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kdurham2's review against another edition
4.0
Check out the full review at Kritters Ramblings
Jeremy Stillwater is a genius, but not the best person to share his genius with the world - people skills don't rank high on his list of qualities. He has created a program that can predict major conflict and the government has turned him down. This program alerts him to a possible World War III and no one is interested in listening to him or trusting his information.
I loved how the author portrayed genius without some people skills! It helped with the plot, but also felt authentic. Jeremy was definitely an entertaining main character and I absolutely shook my head at some of the things he did and said!
Jeremy Stillwater is a genius, but not the best person to share his genius with the world - people skills don't rank high on his list of qualities. He has created a program that can predict major conflict and the government has turned him down. This program alerts him to a possible World War III and no one is interested in listening to him or trusting his information.
I loved how the author portrayed genius without some people skills! It helped with the plot, but also felt authentic. Jeremy was definitely an entertaining main character and I absolutely shook my head at some of the things he did and said!
chutten's review against another edition
1.0
A plodding book where most of the time is spent inside the sleep-deprived mind of a sexist misanthrope... who is the protagonist. A late-act "redemption" of his character was unearned and undeserved. Every conflict was manufactured, every clue obvious.
I should have given up on this book, but instead I finished it.
I should have given up on this book, but instead I finished it.
stevenvw's review against another edition
Interesting story / plot line.
Didn't particularly like the author's writing style.
Didn't particularly like the author's writing style.
cwebb's review against another edition
3.0
Ein Programmierer schreibt ein supermächtiges Programm, das Krieg vorhersagt. Und plötzlich sagt es ihm den dritten Weltkrieg voraus. Startend in drei Tagen. Und dann sind ihm auch noch Killer auf den Fersen...
Es ist spannend, man wird durch den Text getrieben. Es gibt einige Lücken, sowohl vom programmiertechnischen als auch vom erzählerischen her, daher nur drei Sterne. Und auch wegen den Typos an den unpassendsten Stellen.
Es ist spannend, man wird durch den Text getrieben. Es gibt einige Lücken, sowohl vom programmiertechnischen als auch vom erzählerischen her, daher nur drei Sterne. Und auch wegen den Typos an den unpassendsten Stellen.
thepagemistress's review against another edition
2.0
This book is a sci-fi/terrorist adventure novel.
I personally had a lot of issues connecting with the characters. Most of them, including the main character got on my nerves majorly. The plot was interesting but it did take far too long to get into this book.
The writing was captivating towards the end of the book and makes you want to know more.
Unfortunately, I just did not enjoy this book all that much. The main reason being the characters. The sci-fi aspect was perfect though I really enjoyed the world layout.
I personally had a lot of issues connecting with the characters. Most of them, including the main character got on my nerves majorly. The plot was interesting but it did take far too long to get into this book.
The writing was captivating towards the end of the book and makes you want to know more.
Unfortunately, I just did not enjoy this book all that much. The main reason being the characters. The sci-fi aspect was perfect though I really enjoyed the world layout.
snowcrash's review
2.0
I picked up the book as it was about a geeky guy in Silicon Valley who can predict conflict. Sounded interesting. But the result isn't interesting.
The main character, Jeremy, isn't likable. He is a pompous jerk. Genius with code, lousy with people. But he has a girlfriend that understands him. This is where it begins to not work. The characters are cut outs of Bay Area trope. Genius coder is arrogant and can't deal with people. Marketing guy is a snake and portrayed as only in for himself. The lady from the Pentagon comes off as a simple method of misdirection and a push for Jeremy. Sort of. A shadowy religious group that wants to stir up trouble.
The worst part about it is the portrayal of the technology. Someone please get the author an iPad so he can learn how it works. The book is filled with scenes with Jeremy checking something on his iPad (specifically named) by moving a cursor across the screen! Ah, no. iDevices were very specific about not having cursors or any type of external pointing decides. He even says Jeremy has a wireless mouse for the iPad. Ack! Then there are times when Jeremy can connect to his servers without Wi-fi access. His flip phone has a touch screen. If this is supposed to be a book that has a lot of references to Silicon Valley, technology and the power of Big Data, make an effort to actually understand it.
In the end, I skimmed through the last few chapters to only understand how the algorithm (its not a single equation) deduced the end of the world. But I didn't care about the characters one bit.
The main character, Jeremy, isn't likable. He is a pompous jerk. Genius with code, lousy with people. But he has a girlfriend that understands him. This is where it begins to not work. The characters are cut outs of Bay Area trope. Genius coder is arrogant and can't deal with people. Marketing guy is a snake and portrayed as only in for himself. The lady from the Pentagon comes off as a simple method of misdirection and a push for Jeremy. Sort of. A shadowy religious group that wants to stir up trouble.
The worst part about it is the portrayal of the technology. Someone please get the author an iPad so he can learn how it works. The book is filled with scenes with Jeremy checking something on his iPad (specifically named) by moving a cursor across the screen! Ah, no. iDevices were very specific about not having cursors or any type of external pointing decides. He even says Jeremy has a wireless mouse for the iPad. Ack! Then there are times when Jeremy can connect to his servers without Wi-fi access. His flip phone has a touch screen. If this is supposed to be a book that has a lot of references to Silicon Valley, technology and the power of Big Data, make an effort to actually understand it.
In the end, I skimmed through the last few chapters to only understand how the algorithm (its not a single equation) deduced the end of the world. But I didn't care about the characters one bit.
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