Book Review: Killing Time

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Killing Time     Amazon US HC Amazon Canada HC
Caleb Carr
Class/Genre:   Science Fiction   Mystery   Futuristic
Random House, Nov 2000, $25.95, 274 pp.

By 2023, the force of the Internet lies in misinformation and outright lies that easily fools the general public into accepting what it says as Gospel truth. Many individuals stare at their monitor in the same manner couch potatoes watched TV in the previous century. The world is a bad place where excesses have gored the environment and Mother Nature seems bushed. Few places seem pure of the IT disease, but those isolated spots mostly in Africa and Asia are breeding grounds for deadly outbreaks.

Historian and best-selling writer Gideon Wolfe learns that the assassination of President Emily Forrester five years ago was digitally altered to trick the public. The widely viewed web page containing the killing is very popular but has split an already divided nation further. Gideon tries to prove his contention only to meet a group of scientists and military experts who were the professional liars behind much of the official public misinformation floating on the Net. Now they fear their web of deceit has released the nuclear genie and unless they can rebottle it, Armageddon will follow.

The concept of KILLING TIME is brilliant with the Internet serving as an information source that contains many misleading items and outright lies that seem veracious. The 1984-like story line slows down a bit due to too many cliffhangers (sort of like a nineteenth century serial novel) disjointing the pace. However, the description of the future world and the players surfing the Internet are intelligently described and provides the entertainment that makes Caleb Carr's dark tale worth reading by futurologists.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner