Rating: 
Summary: Austin & Computers & Conspiracy U will love it
Review: ... U love computers and programming
U love Austin
U love mystery with big ... twist
this is story for uThere are not many books I read that I out and out would suggest for my husband to read. He would usually say the plot is too cookie cut.
Well the truth is I read many cookie cutter books. This is not one. Pineiro has hit aspects of the .com life to a T. With all these people moving from California to Austin to work in computer industry. How the .com only wanted the best people "Harvard" and do anything to move them here. Pineiro uses actual places in Austin which is a wonderful aspect. I truly could relate to. I do not know how many authors go into so much detail of actual cities. Yes Rob Roy subdivision is real and they way rich out there. Great job Pineiro
Rating: 
Summary: 5 1/2 stars
Review: I have to admit that what first grabbed be about this book while browsing through my favorite Houston bookstore was its cover artwork. So I picked it up right there and read through the prologue and first chapter and went straight to the cashier, finishing it two days later. I'm a lover of thrillers and collect them in hardback. This one way exceeded my expectations. When I read a LeCarre or a DeMille, I pretty much know what to expect: top-notch fiction. Here I got that and much more, plus it was not expected. So, on to the book. Enter Michael Patrick Ryan, Stanford University's top graduate in computer engineer, already in possession of job offers from all the big guys, plus married to a beautiful and talented woman, Victoria Ryan, also a Stanford graduate in finance. To cut to the chase, they get lured to Austin after SoftCorp, a little-known software company with a single client, the IRS, overwhelms him with a top salary, bonuses, stock options, a new car, plus a top-paying job at an Austin bank for Victoria. But all is not well at SoftCorp and its relationship with the IRS, where computer automation contracts with SoftCorp result in extraodinary amounts of money being funneled straight out of its coffers and into SoftCorp's accounts in the bank that Victoria is working at. From there it goes overseas to finance . . . well, I'm not going to steal the author's thunder. Sounds familiar so far? Remember Mitch McDeere from Grisham's The Firm? Well, up to this point (just Chapter 1) it's just a well-written high-tech version of the legal thriller that made Grisham a household name. But then R.J. Pineiro takes the novel in a radically different direction, exposing the reader to a heck of a thriller ride smartly woven with artificial intelligence and virtual reality technology, but explained in terms that even a borderline computer illiterate like me can understand, and also learn. When Ryan suspects that something is wrong and hooks up with FBI Special Agent Karen Frost, the action and suspense escalates to a level that even Grisham could not achieve with The Firm. One interesting aspect of the story is how Ryan gets out of jams using his computer skills rather than the brute-force methods of his FBI sidekick, Karen Frost, and her Desert Eagle .44 Magnum (the same one used by those evil agents in The Matrix). I really want to give this fine tale more than five stars because it not only kept my attention through 400 pages, but it did so while also educating me in aspects of virtual reality and artificial intelligence that I had never really thought about much. The story also underlies just how sensitive our technology is to hackers and how much we stand to lose if not properly protected from such attacks. Way to go, Pineiro. I'll be sure to look out for your future books. You've got a new fan.
Rating:
Summary: 5 1/2 stars
Review: I have to admit that what first grabbed be about this book while browsing through my favorite Houston bookstore was its cover artwork. So I picked it up right there and read through the prologue and first chapter and went straight to the cashier, finishing it two days later. I'm a lover of thrillers and collect them in hardback. This one way exceeded my expectations. When I read a LeCarre or a DeMille, I pretty much know what to expect: top-notch fiction. Here I got that and much more, plus it was not expected. So, on to the book. Enter Michael Patrick Ryan, Stanford University's top graduate in computer engineer, already in possession of job offers from all the big guys, plus married to a beautiful and talented woman, Victoria Ryan, also a Stanford graduate in finance. To cut to the chase, they get lured to Austin after SoftCorp, a little-known software company with a single client, the IRS, overwhelms him with a top salary, bonuses, stock options, a new car, plus a top-paying job at an Austin bank for Victoria. But all is not well at SoftCorp and its relationship with the IRS, where computer automation contracts with SoftCorp result in extraodinary amounts of money being funneled straight out of its coffers and into SoftCorp's accounts in the bank that Victoria is working at. From there it goes overseas to finance . . . well, I'm not going to steal the author's thunder. Sounds familiar so far? Remember Mitch McDeere from Grisham's The Firm? Well, up to this point (just Chapter 1) it's just a well-written high-tech version of the legal thriller that made Grisham a household name. But then R.J. Pineiro takes the novel in a radically different direction, exposing the reader to a heck of a thriller ride smartly woven with artificial intelligence and virtual reality technology, but explained in terms that even a borderline computer illiterate like me can understand, and also learn. When Ryan suspects that something is wrong and hooks up with FBI Special Agent Karen Frost, the action and suspense escalates to a level that even Grisham could not achieve with The Firm. One interesting aspect of the story is how Ryan gets out of jams using his computer skills rather than the brute-force methods of his FBI sidekick, Karen Frost, and her Desert Eagle .44 Magnum (the same one used by those evil agents in The Matrix). I really want to give this fine tale more than five stars because it not only kept my attention through 400 pages, but it did so while also educating me in aspects of virtual reality and artificial intelligence that I had never really thought about much. The story also underlies just how sensitive our technology is to hackers and how much we stand to lose if not properly protected from such attacks. Way to go, Pineiro. I'll be sure to look out for your future books. You've got a new fan.
Rating: 
Summary: There isn't an option for 0 stars
Review: I would say the novel is an utter piece of trash. The author apparently is also a Software Engineer, which does not explain the fairy tale VR stuff he weaves in this novel. I mean MSS-Ali, please give us a break, a 5 year old could have come up with a better name. Dude, Virtual Reality interfaces went out of style after Disclosure. Looks like this book was written in a bit of hurry, to get it to the press pronto. The Formula: a couple of Josn Grishams, rent Diclosure (the movie) and voila we have a book.
Rating:
Summary: 4 1/2 stars
Review: See story summary above. R.J. Pineiro comes through again with another hi-tech thriller. The action blends smoothly with the techno-babble in this outstanding adventure featuring the IRS and FBI along with some other very powerful characters. You find yourself cheering on the underdogs with vehemence rarely felt in a novel. There were a few flaws in the editing, but overall I felt it was a well rounded story with a high entertainment value. Keep it up RJ. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: High-Speed Cyber Thriller...
Review: Stanford honors graduate and computer engineer "extraordinaire" Michael Ryan is being courted by every big name high-tech company imaginable, including MicroSoft and Oracle. However, like Grisham's protagonist in _The Firm_, Michael gives in to the promise of a bright and very lucrative financial future with an unknown company, this one named SoftCorp, whose only client is the Internal Revenue Service. What Michael doesn't know (but we all easily deduct) is that SoftCorp has some serious skeletons in the closet, and will go to any lengths to protect their company's secrets. SoftCorp is also the focus of a botched FBI investigation in which one agent and one informant have already been killed. When Karen Frost, the current special agent in charge, approaches Michael and his wife Victoria about helping with the investigation, they all become disposable pawns in a deadly game of hide and seek masterminded by one corrupt individual. Pretty soon people with powerful political agendas, (and corporate executives who were puppets to these agendas) start to die, leaving Michael to use his expert computer programming skills, and a little ingenuity, if he is to keep himself and Victoria alive. This book is a cyber thriller/political intrigue mix. Through his protagonist R.J Pineiro introduces us to the high-tech world of virtual reality programming and back door politics, without drowning us in a heap of technical jargon. He also shows how vulnerable our economy is to the advances taking place in technology. What makes this story line work so well is the high tech solutions used to wither away from the constant threat of danger, and the unrelenting pace and suspense built in by the author. Pineiro really knows how to keep his readers on the edge of their seats...when the action gets really hot, his chapters become shorter, making the plot race almost as fast as your heartbeat. This is a must read if you love explosive suspense thrillers with a good dose of high-tech solutions thrown into the mix. 4 and 1/2 stars...only because the basic premise is all too familiar...but Pineiro digresses sharply from Grisham-dom early on with his cyber-tech theme. And the ending is superb.
Rating: 
Summary: The Firm, rehashed
Review: The plot was too similar to The Firm for me to find it really enjoyable. I found some parts of it largely unrealistic: Ryan's hiring package, Ryan's hacker skills equating with secret agent skills, his VR system and its "usefullness".
But the action was well written, and it held my interest for a plane ride.
Rating:
Summary: Preposterous and Gripping Thrillerh
Review: This book proves that a good writer can take a ridiculous idea and make it into a preposterously unbelievable story that grips you so completely that you stay up most of the night to finish it. IRS agents as heros. A computer database system that cannot possibly work. Evil guys that can watch everything you do on camera in every room in your house. Brilliant Stanford computer whizzes and brilliant banking mavens bamboozled by Cuban gang lords. Presidential candidates stealing billions upond billions. FBI agents that are corrupt and stoopid. Now who would believe all that?
The writer makes a huge number of gigantic stretches so entertaining that you might not crawl out of your chair to eat. Action packed conspiracy upon conspiracy thwarted by a blond female FBI agent and some people just out of college and buried in debt. Lots of major criminals and evil stuff gets a number of important people killed without hardly a policeman anywhere in Austin, Texas to mess things up.
Rating:
Summary: A Thrilling Pageturner!
Review: This is another good book from one of the most exciting authors in the world today.R.J. Pineiro has used his knowledge of the computor world to create another thriller. Mike Ryan is
hired by a computer company named SoftCorp after graduating from Stanford. His wife Victoria is hired by a prosperous Austin bank. Both of these institutions are part of a colossul conspiracy.Karen Frost,an F.B.I. agent has already lost one informant.The main villain in the story,Orion Yanez,is using SoftCorp's only customer,theI.R.S.,to smuggle billions of dollars
out of the country.Yanez controls many powerful people who make this conspiracy huge.When the purpose of the conspiracy is revealed it is totally shocking.This is a very good book. Pineiro
has written another good book.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding
Review: This is my first Pineiro book and it will certainly not be my last one. I picked it up after reading the great reviews it has received and I have to add my own to this growing list. Think of this book as The Firm meets The Matrix. You have excellent and sympathetic characters like Stanford computer whiz Mike Ryan and FBI Agent Karen Frost, the heroes going up against a ruthless Cuban-American billionaire who has puppets everywhere, including one senator he plans to put in the White House next year. The book does start like the Grisham tale but quickly departs from it in a roller-coaster ride that takes you both through the unexpected twists and turns in both the real and cyber worlds. While Mike Ryan surfs the Internet using virtual-reality hardware reminiscent of The Matrix to fight against a well-hidden but powerful criminal empire in America, Karen Frost carries out her own battles against formidable foes in the real world. Together they form an alliance that takes them through enough excitement and nail-biting scenes to keep you turning pages at a furious pace, until . . . well, I'm not going to say. To make it even more interesting, the IRS is involved in more ways that the reader might be led to believe by just reading the book jacket. If you want to read a thriller that's impossible to put down, you want to read this one. In fact, buy two and give one to a friend.
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