Tom Grace called the Rush Limbaugh show yesterday and questioned whether he should try to get a job as an architect again, because doing so might help President Obama's unemployment numbers in some minuscule way...and he did not want to do that. Think about the petty little partisan shithead mind that came up with that thought for a moment before you even contemplate purchasing one of his books and supporting such a dickwad. First of all, um, no, Mr. Grace, you would not be helping Obama's employment numbers if you got a real job. You have been writing for years since your last architectural job and you would have used up your benefits long ago. You would fall into the category of the long-term unemployed, whose benefits were recently cut by republicans, thank you very much. You would be described in the media as someone no longer looking for work, regardless if it is individually true or not. You would no longer be counted in the unemployment statistics, essentially being informed that you do not matter and you are on your own. You might have paid into the unemployment fund for decades, but you only get weeks worth of benefits. And let me tell you what you would be facing out there in a post-Reagan world if you decided to get off your ass and get your hands dirty like a man: Employers who laugh at the idea of keeping you around long enough to have to pay a pension. Employers who do not pay a living wage and force you to accept public assistance to make up the difference, creating more tax burdens of the kind I am sure you will complain about. Employers spoiled by the idea of at-will employment, who can and will fire you without reason or hesitation. Second of all, suck my fuckin' dick you disrespectful fucktard. I will NEVER buy one of your books. You might be sitting pretty, all cocky and full of yourself at the moment, but just remember that karma is a bitch. I never met you, but I know you. Catholic boy, Michigan, advanced degree but little job satisfaction due to underemployment. I get it. But I remember where I came from. My grandfather risked getting his head bashed in in the Flint sit-down strike to ensure that millions of Americans couldn't be fired at will, would be paid a day's wage for a day's labor, and corporations wouldn't be able to pick up and haul their factories anywhere they wanted without regard for the cities they left in shambles. Fast forward about 80 years later and we've come full circle (and I know because I am working 12-hour shifts, no scheduled breaks whatsoever, no meaningful benefits, physical risks aplenty, and absolutely no job security). You should be ashamed of yourself for your chosen sickening ideology.In a way I should thank you. You have motivated me. I have been tinkering on a project for some time now, the kind that will likely result in my not having to be a wage slave for the rest of my life. If a mental lightweight like yourself can scrabble together a second career, so can I.Finally, I would like to know why you feel the need to artificially prop up your book ratings by rating your own books? I know you are not the only author out there doing it, but you gave yourself two 5-star ratings of your work Polar Star, if I interpreted what I read correctly. (What the fuck is with you? Did you also plan to create architectural design awards and give them to yourself to bolster that career as well? The work should speak for itself.) I'll put it this way -- I said my piece and I'm done. Do you think it would be appropriate to copy my comments on this one book and paste them onto every one of your books on goodreads just because I can...maybe even adding facts about your Limbaugh show comments to your Wikipedia page just because I can?
I was very pleasantly surprised by this. I'm a hard case when it comes to spy-fi: all too often, the characters are cardboard and the dialog stinks. Not so here. This guy wirtes dialogue WAY better than the likes of Tom Clancy (thank heavens for that). Moreover, his IT geeks were completely credible characters (I've known many, and they're too often stereotyped). Plus, I'm from Chicago, and I know Michigan pretty well from years of trips to Union Pier, Benton Harbor and Ann Arbor. Not only was I gratified to see a geographical setting that's accurate and a university setting that made me happy because it was different, but the young professionals there were very appealing characters, too (although that romance was telegraphed almost from the beginning; I would have been just as happy if they'd remained friends and dated other people but still stayed confidants).And that Lee Iacocca touch at the end was just hysterical! Good laugh there. Hey, I prefer Mustangs myself, but I wouldn't refuse a concept car, either.Tom Grace managed an excellent command of the subject matter without ever once coming close to boring me to tears (I can't say that about a lot of high-tech spy-fi). Can't recommend this book highly enough. Oh, and it's a pretty fast read, too, though perhaps one shouldn't neceesarily go by me: I fairly inhale books). I'll be reading more of Tom Grace's stuff soon as I can lay my hands on it. Hurrah!
