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ncrabb's review against another edition
5.0
It’s the easiest thing in the world to do. You’re harried; you’ve been through all the humiliation of a TSA security check at the airport; you scoop up your shoes and belt, you snag that Mac Book, shove it in your bag, and go home.
Oops! You snagged someone else’s Mac Book by mistake. Oh, and look at that! There’s a password on a post-it note attached to the bottom of the laptop. Well, it’s not yours, but, ah heck, you have the password. Maybe you can just open it and see who it really belongs to so you can make the exchange and get your laptop back.
That’s the life of Michael Tanner as the book opens. He’s a decent moral guy with a personal honor code that doesn’t allow him to cheat on people with whom he’s in business. He’s a coffee roaster entrepreneur in Boston, and his company is in financial trouble. He is being consistently outbid by a competitor, and he doesn’t understand how the competitor is getting information. Worse still, his realtor wife wants to leave him. She has been begging for the couple to have a child for months, and Tanner keeps putting her off. She’s done with that and with the marriage. He wants her back.
Now he has a laptop that apparently belongs to a U.S. senator. On that laptop are horrifying files that outline a government plan to essentially hijack the camera and microphone in every smartphone in the nation, essentially turning every phone into a continuous camera and every microphone into a continuous listening device.
Naturally, the senator panics. She is an elected official whose staffer has illegally taken files from a secure server and placed them on a jump drive, and from there onto her Mac Book. If that unit isn’t found, she faces prison.
Her staffer hires a shady Russian hacker to figure out that the laptop the senator took is Michael Tanner’s, and he calls Tanner assuming he can just pull off a quick exchange. But he decides to lie about the laptop’s ownership[ so as not to implicate the senator. Little does he know that Tanner has already been inside the computer and knows the real name of the owner.
That lie starts a chain of events that will truly bathe you in adrenalin tsunami after adrenalin tsunami. I’m not engaging in hyperbole here. I found my heart rate and breathing impacted by this so suspenseful and scary is it. If you genuinely believe that your government is beneficent and would never harbor data or do anything that would harm you, cuddle that illusion closely and cherish it, and don’t read this book. If, on the other hand, you have suspicions about what goes on at that massive NSA server farm in Utah? Oh, yeah, this is your kind of book, and you’ll miss out hugely if you decide to leave this unread. At one point, Tanner’s identity and Internet connectivity are entirely stripped from him, and he is every bit as much a prisoner walking freely as if he were in the most impenetrable cage in a supermax prison. People who follow me here know that I’m pretty niggardly with those five-star ratings; I almost never give them out. But this is a 10-star book if you like thrillers where every word matters, chapters are short, and the narration is crisp and machine-gun staccato. Read this and ponder whether anything like what happened to Tanner could happen to you. This book totally kills the argument I hear all the time from naïve people who say, “I have nothing to hide; I’ve done nothing wrong.” But neither had poor Michael Tanner.
Oops! You snagged someone else’s Mac Book by mistake. Oh, and look at that! There’s a password on a post-it note attached to the bottom of the laptop. Well, it’s not yours, but, ah heck, you have the password. Maybe you can just open it and see who it really belongs to so you can make the exchange and get your laptop back.
That’s the life of Michael Tanner as the book opens. He’s a decent moral guy with a personal honor code that doesn’t allow him to cheat on people with whom he’s in business. He’s a coffee roaster entrepreneur in Boston, and his company is in financial trouble. He is being consistently outbid by a competitor, and he doesn’t understand how the competitor is getting information. Worse still, his realtor wife wants to leave him. She has been begging for the couple to have a child for months, and Tanner keeps putting her off. She’s done with that and with the marriage. He wants her back.
Now he has a laptop that apparently belongs to a U.S. senator. On that laptop are horrifying files that outline a government plan to essentially hijack the camera and microphone in every smartphone in the nation, essentially turning every phone into a continuous camera and every microphone into a continuous listening device.
Naturally, the senator panics. She is an elected official whose staffer has illegally taken files from a secure server and placed them on a jump drive, and from there onto her Mac Book. If that unit isn’t found, she faces prison.
Her staffer hires a shady Russian hacker to figure out that the laptop the senator took is Michael Tanner’s, and he calls Tanner assuming he can just pull off a quick exchange. But he decides to lie about the laptop’s ownership[ so as not to implicate the senator. Little does he know that Tanner has already been inside the computer and knows the real name of the owner.
That lie starts a chain of events that will truly bathe you in adrenalin tsunami after adrenalin tsunami. I’m not engaging in hyperbole here. I found my heart rate and breathing impacted by this so suspenseful and scary is it. If you genuinely believe that your government is beneficent and would never harbor data or do anything that would harm you, cuddle that illusion closely and cherish it, and don’t read this book. If, on the other hand, you have suspicions about what goes on at that massive NSA server farm in Utah? Oh, yeah, this is your kind of book, and you’ll miss out hugely if you decide to leave this unread. At one point, Tanner’s identity and Internet connectivity are entirely stripped from him, and he is every bit as much a prisoner walking freely as if he were in the most impenetrable cage in a supermax prison. People who follow me here know that I’m pretty niggardly with those five-star ratings; I almost never give them out. But this is a 10-star book if you like thrillers where every word matters, chapters are short, and the narration is crisp and machine-gun staccato. Read this and ponder whether anything like what happened to Tanner could happen to you. This book totally kills the argument I hear all the time from naïve people who say, “I have nothing to hide; I’ve done nothing wrong.” But neither had poor Michael Tanner.
soundertillidie's review against another edition
4.0
I would give a 3.5 stars and round up. it was a solid book. Coffee is dull but the book was full of crazy. Enjoyed it
jesabesblog's review against another edition
3.0
This could easily have been cut in length by a third, but it was a good thriller.
nickieandremus's review against another edition
5.0
*** I received an advanced copy of this book from the First to Read program in exchange for my honest review ***
What if you were to accidentally switch laptops at the security checkpoint at the airport? And what if you discovered classified information on the laptop that would throw your entire world into a tailspin? Michael Tanner goes from successful businessman to fugitive as soon as he opened the MacBook and logged in with the post-it note he discovered in the case. What started as a mere query to find the owner to the laptop turns into Tanner having to run for his life. This book was a roller coaster ride from start to finish. I couldn't put it down. This is definitely a must read!
What if you were to accidentally switch laptops at the security checkpoint at the airport? And what if you discovered classified information on the laptop that would throw your entire world into a tailspin? Michael Tanner goes from successful businessman to fugitive as soon as he opened the MacBook and logged in with the post-it note he discovered in the case. What started as a mere query to find the owner to the laptop turns into Tanner having to run for his life. This book was a roller coaster ride from start to finish. I couldn't put it down. This is definitely a must read!
miajmu's review against another edition
2.0
Another thriller that really just wants to be a novel about running a small business- this time a coffee company. Not much a thriller or mystery... really the problems could have been resolved with a couple of phone calls...
3no7's review against another edition
4.0
“The Switch” by Joseph Finder is a political thriller that starts simply enough with an “accident” that could happen to anyone. Michael Tanner is going through the hassles of the TSA checkpoint at LAX. He grabs his laptop and rushes to his gate. When he returns to his coffee business in Boston, he discovers that his laptop, the one that contains his important coffee business information, is gone, and he has picked up someone else’s laptop; they all do look alike after all. While the laptop is password protected, he finds the password written on a sticky note. I think many of us can relate to that as well. Unfortunately, when he powers on the laptop and types in the password, he finds that this laptop belongs to a U.S. Senator.
The senator is extremely distressed about misplacing her laptop because she has unauthorized copies of top-secret documents on it. She has to quietly and quickly get it back. The action for the rest of the book moves back and forth between the two computer owners, each trying to find the other and get his or her own laptop back. One has way more motivation and way more resources than the other does.
Whom does the average citizen call when he finds top-secret information? The press, of course. And whom does someone in government call when top-secret information is missing? The Russians, and the mob of course. (If you don’t believe me, just read the newspaper.)
This book is filled with lots of characters, all of whom are self-serving, arrogant, shortsighted, egotistical, power-hungry, crazy people. Why couldn’t they just trade laptops like normal people would? (Of course, then there wouldn’t be this great novel. ) I recognize all these people immediately from newspapers and TV. I can identify them because Finder developed their personalities in such a complete and complex way, that I really could pick out several of each of them in “real” life.
Finder overlaps chapters throughout the book, beginning one chapter a short time before the previous one ends and continuing the action from another participant’s point of view. This puts every action into question. One never really knows who is telling the truth and who is not. The “good guys” and the “bad guys” switch places several times as the body count grows and tensions rise. It is a dance where little slip-ups can be fatal. Even the end is really not the end.
The book is summed up in this quote early in the book from a woman at a D.C. party:
“The difference between God and a U.S. senator? God doesn’t think he is a senator”
I was given a copy of “The Switch” book by Joseph Finder, Penguin Publishing Group, and NetGalley. I usually don’t read political thrillers because I get that every night on TV, but this one was compelling, electrifying, and oh so realistic. I couldn’t put it down.
The senator is extremely distressed about misplacing her laptop because she has unauthorized copies of top-secret documents on it. She has to quietly and quickly get it back. The action for the rest of the book moves back and forth between the two computer owners, each trying to find the other and get his or her own laptop back. One has way more motivation and way more resources than the other does.
Whom does the average citizen call when he finds top-secret information? The press, of course. And whom does someone in government call when top-secret information is missing? The Russians, and the mob of course. (If you don’t believe me, just read the newspaper.)
This book is filled with lots of characters, all of whom are self-serving, arrogant, shortsighted, egotistical, power-hungry, crazy people. Why couldn’t they just trade laptops like normal people would? (Of course, then there wouldn’t be this great novel. ) I recognize all these people immediately from newspapers and TV. I can identify them because Finder developed their personalities in such a complete and complex way, that I really could pick out several of each of them in “real” life.
Finder overlaps chapters throughout the book, beginning one chapter a short time before the previous one ends and continuing the action from another participant’s point of view. This puts every action into question. One never really knows who is telling the truth and who is not. The “good guys” and the “bad guys” switch places several times as the body count grows and tensions rise. It is a dance where little slip-ups can be fatal. Even the end is really not the end.
The book is summed up in this quote early in the book from a woman at a D.C. party:
“The difference between God and a U.S. senator? God doesn’t think he is a senator”
I was given a copy of “The Switch” book by Joseph Finder, Penguin Publishing Group, and NetGalley. I usually don’t read political thrillers because I get that every night on TV, but this one was compelling, electrifying, and oh so realistic. I couldn’t put it down.
canada_matt's review against another edition
4.0
Joseph Finder is back with another high-quality standalone novel that will provide chills and increased heart rates for many readers. After retuning home from a business trip, Michael Tanner discovers that his laptop was inadvertently swapped with an identical model at LAX. After accessing it, Tanner learns that the laptop belongs to none other than ‘S. Robbins’, as in US Senator Susan Robbins. A little more sleuthing leads him to discover a cache of top secret documents on the desktop, all related to an operation codenamed Chrysalis. From what he can understand, this operation would pose significant issues to the American public and he is not entirely certain that he wants it kept under wraps. Meanwhile, Senator Robbins is in possession of Tanner’s laptop, which she discovers with the help of her Chief of Staff, Will Abbott. Wanting to ensure the most plausible deniability, the senator leaves Will the arduous task of retrieving the laptop, as they both know what sits on the desktop. Abbott seeks to build a bond with Tanner in hopes of making a simple swap, but things soon turn dire, especially when the laptop cannot be located. Tanner has come to learn that he will be entirely expendable as soon as he returns the laptop, forcing him into a game of cat and mouse, first with Abbott and eventually with the NSA. Forced to abandon his coffee business and live on the run, Michael Tanner is a wanted man, but no one can broadcast this, for fear that he will release these sensitive documents and create an even larger headache for the US Government. What began as a simple laptop switcheroo has turned into a snafu of the highest order. Wonderfully crafted, Finder balances high-impact suspense with some key social issues that plague the world at present. Readers who enjoy a novel that does not stop will surely want to leap on for the ride, unsure of unseen twists!
There are few authors who are able to captivate me on a repeated basis with their stories. Joseph Finder is one such author, as his stories balance the complexities that face the everyday person, struggling to balance their civic duty with a want to live the simple life. Michael Tanner is the perfect such character, a man of simple means who wants to earn a buck and enjoy the fruits of his labour. Contrast him with Will Abbott, whose life remains high octane both on Capitol Hill and at home, with a baby. Finder adds a number of other characters, who flavour the narrative with their own quirks and push the reader to decide how trustworthy they might be. The ‘constant dash’ that is common in Finder novels does not let up for a second, allowing the reader to latch on and bounce from scene to scene, with little time to catch their breath. The story is crisp and believable, while also pushing forward some decent ‘soap box lectures’ about buzz topics that have arisen over the last few years. Where does privacy end and protection commence? How much do we know about what the government is doing around us? For how long will the club of “September 11th” be used to beat any opposition to spying on American (and likely any) citizens? All these questions and more are woven into the narrative and keep the story moving. An excellent piece that will surely capture the attention of many longtime Finder fans and those only recently discovering his work.
Kudos, Mr. Finder for such a great addition to your collection of novels. I always know I am in for something stellar when your name pops up!
Like/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
There are few authors who are able to captivate me on a repeated basis with their stories. Joseph Finder is one such author, as his stories balance the complexities that face the everyday person, struggling to balance their civic duty with a want to live the simple life. Michael Tanner is the perfect such character, a man of simple means who wants to earn a buck and enjoy the fruits of his labour. Contrast him with Will Abbott, whose life remains high octane both on Capitol Hill and at home, with a baby. Finder adds a number of other characters, who flavour the narrative with their own quirks and push the reader to decide how trustworthy they might be. The ‘constant dash’ that is common in Finder novels does not let up for a second, allowing the reader to latch on and bounce from scene to scene, with little time to catch their breath. The story is crisp and believable, while also pushing forward some decent ‘soap box lectures’ about buzz topics that have arisen over the last few years. Where does privacy end and protection commence? How much do we know about what the government is doing around us? For how long will the club of “September 11th” be used to beat any opposition to spying on American (and likely any) citizens? All these questions and more are woven into the narrative and keep the story moving. An excellent piece that will surely capture the attention of many longtime Finder fans and those only recently discovering his work.
Kudos, Mr. Finder for such a great addition to your collection of novels. I always know I am in for something stellar when your name pops up!
Like/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/