The Pattern [Kindle Edition]

When ace programmer and intrepid rock climber Craig Walsh starts to suspect that the unusually high number of recent plane crashes may not be coincidental it sends him and his friends on a cyber hunt that could either save or kill millions. This isn't a heart pounding action adventure novel. It is more of a slow boil techno thriller, but it never quite settles into a simmer. There is a decent amount of computer jargon thrown about, even a few snippets of actual code (C++ I think). I don't know anything about coding but wasn't at all put off by its inclusion.

The characters are quite well defined. You can really imagine them hunched over a keyboard in hard wearing Northface or Prana clothing that shows evidence of real world use, carabiners and the somewhat cliche Diet Coke and Doritos close at hand. But it all only served to further crystalize the character type. I really liked the contrasts of the cloistered offices and the majestic outdoors as well as the light romantic elements.

The novel hints at being more than just a techno thriller. Though the spiritualist angle is never fully explored, I would have liked to know a little more about Craig's experiences in this regard. Similarly, there are hints that there may be more to the virus than meets the eye. It would have been an interesting avenue to explore.

Overall, The Pattern is an enjoyable read. There is a tenderness to the main character, Craig, that is really appealing and it's nice to see someone trying to do the right thing.

One of the great aspects of this book is the utter believability in the love between Stacey and Craig. They are funny together...and their kind of love is unusual in its lack of mawkish slush we get in most other romances. Yes, they say "I love you" a lot, perhaps even more often than most couples but it's as if they have made that part oftheir game of life, a ritual which glues them together irrevocably. In all other ways, they are funny, flip and very sexy together. A modern Romeo andJuliet in an ultra modern setting of geek-world. Loved it and enjoyed being intrigued by that world too, perhaps for the first time ever in my life.

But romance which JT Kalnay does so well, is not by any means the mainstay in this ultra modern mystery where innocent people are dying in plane crashes all over the place, where a computer game appears to be the cause but only to a tiny group of geeks who don't even want to believe such a thing is possible and where airlines are quick to point the blame anywhere but at themselves.

Throw into this mix the fact that one of the story's major characters is eliminated at a crucial point in the story, giving the reader a shock from which it is hard to recover, and you have got yourself a book that's hard to put down. One more bonus in this book is the short chapters which seem to help the flow tremendously.

Will you learn how to write a computer program while reading this? Almost, unless you let yourself soak up the whole comp speak thing without really trying to understand the half of it. Will this book change your life? Possibly, if you are a frequent flyer or even if you are the slightest bit nervous already about getting on a plane. Will you become a fan of JTKalnay? Absolutely, without question. I am now.

This Novel had a great beginning but delivery was disappointing. There was too much emphasis on the romantic interaction between the main characters which became very repetitious and boring. The marauder software had such potential and I had expected that an evil mind was behind it and was disappointed that all the plane crashes were simply caused by a stupid mistake.