BKDRVFRC.RVW 970104 "Driving Force", Dick Francis, 1992, 0449221393 %A Dick Francis %C 29 Birch Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, M4V 1E2 %D 1992 %G 0449221393 %I Macmillan of Canada %O 416-963-8830 Fax: 416-923-4821 %P 318 %T "Driving Force" I love Dick Francis' books. I have no particular idea why. I have no consuming interest in horses or racing. Only one of his books was set in Canada, and that one didn't betray much knowledge of the country. When you have read one of his books you've basically read them all: the basic plot doesn't change. Still, the characters are sympathetic, and the writing is deft, with a touch of wit. "Driving Force" came as a bit of a surprise. Until I actually came across the passage about the Michelangelo virus I'd actually forgotten that I'd heard about the book before. And, of course, Michelangelo is what gets it into the series. Somebody must have told Francis a good bit about Michelangelo, particularly given that the book was written during 1992, just after the initial media attention and triggering. The description is quite accurate, down to the fact that the coincidence of dates is what provided the name of the virus. The status as a boot sector infector is accurate, as is the description of triggering and effect. In other areas, however, the tale breaks down. While the date is never mentioned in the story, both the copyright date and an internal mention have to place it in 1992. Yet the story insists that March 6 of that year was a Sunday. (It was actually a Friday.) (However, the book does point out why so few Michelangelo infections triggered during 1993 and 1994, when March 6 fell on weekends.) A random computer "consultant", pulled out of the phone book, is surprisingly knowledgeable about viruses. The shop that sold the character's their original computer system is also surprisingly competent (for all that they get a slanging later): prior to 1991 the hero has network access to the office computers over a dialup line. According to the book (and necessary to the plot), Michelangelo is able to infect over a network. (It can't.) And, of course, it is all unnecessarily convoluted. For the purposes of the story it would have been easier, simpler, faster, and less detectable to simply type "FORMAT C:". copyright Robert M. Slade, 1997 BKDRVFRC.RVW 970104 ====================== roberts@decus.ca rslade@vcn.bc.ca rslade@vanisl.decus.ca Ceterum censeo CNA Financial Services delendam esse Please note the Peterson story - http://www.netmind.com/~padgett/trial.htm