Bernard Jan's Blog - Posts Tagged "eliot-peper"

Uncommon Stock: Version 1.0 by Eliot Peper

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Once in a while you come upon a book that throws you completely unguarded off your feet. When you buy a book you usually have an idea what to expect to find between the covers and you prepare yourself for a pleasurable journey into a new world unknown. But when you get a free copy of an e-book as a runner up for the review giveaway contest, you do not know much about it, or whom you are going to deal with and spend your Kindle-time with during the next few days or weeks.

Mara Winkle is the heroine of Eliot Peper's Uncommon Stock: Version 1.0. She is a strong female character caught in the bizarre love-business triangle between her boyfriend Craig and her best friend James. Craig and James are not too much fond of each other, which makes Mara's life even more colorful and exciting, pushing her every now and then to express her strong character in both decision-and-relationship making. Beside being strong headed and ready to cut off people seemingly without a second thought or regret, Mara is passionate about mountain biking and especially rock climbing. "Climbing was the most intellectually intense sport Mara had experienced. She had heard it described as physical chess. It was a kind of dynamic athletic geometry and there was a good reason bouldering routes were called problems. Every move was an exercise in balance, a special mixture of intuition and calculation." However, she is not so enthusiastic about studying at the University of Colorado, Boulder, especially when her best friend James asks her to partner with him to start a new software company Mozaik Industries.

This is a decision that changes both James' and Mara's lives. In their new partnership, James focuses himself on "what he does best, technical development to make Mozaik as awesome as it can possibly be" while Mara becomes "the buffer between him and all the rest of the random shit that needs doing" (Peper describes them as sales, investment, legal, and marketing). In short, they split their roles in doing what they are both best at: "programming for James, juggling for Mara." How this decision affects Craig we won't mention here, so as not to reveal too much and thus spoil the thrill of reading!

This is the moment when all the fun starts in Uncommon Stock, placing this novel among the ranks of fast-paced tech startup thrillers. For new entrepreneurs and enthusiasts Uncommon Stock may serve as a greatly informative and educational reading full of useful advice, but also as the warning on the cruel facts of starting your own business. "Founding a company is a fuck-ton of work. The sausage factory reality is far from the glitzy Silicon Valley mythology. It's a grinding slog that can be enormously satisfying and rewarding, but it's also painful, frustrating, and soul-crushing. If you're going to make it you'll have to sink blood, sweat, and tears into the process. And if you're going to make that kind of a commitment, you've got to truly believe in what you're doing. You've got to be such a zealot that other people are magnetically attracted to you and what you're working on. You've got to dream."

Eliot Peper masterfully leads us through a painful startup process, showing us all the traps and hardships we face along the way. No price is too high, every mistake is paid dearly. Before we realize it, we have already accumulated basic knowledge of the craft, ending up much smarter than we were before starting reading this exciting, adventurous, wise and gripping novel of a slightly unusual title.

In between twists and turns, Eliot Peper amazes us with beautifully intelligent descriptions and ingenious eye for a detail. "They people-watched along the way, relishing the familiar oddities of Boulder's unique human condition. Cyclists were out in force. Mara wondered why it was considered cool to wear jerseys plastered with tacky Fortune 500 branding. A shirtless homeless man was loudly touting the spiritual virtues of vegetarianism and handing out handwritten flyers on the evils of meat from a street corner." "The sky was mostly clear with a thin patina of smog and the sun shone down on an endless grid of concrete, steel, asphalt, and cars. An occasional palm tree or soccer field broke up the urban mélange." "Trees occupied a different dimension than humans. Movement was never an option. They were literally rooted in place and experienced the world through a permanently local lens. Seeds blew off in the wind to sprout new trees in places the parents would never see. And entire generations lived in one area."

Or, "The snakes in her stomach had distilled into a cocktail of righteous anger and frustration."

Beautiful!

I don't shun admitting: Eliot Peper bought me with his descriptions, if not only with his page-turning plot. Uncommon Stock is a high-quality intelligent and intriguing writing of a skillful and undoubtedly talented author whose success and a true value cannot be measured only by a number of sold copies, but also by a commitment and professionalism of this indie writer invested into creating the best end-product for his readers, the only ones that matter to him.

I wouldn't be surprised if it also helps a few startup businesses in the process with his motivational and inspirational dialogues, situations and advices, because, as the author himself says in the novel, "there is something ephemeral but infinitely satisfying about starting something yourself."

BJ
www.bernardjan.com

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Neon Fever Dream by Eliot Peper

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Two powerful young women dominate Eliot Peper's mystery thriller Neon Fever Dream. At the heart of Black Rock City, an unbelievable story unfolds between Asha and Lynn. A story of love, friendship, betrayal, espionage, revenge, redemption. As the Burning Man festival approaches its climax, at Sub Rosa—the most exclusive black market gathering in the world—events explode in the huge blast of unexpected revelations, found and lost friends, graphic violence and dead and mutilated bodies, organized crime, undercover investigations and investigative journalism, sweet lies and bitter truth.
 
Passion and love are the only things Asha and Lynn can hold onto when their world mists with doubts and darkens with clouds of betrayal. But the power of forgiveness is the way and the light as the old truth disappears in the flames of the Burning Man and the new one is born on love, blood and ruin.
 
Eliot Peper is a proven master of storytelling. Once being seduced by his words, it's hard to tell no to his writing. This is the indie author I will definitely keep my eyes on, with the goal, plan and an easy and pleasurable task for myself to read all of his books one day. I know I won't be disappointed.
 
Please also read my review of Eliot Peper's tech startup thriller Uncommon Stock: Version 1.0 (The Uncommon Series).
 
BJ
www.bernardjan.com
 
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Bernard Jan

Bandwidth by Eliot Peper

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


He did it again! Eliot Peper is a master of creeping his way into your brain cells with stories that carry a premonition sign of a society galloping into its dystopian future and human entities running wild with seemingly no one to save them.

Having recent events flooding the world media in mind, Bandwidth (An Analog Novel Book 1) comes as another shocking reminder of the realities we live in, both virtual and the real-time ones, and the hidden battles fought for our souls, money and lives.

Bandwidth is a prophecy of a digital feed era which lures us into its techno-thriller net with an immense potential of manipulating everything and everyone. The only way of survival might be in trusting no one and questioning every authority.

Whether or not you fancy that shape of our future or not, read Bandwidth. If not for the story itself than for the author's writing.

I don't hide; I love Peper's style. His Bandwidth opening pages are a carefully handcrafted textbook example of a great writer catching the attention of his reader at an early stage and the promise of an entertaining read for those seeking intellectual and sophisticated writing.

Oh yes, he did it again! High five!

Bernard Jan
www.bernardjan.com

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy from the author as his early reader in exchange for an honest review.

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Borderless by Eliot Peper

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


More action. More suspense. More intrigue. More of everything in the second installment of the Analog Series, Borderless.

It’s all about the feed and the clash and wisdom of two women—Diana and Helen—who keep the present, future and the ultimate destiny of the world in the fist of their attacks and counterattacks.

Because,

The feed was the information infrastructure that empowered nearly every human activity and on which nearly every human activity relied. A talisman that lent mere mortals the power of demigods. Doctors used it for diagnosis. Brokers used it to place bets. Physicists used it to explore the mysteries of quantum entanglement. Farmers used it to grow food. Kindergarteners used it to learn the alphabet. The feed was power, water, transportation, communication, entertainment, public services, relationships, industry, media, government, security, finance, and education. Without it the churning torrent of human civilization would cease.

Praise to Eliot Peper, the author of Cumulus, True Blue, Neon Fever Dream, The Uncommon Series, Bandwidth, and now another near-future thriller Borderless, the second novel in the Analog Series.

If you haven’t read anything coming from Eliot Peper’s super brain, correct that now and grab any of his book. His writing is intelligent, seducing, enchanting, like multi-colored waterfall cascading over the central core of your brain.

Read this: You were the center of gravity in a dance that you were observing but not participating in. And read this: When you owned your own decisions, you owned your own sins. And this: The overall impression it left was of something designed but not engineered, a marriage of botanical growth and human imagination.

And then read the whole of Borderless, not skipping a single word because you don’t want to shatter the glass ball of magical writing in front of which we bow our heads pleased and humbled.

Overwhelmed with the beauty and the rich texture of his writing style, I need to say this one last thing (or maybe two). Many great authors are out there but there are not so many great authors who are true artists. Eliot Peper is one of them.

Whether you are just a reader, a budding or established writer or an author, read Eliot Peper. Read him slowly and with tender care. Enjoy the process and LEARN.

You don’t want to miss the taste of the near future and live it now in your imagination before it will become real in a few years or decades; you don’t want to be excluded from the privilege of knowing one of the best composers of the written word who walks, breaths, dreams and lives in the same feed as you do. That would be a shame.

Bernard Jan
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Cumulus by Eliot Peper

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


In his near-future thriller Cumulus, Eliot Peper sets his plot in his hometown Oakland around a passionate and talented young analog photographer, the founder and CEO of a tech giant and a frustrated intelligence agent.

If that doesn’t sound intriguing enough, the fact that Eliot Peper is one of the most talented writers of techno-thrillers today, should rush you to grab this book. Haunting startup stories with political intrigues are his specialty and playground, and Cumulus is yet another confirmation of that. Just a warning before you start reading it: you might get addicted!

BJ
www.bernardjan.com
Bernard Jan



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Breach by Eliot Peper

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Breach. The third and the last Analog Novel by Eliot Peper is a worthy ending of the extraordinary technothriller Analog Series. Once again Eliot Peper proves his ingenious writing, giving us a strong heroine in ex-hacker Emily Kim, brilliant and intelligent dialogues and true gems—his descriptions I fell in love with ever since I’ve read his first book Uncommon Stock: Version 1.0 (The Uncommon Series).

Allow me to share three of Peper’s Breach gems with you:

“My dad told me this fairytale when I was little,” said Emily, remembering how his stories had been the soundtrack to her stargazing, polished by retelling until they were smooth pebbles in her heart.

The melancholy notes of a lone oud fell on her ears like raindrops. The gentle pressure of Nell’s touch was an ecstatic connection, two spacecraft docking after an interstellar voyage.

Diplomats are people who murder you politely.

Breach is the book to read, enjoy and cherish. Because of its story, because of Emily and because of the realistic insight into our future world ruled by algorithms and startups that rose into giants, global entities as powerful as the world nations.

BJ
www.bernardjan.com

My reviews of Bandwidth and Borderless.

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Bernard Jan



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Uncommon Stock: Power Play by Eliot Peper

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


It’s hard to believe that three years, three months, and twenty-four days have passed since I’ve read the first book of The Uncommon Series. Reviewing Uncommon Stock: Version 1.0 on September 5, 2016 was like it happened yesterday the moment I started reading its sequel Power Play. Mara Winkel and her heartfelt dedication to her idea(l)s and work came to life in my memory already with the first bass beats of Burning Man.

In this instalment, the CEO of Mozaik, the fastest-growing tech startup in Boulder, leads her team in building a software that will uncover financial fraud at a large international bank.

The book one was a fast read but in the book two Uncommon Stock: Power Play Eliot Peper speeds things up even more by pushing Mara to stir the hornet’s nest and sets lose the dark forces of corrupted corporate capitalist world. His writing is again beautifully contagious, educational and informative. His story is full of action and it pulses within your bloodstreams as it quenches your thirst for the first-rate startup thriller. Thankfully, there is one more book to go!

BJ
www.bernardjan.com

My review of Uncommon Stock: Version 1.0.

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Bernard Jan



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Veil by Eliot Peper

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Maybe it is no coincidence that Veil by Eliot Peper is being launched at a time when the cries for saving our planet and warning about climate change were the strongest and on its peak when another threat appeared out of the blue and silenced them. As the threat to the world population kills people everywhere, who is still thinking about global warming and climate change? Is it that important when we don’t know who will tomorrow live and who will die?

Yes, it is important. Because, viruses or no viruses, without the climate that sustains the thriving of all creatures, viruses won’t matter because there won’t be any life for them to attack. It will all be barren and dead.

Veil is an important book that comes at the right time. As we are afraid, or forced to fear for our own existence, we must not lose this global picture from our sight. Because what will happen if someone hijacks our climate and starts disasters that kill tens of million people and puts the future of our civilization at stake?

This is what happens in Veil, an intriguing, informative and educational “family” story, veiled in secrets, manipulations and their revelations, and rediscovered friendship and family ties.

Eliot Peper is not only a skilled storyteller, but also a teacher. He warns us about what can happen when a single human being gets enough power to change the world and gives us food for thought what will we do and what kind of future we want for ourselves and our loved ones.

This is a wake-up call, and if we don’t pull our heads out of the sand of ignorance, not only will someone with power hijack our climate but also our lives and very existence.

I want to thank Eliot for giving me the opportunity to read his advance review copy and conclude my honest review with two brilliant excerpts from his brand new novel.

Time distending into singularity at the moment of impact, every fiber of her soul resonating at the same frequency before shattering like a crystal champagne flute under the ringing soprano of an opera singer.

Clarity is not short sentences, she’d said. Or long sentences. Or sentences of any particular flavor. Clarity is forging your imagination into a pebble that, when tossed, will ripple through other minds.

BJ
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Bernard Jan



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Uncommon Stock: Exit Strategy by Eliot Peper

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


First there was Version 1.0, then Power Play, and now Exit Strategy, as a brilliant ending of gripping and page-turning The Uncommon Series. Uncommon Stock: Exit Strategy is a perfect, mad, violent, loud, crescendo closure of the series I loved from the line one of the page one!

Breathing heavily under the weight of impressions, I am at a loss of words to thank Eliot Peper enough for writing this series and sharing it wish us. All I will say is buy and read Exit Strategy and other two books in the series and brace yourself for hours of pure reading pleasure.

If you need more evidence why I love this series so much, please also check my reviews of Uncommon Stock: Version 1.0 and Uncommon Stock: Power Play.

Thanks, Eliot!

BJ
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Bernard Jan




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