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If you're into computer programming and Mayan civilization, this is for you

Customer Rating:
I thoroughly enjoyed "01-01-00" because I was interested in all of the aspects pertaining to the plot and subplots. The computer lingo may be a little over the top for people with no familiarity of computer science, and the archaeological explanations might be overboard for those not interested in history. Overall, though, Pineiro does a pretty good job of weaving the past and the future together for the novel. The ending was sort of strange, and one minor theme bothered me throughout the book. At the same time, however, I realized that it made sense due to the timing of the novel.

no title

Customer Rating:
What started out as a terrific read just totally disintegrated at the end. Computer expert meets archeologist in Mayan ruins to unravel virus prior to new millenium. So disappointing.

Doesn't Even Come Close To Living Up To Its Title (spoilers)

Customer Rating:
When you guess the ending of a novel during the opening one gets pretty miffed. One is especially let down when the novel in question proclaims itself as the "Novel of the Millenium". Ok, sure, that subtitle is not meant to be a critical statement, but still you can't help but have high and lofty expectations.

Mining material left over from Chariots of the Gods and old episodes of In Search Of , the novel mixes in some Contact, a little Silence of the Lambs and even a few action thriller conventions. We first find our lead heroine, Susan Garnett on the eve of an attempted suicide. Satisfied with having put behind bars the hacker who unwittingly killed her family, a selfish little bugger nicknamed Bloodaxe, she decides to off herself when that fateful phone call rings through. Thus begins Pineiro's predictable task of showing Garnett that life is still worth living via a global crisis (nothing like the end of Western civilization to snap me out of a suicidal stupor) and a new page of love with Indiana Jones' illegitimate son Cameron Slater. Together the pair head off to the jungles of South America to trace the source of a milleniumal computer virus which just happens to be tied to a signal from a distant corner of space. Also in the jungle we find a cool brother and sister assasain tag-team, enterprising Japanese astronomers, and enough trivial nuggets about the Maya from Pineiro to form a feature length episode of Unsolved Mysteries. With most of the plot based on 70's psedu-science that begs for Orson Wells narration, its pretty hard to imagine all these charecters taking such Earth-shattering revelations in such stride. And the idea that a French minister would somehow endanger the world for the sake of saving face is a farce not even the French would buy into. Oh and let's not forget the sudden international jurisdiction of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (See how X-Files has spoiled us). Despite these plot hurdles, Pineiro's prose is a fast and painless read, tackling the computer jargon with a clear style that should make itself readable to even the most computer illiterate (and God bless him for using BASIC). Events moving along at a brisk pace and once everyone is in the jungle and Mayan headpriests start rearing thier heads the novel begins to have a little more fun with its premise.

epilogue killed a great book

Customer Rating:
This book has lots of technical information which I enjoy about Pineiro books.

If you like computers, SETI, and anthropology this the book for you.

I enjoyed the book up to the EPILOGUE. I felt someone else wrote the epilogue. The time period from ch 20 is 12/18/99 and you turn the page you are on 12/31/01 12:59:59. I felt cheated out of character building and plot line development.

Disappointed in:
* wash over about SETI
* Love story wishy washy
* the ending

Computer enhanced

Customer Rating:
The plot was interesting and I probably would have enjoyed it a lot more if I had been more computer literate. The explanations of the computer programs went well over the head of most of the public, as most of us are not into programing and hacking. However by skipping most of that and reading the rest, the book was entertaining.