Chasing the Dime, Michael Connelly
The Book
For Henry Pierce, the apartment is nice, but doesn't his fiancée, oops, ex-fiancé, Nicole. He's lonely, but a smart, driven, tech entrepreneur like him doesn't have for regrets. If he doesn't land the his next big investor, his little start up is going to go under. It's the worst possible time for him to have a distraction. So of course his new phone number was that of a call girl and he keeps getting calls for her. He calls everyone he knows in his private world for help, his personal assistant (who keeps thinking he's both a creep and trying to make a pass at her), his best friend, a white-hat hacker name Cody, and his ex, who is very, very busy setting boundaries. But nothing going, he keeps having intrusive thoughts that this escort is either in danger, or dead. He sets out to solve they mystery of her disappearance.
Through a number of twists and turns, he finds the website where she is advertising. He finds one of her colleagues. He uncovers what the measures the escorts use to circumvent prostitution laws, and he find several of her pads as well as her actual home.
Meanwhile, he has a shark on the line. His research is up for patents and his company needs the money to go keep going. He's suspicious of his new finance officer, the man in charge of bringing in the money while they try to get a molecular computer to market. As his research in the lab lags, the cops figure out he's checking out the escort and believe he's the one who killed her. As the investigation ramps up, Henry finds he's in more peril than he imagined. And at the end of the day, the culprit might be inside his company.
Through a number of twists and turns, he finds the website where she is advertising. He finds one of her colleagues. He uncovers what the measures the escorts use to circumvent prostitution laws, and he find several of her pads as well as her actual home.
Meanwhile, he has a shark on the line. His research is up for patents and his company needs the money to go keep going. He's suspicious of his new finance officer, the man in charge of bringing in the money while they try to get a molecular computer to market. As his research in the lab lags, the cops figure out he's checking out the escort and believe he's the one who killed her. As the investigation ramps up, Henry finds he's in more peril than he imagined. And at the end of the day, the culprit might be inside his company.
My Thoughts
This book was released in 2002. This is why everyone should read novels written contemporaneously, to get a real feel for what it was like to live in that moment. Having said that, I found the assertion that molecular computing might start paying out in about a decade to be hilarious. I remember when this was all of the rage. And yet, as I write this in 2025, NVIDIA was called by an expert on CNBC "the most important company in the world." For the record NVIDIA is in the computer chip business, but their chips, while revolutionary, are still traditional computer chips. They were designed to do parallel processes, making them more efficient that something that an oldie like me, say an Intel silicone based chips, can do. But what it is not is a molecular computer. This model, which would mainly have medical applications, doesn't yet work well enough to change the world. Perhaps this will be the next big tech thing. But since the book was written we've seen a shift in the landscape of the world. We've had the rise of social media and the rise in AI. All of which seemed to sci-fi to make a good thriller in the early 2000s. At that time, molecular computing seemed much more in reach.
And yet, like many things that are biologically based, it seems nature's multi-billion year research lead is still going strong.
The novel, in and of itself and the mystery were easily solvable. It's a fun read, but even if it doesn't explain the science out, and the science predictions were just wrong, it was informative. Glad I read it, but I'm not sure I would put in the my collection.
And yet, like many things that are biologically based, it seems nature's multi-billion year research lead is still going strong.
The novel, in and of itself and the mystery were easily solvable. It's a fun read, but even if it doesn't explain the science out, and the science predictions were just wrong, it was informative. Glad I read it, but I'm not sure I would put in the my collection.
How Much My Library Card Saved Me
This book came to me from Northbrook Public Library. Although the copyright on this 413 page book is 2002, this one seems to be in near pristine condition. The spine it tight, but the pages are not. I can't have been the first person to read this book, because it didn't crack. There are no markings, dog ear, or other indications that it had been read before. It was easy to hold in one hand. By perusing the Goodreads listing for this title, it seems it is not one of Connelly's most popular, so my6 guess is this is a paperback that was purchased when the paperback was released, but is not frequently read. I would suppose this library keeps this book in their collection due to wanting to have a complete set of Connelly novels, rather than demand. This book should be good for at least another 10-15 reads, and probably more like 20 if they are gentle readers. The back cover says this book says $8.99, that is the number we will use.
This Book $8.99
This Book $8.99
Items Reviewed This Year $360.94
Private Books
This Book $0.00
Total of Private Books $44.89
Total of All Items Reviewed This Year $407.71
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