Deccan Herald - Gods of techno thrillers

From: Subject: Deccan Herald - Gods of techno thrillers Date: Mon, 29 Nov 2010 13:28:28 +0530 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/related; type="text/html"; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0081_01CB8FC9.4EA1DBE0" X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.5579 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0081_01CB8FC9.4EA1DBE0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="utf-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://archive.deccanherald.com/Content/Aug172008/books2008081684957.asp =EF=BB=BF Deccan Herald - Gods of techno thrillers = =

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Dec= can=20 Herald =C2=BB Book= =20 Reviews =C2=BB Detailed=20 = Story

BOOK = WISE

Gods = of techno=20 thrillers

Hi-tech = thrillers can=20 never quite fade away, theres always been those = few=20 brilliant tech-thriller authors and more so, a=20 consistent readership, says Vani = Mahesh

Can you recommend a = writer like=20 Michael crichton?=E2=80=9D is probably the one = question most=20 asked at our online library EasyLib.com. Those = who ask=20 are techno savvy readers, who are no longer held = captive=20 by regular whodunits and they are not too keen = on slow=20 paced =E2=80=98Science fiction=E2=80=99. = Crichton=E2=80=99s books provide an=20 excellent middle ground for such readers, by = deftly=20 weaving science and a cutting edge technology = into a=20 racy plot.

Crichton=E2=80=99s Andromeda = Strain was=20 published way back in 1969, but till date it is = actively=20 read and re-printed umpteen number of times. In = this=20 novel, a space programme is commandeered to = harvest=20 deadly pathogens to be used later, as a = biological=20 weapon in the Cold War. The mission meets a = disastrous=20 end, unleashing on earth horrific and infectious = organisms from Space. These deadly microbes = cause a=20 spate of bizarre deaths which alerts the = government to=20 deploy a team of scientists for disaster = control.=20

Twists and turns in the experiments to = eradicate=20 the epidemic builds suspense to give readers a=20 nail-biting finish. In over 30 years, = Crichton=E2=80=99s=20 extensive research and scientific knowledge has = produced=20 more than 15 novels, each exposing a new = technological=20 disaster. While his Jurassic Park and The = Lost=20 World deal with genetics gone wrong, Timeline = depicts a=20 disastrous effort in time travel. In Prey, he = throws=20 light on nanotechnology to build ultra small = machinery=20 and in the most recent State of Fear he exposes = the=20 facts and myths of global warming. Crichton who = has=20 heralded an era of science and technology based=20 thrillers is justly crowned the =E2=80=98father = of=20 techno-thriller=E2=80=99.

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An=20 author who is a close second to Crichton in both = narrative and technical research is Lincoln = Child. He=20 co-authors with another writer par excellence = Douglas=20 Preston and the duo have written nine books, = exploiting=20 the possibilities in genetic manipulation. Most = of these=20 novels are set in the haunted natural history = museum in=20 New York and they seamlessly weave genetics and=20 anthropology into the plots.

Relic is = the fist=20 book in this series where visitors to this New = York=20 museum are savagely murdered. When the autopsy = results=20 indicate that the killer cannot be human but a = monstrous=20 half-reptile on the prowl, an ensuing = investigation to=20 find the origin of the beast and the struggle to = defeat=20 it keeps readers guessing till the end. Other=20 bestsellers Child and Preston have created = include=20 Reliquary, Mount Dragon and Ice Limit.

As = far as=20 genetic thrillers go, two other must-read = authors are=20 John Case and Greg Bear. John Case=E2=80=99s = Genesis Code is a=20 spellbinder that deals with the illicit use of = cloning=20 and genetic engineering. A more serious genetic = thriller=20 is Greg Bear=E2=80=99s Darwin=E2=80=99s Radio, = where a serious disease=20 is striking pregnant women causing abortions. = Though one=20 may feel lost in the myriad of scientific = explanations,=20 Bear=E2=80=99s imagination in proposing a next = major step in=20 evolution is mind blowing. The sequel Darwin's = Children=20 picks up where Darwin=E2=80=99s Radio left = off.

Though=20 genetic thrillers are flooding the market,=20 computer-based thrillers are not far behind. = Lincoln=20 Child again has to be mentioned here, but = without his=20 co-author Preston. Child has individually penned = many=20 thrillers, out of which Utopia and Deathmatch = stand out.=20 In both these books, Child has expertly used a = premise=20 where =E2=80=98Artificial Intelligence=E2=80=99 = (AI) goes awry. In Death=20 Match, Eden International, a match-making = agency, uses a=20 very advanced AI technology to match individuals = on more=20 than a million criteria and to guarantee a = perfect match=20 for their customers. The plot thickens when more = and=20 more of the perfect couples are found dead. On = similar=20 lines, Michael Ridpath provides an entertainer = with his=20 book Trading Reality, with its technology of = Virtual=20 Reality (VR).

Cryptography is an = alluring=20 technology that is quite often married to = national=20 security in many techno-thrillers. Dan = Brown=E2=80=99s Digital=20 Fortress is a finely crafted novel detailing = cyber=20 crime. A disgruntled employee of the NSA and a = computer=20 genius Ensei Tankado, creates an unbreakable = code to=20 paralyse TRANSLTR, the super computer at the = NSA.=20 Fascinating information about cryptography and=20 cyberspace security, coupled with a taut = narrative makes=20 it an exciting and realistic=20 techno-thriller.

In Neal = Stephenson=E2=80=99s=20 Cryptonomicon, a group of brilliant = cryptographers set=20 out on the task of starting a hi-tech business, = where=20 they want to provide a safe haven for digital=20 information by deploying a very advanced = cryptographic=20 software. Their aim is to make the data bank so = secure=20 that even the all powerful and technologically = advanced=20 US government cannot hack into it. While Digital = Fortress is simple enough for any reader to = understand,=20 Cryptonomicon is certainly for the = mathematically=20 inclined.

This still leaves us with = military=20 techno thrillers heralded by Tom Clancy and = forensic and=20 medical thrillers spearheaded by Robin Cook. = However,=20 addressing them will have to be a whole new = write-up.=20 For now if you think you will enjoy a thrilling = romp=20 through dazzling technology, try Ian Cladwell, = James=20 Rollins, Phillip Kerr and Steve Berry as=20 = well.

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