| Chicago police officer Susannah ('Suze') Figueroa and her partner Norm Bennis are caught up in a nefarious plot devised by the head of a large computer company - a power-hungry man who will stop at nothing to achieve his goals. Not even willful murder.
It seems that SJR DataSystems has back-door entry into numerous computer networks with overwrite capabilities, including many of Chicago's hospitals and the Chicago Police Dept. as well. But the heads of SJR aren't content with simply being able to manipulate any information that can be stored on a hard drive (credit card info; political affiliations; medical backgrounds, etc.) - they have more far-reaching plans already set in motion by the time 'Killer.app' is in its opening stages. The end game? Terminate the president so the veep can step in, with the head of SJR's endorsement, or puppet strings, rather. It is the sad misfortune of Suze Figueroa's brilliant computer engineer sister and SJR employee, Sheryl, that she accidentally stumbles upon one of SJR's secret programs designed to advance the evil takeover plot. She is quickly labelled a threat by her employer, Dean Utley, and he orders his underlings to do her in. It is Utley's misfortune that Sheryl confided in Suze about her growing suspicions that something is very wrong at SJR before she is gravely injured in a car 'accident'. The computer-challenged Suze takes up her comatose sister's investigation along with buddy officer Bennis; CPD white-collar crime expert Jesus Delgado, whose own investigation has cost him dearly, and a CPD computer whiz, officer Max Black. The sheer disregard for human life by Utley and his closest staff will definitely chill the reader. D'Amato does an excellent job here, making us believe that whoever controls information controls the world. And since majority of information these days is computerized, whoever controls the computers, well...you get the idea. | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear) Time/era of story: Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book descript. of violence and chases - 10 % Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 60 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20 % How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10 % Crime Thriller Yes Crime plotlets: General Crime (including known murderer) Yes Who's the criminal enemy here? - evil corporation/rich guy Main Character Gender - Female Profession/status: Age: - 20's-30's Main Adversary Identity: - an organization Motive of antagonist - power How sensitive is this character? Intelligence - Very much smarter than other characters Setting City? Yes City: - Chicago Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths Unusual form of death? Yes Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog |
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