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h3dakota's review against another edition
2.0
Ugh. Had an entire review written, then it was lost. Short version: the main character is a Gary Stu. The author has no respect for women, especially in the IT industry. One sleeps her way to the top and the other one is drop dead gorgeous (and that's pretty much all we really hear about her). A geeky version of DaVinci Code, basically.
du7chh's review against another edition
3.0
A gripping thriller interwoven into the fabric of coding and techno babble. It's a bit dry to start, but eventually becomes really intriguing. I found myself pressed to continue. The writing was a bit shallow at a few points (the author seems to love describing women, not affording the same treatment to men). The ending, however, felt exceptionally anti climactic. Almost disappointing, were not so painfully logical.
jdferron's review against another edition
2.0
Disappointing plot and narrative. For those interested reading better tech thriller books, Daniel Suarez is a better writer.
jofgood's review against another edition
3.0
I bought this as part of the Amazon .99 promotion thinking i'd finally grabbed a bargain for a book I was highly anticipating. Meh!
Although it was a quick read, it was mainly because the story flowed with almost no obstacles, plots being resolved quickly and (my main gripe) not enough technical detail.
I was coming into this book expecting a lot of technical conversations on the how and where,
but was disappointed by the lack of detail.
Mr Russinovich is (was?) a Senior Technical Fellow at Microsoft so i was expecting a brainy discussion on the topic, coupled with the panic and drama of a end of the world type of movie. I only got the second part and even that poorly delivered.
Also, very american book with the plot around terrorism and the usual culprits with almost no reasoning for very other culture being dark and war-like while the Americans are the heroes, or at most just incompetent/naive.
Pity.
I've heard he wrote a couple of more books so i'll give him another chance but i need to forget this bad taste in my mouth before going there again.
Although it was a quick read, it was mainly because the story flowed with almost no obstacles, plots being resolved quickly and (my main gripe) not enough technical detail.
I was coming into this book expecting a lot of technical conversations on the how and where,
but was disappointed by the lack of detail.
Mr Russinovich is (was?) a Senior Technical Fellow at Microsoft so i was expecting a brainy discussion on the topic, coupled with the panic and drama of a end of the world type of movie. I only got the second part and even that poorly delivered.
Also, very american book with the plot around terrorism and the usual culprits with almost no reasoning for very other culture being dark and war-like while the Americans are the heroes, or at most just incompetent/naive.
Pity.
I've heard he wrote a couple of more books so i'll give him another chance but i need to forget this bad taste in my mouth before going there again.
april_does_feral_sometimes's review against another edition
2.0
I picked this one up because I listen to a podcast by Steve Gibson called 'Security Now'. He has recommended other books which have been excellent. However, this was a big disappointment. It sucked. The sad thing is it really shouldn't have. The plot was terrific. Terrorists decide to take down the Western World via the computers which now control every aspect of business from customer records to payroll to billing to factory machine control. Airplanes are flown by computers, and nuclear reactors are monitored and controlled by computers, as is the electrical grid and as are big ships. Everything! And all of it is vulnerable to viruses in real life, as it is in the book. I suspect it is only the threat of mutual destruction which currently saves us from our lax and lazy anti-virus efforts, with the exceptions we hear about every day.
The writing is the main reason it was bad. It's very stiff and awkward. As a result, most of the characters were wooden. The author paid more attention to his hero, so Jeff Aiken comes off as wooden for the first half of the story, but he's supposedly in mourning, and in the second half, he's emotional and excited because he becomes involved in tracking down hackers. Unfortunately, his character feels as clumsily put together as the sentences he lives in. There's a heroine, Daryl Haugen, naturally, who is a stunning goddess of a looker, and she is almost genius smart. The problem is she seemed more like an office assistant with not a lot of savvy. Only two characters appeared as smart as they were supposed to be and that was Jeff and his dark counterpoint, Vladimir Koskov -the two programmers. It's all very cinematic in the bad way of cookie cutter movie action.
The author works at Microsoft in a senior technical position and I think he should keep his day job, for now.
The writing is the main reason it was bad. It's very stiff and awkward. As a result, most of the characters were wooden. The author paid more attention to his hero, so Jeff Aiken comes off as wooden for the first half of the story, but he's supposedly in mourning, and in the second half, he's emotional and excited because he becomes involved in tracking down hackers. Unfortunately, his character feels as clumsily put together as the sentences he lives in. There's a heroine, Daryl Haugen, naturally, who is a stunning goddess of a looker, and she is almost genius smart. The problem is she seemed more like an office assistant with not a lot of savvy. Only two characters appeared as smart as they were supposed to be and that was Jeff and his dark counterpoint, Vladimir Koskov -the two programmers. It's all very cinematic in the bad way of cookie cutter movie action.
The author works at Microsoft in a senior technical position and I think he should keep his day job, for now.
benj_78's review against another edition
4.0
Loved it!! What else can I say :) I will definitely look up more books from this author in the future.
nickn77's review against another edition
4.0
A series of viruses are unleashed on the Western World causing minor chaos. A fully automated nuclear plant goes down, an auto assembly line is brought to its knees, medical delivery systems are malfunctioning and random computers are self destructing. An act of cyber-terrorism is underway and a small group of computer security specialists are tasked with unraveling the plot.[return][return]Mark Russinovich is a well known Windows operating system expert and currently is a Technical Fellow at Microsoft. Mr. Russinovich has unveiled countless Microsoft security flaws and has provided computer geeks across the globe with tools to debug and troubleshoot complex problems with the Windows operating system. Why the fanfare and mini-bio? The answer, to point out that he is in a position to understand the current state of computer security and the real threat cyber-terrorism could have on our world. [return][return]The technical aspects of Zero Day are well explained and only rarely does Russinovich dish out technical jargon that may go over the head of those less tech-savvy readers. The story flows extremely well and reads almost like a work of non-fiction. The only negative I had with the story was the authors fixation on gorgeous female computer geeks. Every female the protagonist encountered was beautiful, thin and athletic. To top it all off, the uber-security expert in the book is the most dashing man on the planet. It is one thing to shatter stereotypes, but I am an engineer by trade and most of my co-workers do not double as runway models on the weekend.[return][return]A great book with a very scary, real message.
sudarkoff's review against another edition
3.0
Not for the quality of the writing (although it noticeably improves towards the middle of the book), but this book is well worth the read for the message it is getting across.
afryans's review against another edition
4.0
If you are not a computer geek or you fear technology, then this is not the book for you. Since I am a geek I enjoyed it. Some of the information is outdated, but suits the time period of the story.
I am sure we’ve averted many cyberattacks, that the government has not informed us of, but the thought that our country could be so easily destroyed by a targeted attack makes me nervous. You do not realize how much we depend on technology until you realize what we will not have if we lose it.
ThIs book made me want to print all of my photographs immediately.
Overall this was a good book.
I am sure we’ve averted many cyberattacks, that the government has not informed us of, but the thought that our country could be so easily destroyed by a targeted attack makes me nervous. You do not realize how much we depend on technology until you realize what we will not have if we lose it.
ThIs book made me want to print all of my photographs immediately.
Overall this was a good book.
tresat's review against another edition
1.0
This was one of the worst books I've ever read. I obviously wasn't expecting great literature when I picked this up, but this was miles away from being even a decent thriller. There wasn't even any interesting discussion of computer security involved - which was the main reason I was interested, considering the author's credentials - it was all very high level and vague, clearly toned down to broaden the appeal. Characters were entirely black or white; every female was a beautiful, oversexed goddess; the villains were generic "terrorist" caricatures that lacked any substance; and the American leads were entirely selfless, heroic and awesome in the face of any obstacle. All of which could be forgiven (hell, I've enjoyed plenty of Michael Bay movies) if the plot were halfway interesting, the pacing adequate or the writing any good. Unfortunately, they were not. Also, the sex scenes were so laughably bad, I seriously wonder if the author has ever kissed a girl.