Synopsis
Computer scientist Pamela Sasser leads the quiet life of a professor at Louisiana State University, until her research uncovers a bug in the new Perseus computer chip. The Perseus is at the heart of thousands of commercial and military systems, including the Palo Verde nuclear plant, site of a massive nuclear meltdown that killed tens of thousands and left millions a future filled with radiation illness and cancer. Billionaire Preston Sinclaire, chairman of Microtel Corporation, the manufacturer of the Perseus, is at the pinnacle of his power, about to be elected president of the United States. No one knows that Perseus caused the meltdown. No one, that is, except Pamela Sasser.
Harrison Beckett is a professional assassin, contracted to eliminate Sasser. A former Defense Intelligence Agency operative, Beckett has eliminated dozens of targets. But he is not a cold-blooded killer; he is a man with a moral code who has only killed those who clearly deserve to die. He has been told that Sasser is a traitor to the United States, a purveyor of computer secrets essential to our national security. But Beckett does not know that he has become the pawn of a shadowy organization known only as the Web - founded during the Vietnam War by an enterprising black-marketer named Preston Sinclaire - with tentacles that reach to the very highest levels of the Pentagon, the source of Beckett's contract.
While Beckett draws closer to killing Sasser, who has only begun to suspect the danger that she is in, sudden twists and turns show truths to be lies and reality to be far from what he believes. And, all the while, the bug in Perseus continues to surface, costing the lives of more and more Americans. It is only a matter of time until another disaster occurs in one of the half dozen other nuclear reactors equipped with the chip. When this becomes clear to Beckett, the knowledge becomes his death warrant, and the hunter suddenly finds himself the hunted.
Reviews
Never mind wiping out a hard drive?the computer bug that sets Pineiro's lickety-split new novel (after Retribution) in motion causes a nuclear meltdown outside Palo Verde, Ariz., that kills 15,000 and threatens hundreds of thousands more. Not surprisingly, Preston Sinclaire, the CEO of the giant computer firm that manufactures the defective chip, wants to keep knowledge of his responsibility for the disaster under wraps, particularly since he plans to sit in the Oval Office one day soon. When computer scientist Pamela Sasser discovers the bug, Sinclaire taps his pals at the Defense Intelligence Agency to send a hit man after her. But the assassin, Harrison Beckett, learns the truth behind his assignment?and joins forces with Pamela. Meanwhile, an FBI team led by the feisty Esther Cruz, her "silver-and-turquoise jewelry rattling with every step," enters the fray, targeting Sinclaire. Pineiro's local coloring is sketchy, and his writing can be awkward ("After ten minutes of feeling growingly stupid just sitting there burning gas, Pamela..."), but he keeps the action churning and the suspense on high, at least right up to the novel's sentimental conclusion.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
The inexplicable meltdown of a nuclear power plant in Arizona, which kills 15,000 and exposes 400,000 more to potentially lethal doses of radiation, gets this taut damsel-in-distress entertainment from Pineiro (Retribution, 1995) off to a bang-up start. Four months after the reactor disaster, Pamela Sasser (a Ph.D. candidate in computer engineering) discovers flaws in the design of the Perseus microprocessor used in the control systems at the plant and shares the knowledge with her mentor, Professor Eugene LaBlanche. He informs Microtel, the chip's manufacturer, that its prize product has a bug. Determined to avert disclosures that could wipe out the multinational electronics company he founded, Preston Sinclaire begins masterminding a bloody cover-up. An influential member of the military/industrial complex, the venal CEO calls on the Defense Intelligence Agency for help. It arrives in the person of Harrison Beckett, a contract hit man who quickly dispatches LaBlanche and takes out after Pam (whose backup diskette is the last bit of evidence that could incriminate Sinclaire). Unbeknownst to the principals, FBI agent Esther Cruz (who's pursuing leads on another matter) becomes a player. Her presence upsets several applecarts, and Harrison (an assassin with a heart of gold) becomes privy to Pam's knowledge of the Perseus defects. Now a marked man himself, he joins forces with his erstwhile prey in a meandering but eventful flight. The two escape assaults by state troopers, as well as Sinclaire's vicious goons, and eventually reach the nation's capital, where Harrison is able to make contact with Cruz. The streetwise G-woman enlists the aid of her superiors in prosecuting Sinclaire. In a last-gasp effort to avoid ruin, however, Sinclaire abducts Pam, and Harrison must run one final and fearsome gauntlet before he can make a new life with his true love. A fast-paced thriller that cuts to the chase often and effectively enough to hustle most readers past the less plausible features of its road-race plot. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
In this computer age it had to happen: a bug in a computer chip can mean disaster for thousands--or maybe millions--of people. Techno-thriller author Pineiro (Ultimatum and Retribution) is back. This time the plot involves the beautiful Pamela Sasser, an associate professor of computer engineering at Louisiana State University, who discovers a bug in the Perseus computer chip manufactured by Preston Sinclaire. a billionaire presidential candidate. The chip is used in thousands of commercial and military systems, including the Palo Verde nuclear plant in southern Arizona, where there's a huge nuclear meltdown. It's Sasser to the rescue before millions of Americans die. There's also the obligatory professional assassin, military hit teams, and corporate killers, along with lots of computer and nuclear reactor jargon. The ending is no surprise (the bad guys almost always lose), but Pineiro buffs will want to read the book anyway. George Cohen
In Pineiro's (Retribution, Forge, 1995) latest thriller, university professor Pamela Strasser courts destruction when she discovers a bug in Microtel Corporation's Perseus computer chip. Although no one knows it yet, the defective chip is responsible for a nuclear plant meltdown and a host of other disasters. Knowing that this information will destroy his business and any chance he has at a political career, Microtel CEO and U.S. presidential hopeful Preston Sinclair plots to keep Pamela from exposing him. Harrison Beckett, a professional assassin, is hired to kill her but soon realizes that she is an innocent victim and joins forces with her instead. They are forced to flee, evading attempts by Sinclair's henchmen to do away with them both. Predictably, they fall in love along the way. Despite its somewhat hackneyed plot, Exposure may appeal to fans of Grisham and Crichton. For larger popular fiction collections.?Melissa Kuzma, NYPL
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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