows promise. She deserves credit in trying to develop Terraís character through the use of her past as a computer cracker and with the use of her interaction with her sister, Marina. The reader gets to know more about them when they are together instead of individually. The author knows what she writes about by writing about her past experiences and interests. This novel will not deter me from her next work. Now that she has written her first novel, the second one will be better.

Reviewed by Angel L. Soto, November 2002

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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