Net Impact

Dick Thornby #1

by Donald J. Bingle

Dick Thornby is not Hollywood's idea of a spy. In his rough and tumble job there are no tailored Italian suits, no bimbos eager to please, and no massive underground fortresses built by evil overlords seeking world domination; just an endless series of sinister threats to the safety and security of the billions of mundane citizens of the planet. Sure, Dick's tough and he knows a few tricks to help him get out of a tight spot, even if his boss accuses him of over-reliance on an abundance of explosives. But he's also got a mortgage, a wife upset by his frequent absences on "business" trips, and an increasingly alienated teen-age son who spends way too much time playing in gaming worlds on the computer.

When a mission to bust up an arms exchange in New Zealand goes spectacularly bad, ending with the showy destruction of the Dunedin port facility, Dick is thrown into a maze of conflict involving Hong Kong arms dealers, cyber-criminals, Chinese government goons attempting to suppress computer access by dissidents, and even militant Maoris seeking rocket launchers to shoot down tourist-laden jumbo jets. Then a young computer expert back at the Philadelphia headquarters for The Subsidiary, an international espionage agency created in the aftermath of 9/11, discovers that the bad guys are involved in a vast conspiracy. Dick is forced to partner with the espionage neophyte to battle evil on multiple fronts, leading to a final confrontation that incorporates real-world conspiracy theories and cutting-edge technology.

In the end, Dick can save his partner, save his marriage, save his son, or save the world, but he can't do it all.

Genres: Thriller, Fiction

276 pages, Paperback

First published July 19, 2011

About the author

Donald J. Bingle (sometimes credited as Don Bingle) is the author of Frame Shop, a mystery thriller set in a suburban writers' group, Net Impact, a spy thriller which incorporates real-world conspiracy theories, Wet Work, the follow-up adventure to Net Impact, GREENSWORD, a dark comedy about global warming, and Forced Conversion, a military science fiction novel set in the near future. He is also the co-author (with Jean Rabe) of The Love-Haight Case Files, an urban fantasy about the legal rights of supernatural creatures in a magical San Francisco. He has also written a variety of short fiction in the fantasy, science fiction, horror, and comedy genres, and also in gaming material, including stories in the Dragonlance and Transformers universes and in a variety of DAW themed anthologies. Many of his published stories have been collected by theme in his Writer on Demand TM series. He was the world's top-ranked player of RPGA Classic roleplaying game tournaments from 1985-2000.

Reviews

[Janet Deaver-Pack · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm never quite certain how to start a review for a book written by a friend, but here goes. This is a page-turner. I started out not wanting to like aptly-named main character Dick Thornby, but by the third chapter I couldn't help but appreciate this guy. He's a real person who's a spy. He likes beer, and he's got real-world problems he's got to work out. But in a tense situation where it seems like the Earth and everyone/everything on it is going to die, he thinks the situation through and comes up with at least one possibility that leads to survival. No James Bond here. Dick gets tongue-tied occasionally, which is sometimes humorous, sometimes painful. He's former military and has been a Chicago cop, which are both recommendations for his job. He's not as computer game savvy as some, but he'd be a good neighbor if he was ever home. Don Bingle writes fairly tight, and throws in enough technical detail to please Tom Clancy fans with neat gizmos. His wry sense of humor shines from nearly every page. Like Tony Hillerman, he gives his reader clues that are easy to ignore until big pieces of the plot start slamming together like an oversized jigsaw puzzle, and the reader suddenly recalls them. This book moves inexorably forward from the first page until the last, and the plot twists along with the action. I enjoyed it, and wished there was more at the end. Good thing Donald Bingle has another Dick Thornby book available called WET WORK to ease my craving. Way to go, Don!

[Rellim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a difficult review for me. This book should be everything I love. An intersection of Spycraft and gaming, a not-so-perfect agent, combined into a mystery/suspense/thriller novel. In some respects, I enjoyed Bruce Pilkerton’s narration. He has a wide variety of voices, accents, and emotions. Yet, somehow, I really struggled to get into the story and Pilkerton’s portrayal of the characters. I found myself constantly starting and stopping and having to remind myself to go back to it.

At about the 50% mark, I opted to just read it myself and things vastly improved. Bingle definitely has a talent at bringing together a huge cast of diverse characters and what initially seemed like unrelated events into a compelling thriller. It crossed a lot of genres – but in a way that I personally enjoyed. As a gamer myself, the MMORPG aspect was enjoyable and it was a treat to experience Dick’s uncertainty in that world.

This isn’t a cliffhanger, but Bingle does leave some loose ends in secondary storlines. I’m looking forward to reading Wet Work.

Narration:
I really think that this was an issue of the specific combination of this narrator with this story not working for me. I would be willing to listen to Pilkerton again, probably in a different genre.

I own the ebook, but did receive a free copy of this audiobook from Story Origin and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

[Paul Genesse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Net Impact by Donald J. Bingle is not your dad’s spy novel. This is a modern spy thriller about a realistic agent working for a shadow company, The Subsidiary, affiliated with several different sovereign nations. The details are crisp and main character is a fully drawn man with an exciting career in espionage, but a terrible life at home, as he rarely sees his wife and son, who are becoming more and more upset with his always gone lifestyle. His marriage is in serious trouble as he is sent on a mission to New Zealand to stop the transfer of unmanned drone plans and goes from there as our he uncovers the truth about a very diabolical plot apropos for our modern internet age.

The most fascinating thing about the novel is the inclusion of the fictional virtual world of Reality 2 Be, think Second Life, where a lot of secret and illegal activity happens—which is not fiction. I had no idea, but in the virtual worlds of the internet money is transferred, criminals conduct clandestine meetings, and rebels and terrorists get together right under the nose of the world governments who have no idea of how to monitor and police the virtual worlds. Sure, we’ve seen spies infiltrate the lairs of the bad guys, but I hadn’t seen one infiltrate a virtual world before, and it was cool to see how the plot brought the virtual and real world together in a very fascinating twist.

The strength of the book is the accurate main character, who is so good at what he does, but not in a sort of silly James Bond way. This is more of a Jason Bourne crossed with that cool uncle of yours who was a lineman in football, then army ranger, and a cop before he became a private consultant. He’s a realistic spy, who uses his keen intellect and pragmatic philosophy to get the job done—and he’s known for causing mass destruction, but he gets the mission accomplished no matter what. Sure, there are a few gunfights, fires, computer hacking moments, and big explosions, but OMG, the ending is pretty amazing and I didn’t see that one coming. I’m pretty certain no spy has ever used what this guy used to accomplish the mission at the end.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, as well as Bingle’s other novels, Forced Conversion and Greensword. His short fiction has always entertained me as well, and I look forward to his next project.

Net Impact is a short, punchy, realistic spy thriller for the modern age, and once you read this, you’ll never look at the internet the same way again.


Paul Genesse, author and editor

[Steven Paul Leiva · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this superbly entertaining spy thriller, Donald J. Bingle mixes a hardened operative with military, police, and clandestine real-world experience with the surrealness of the virtual world of gaming. Dick Thornby, who works for a secret, Internationally funded, if not sanctioned, espionage and black ops agency, is not particularly a man with a mission, but when he is on a mission he is always determined to complete it successfully by “always doing what has to be done.” Even if that means straying from any moral center he may have. Which leads, of course, toward the end of "Net Impact," to a deep moral dilemma to add to his ongoing moral dilemma of lying to his family about the true nature of how he spends his days. The latter, he fears, is destroying his family. The former could destroy him. Despite this, Thornby is not a man without humor (nor is author Bingle), usually directed against uptight executives and a world with such creatures in it as people younger than him, people more comfortable in a virtual world than the real world, and possibly just people in general. And yet, he is a man who loves his family. He is just caught between saving them and saving the world. "Net Impact’s" final third is propulsive, fueled by tension, thrills, and threats. Do not put something in the oven until you have finished. You may well burn your dinner.

[Stan Dunn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Net Impact, the first book in the Dick Thornby series by the author is an attempt to try to be too many things to too many people. I don't think a book can be a good action/thriller and a good GameLit/LitRPG at the same time, and I'm afraid that the author tried too hard to make this happen. I think the book started well, with the protagonist breaking up an arms exchange in New Zealand, but then I get lost. We get a glimpse of his marital troubles and as the blurb says "a maze of conflict" that eventually leads Dick to the Subsidiary.

It seemed to me at this point the storyline tried to be too much and I think I found myself listening to GameLit which isn't bad, but the juvenile, 12-year-old-boy humor about male sexual organs immediately takes this book out of the class of the Da Vinci Code.

I don't think the genre mash-up worked for me, but having received an audio version, I would say the narration was very good. Thanks to the author and StoryOrigins for the review copy of this book. I am voluntarily leaving this review.

[Darren Bourn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was another book that I had received from the author, and the kind folks at storyoriginapp.com, in return for an honest review.

This was one of those books that attempt to show the human side of the prototypical "James Bond"-esque characters with all of the foibles of such a character. Dick Thornby is that character, a man trying to live a normal life (with a wife and teenage son - both of whom have a strained relationship with him). In addition to trying to "save the world", our protagonist also has to deal with the realization that his "partner" is to be terminated by his organization ("The Subsidiary") or the Chinese for his actions supporting Chinese dissidents.

Another part of the book that I enjoyed was the way that the author weaved conspiracy theories into his novel.

As far as a review goes, this story definitely is worth a solid four stars out of five.

As with how these things go, this is just my five cents worth.

[Frog Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the book, was slightly disappointed in the ending, but looking forward to seeing where it goes from here

Full review posted on the Friday Indie Review!

[Tam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dick Thornby is the modern day, working man's James Bond. This was a captivating, suspenseful, fast-paced read that I could not devour quickly enough.

*I received a complimentary ARC of this book in order to read and provide a voluntary, unbiased and honest review, should I choose to do so.

[Donald J. Bingle]

Hope you enjoy my new spy thriller. Happy to hear your comments and read your reviews.

Donald J. Bingle
Writer on Demand TM

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

spy novel thriller meets the world of gamers. Fast quick read - detailed review to follow.

[Katinka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Through a MMORPG, the world’s safety is threatened by various groups. A cyber terrorist has stolen the plans to a secret stealthy spy drone and is selling them illegally through an online virtual reality game. But the group who stole them has been discovered and is being stalked by a foreign government who wants those plans for themselves and will stop at nothing to gain them.

Dick Thornby is a spy. It is his job to retrieve those plans and return them to the Subsidiary, whatever the cost. His orders are to make sure there were no copies made and that everything was recovered. But with additional complications, the mission he thought he’d finished became a much more difficult and time consuming project... One that might cost him his marriage and the family to whom he can’t explain his real job.

I greatly enjoyed reading this book. I don’t often read many thrillers, but after meeting the author and acquiring this one the at the Origins Gaming Convention, I gave it a chance and very much enjoyed reading it. The difficult task Dick has to accomplish only becomes more difficult through the plot twists he runs into all the way through to the end of the book. I felt it was well worth the time to read it and am planning on picking up the next book in the series to read soon. It was well written and drew me right in, keeping my attention all the way to the end of the book. I think anyone who enjoys thrillers will definitely enjoy reading this one. I strongly recommend giving it a chance.

[Korra II Allison Baskerville · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ll start off by saying I have little experience in the way of spy-thrillers. The aspects of the story that I was familiar with all felt well researched and presented properly. The character interactions and relationships all feel genuine and fleshed out, as much as they need to be anyway. This led to the credibility and believability of the world.

While the story isn’t particularly deep, what else do you expect from a spy story? While some aspects of the story are unresolved, I’ve discovered that it’s part of a series. Net Impact managed to keep me hooked and excited to see what happens next. This is definitely a series I’d consider continuing, should the opportunity present itself.

The narration of the audiobook is great. I didn’t notice any audible hiccups, repeated dialogue, mispronounced words, or other common audiobook errors.

NOTE: This copy was provided to me free of charge as a digital review copy. The opinions stated in this review are mine and mine alone, I was not paid or requested to give this book a certain rating, suggestion, or approval.

[Jay Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was lost early in the book until I realized action was taking place in two different worlds. Avatars in the virtual world represented people in the real world, and you don't get a menu for the mapping. The characters are all well-developed, though not all are likeable. The style of writing makes for quick reading while still providing good imagery. While the story is all about the violence and action, the main thrust is on the relationship between Thornby and his family. Not every issue is resolved in the book, but a promising door remains open. The narrative follows different characters at different times, and the virtual world and real world are not necessarily in alignment. The action scenes are well depicted, and the dialogue between characters is very realistic. This is one of those stories where you get to the end and say "Wow! What did I just read."

[John E · Rating 4 out of 5]

We are being protected

The conspiracy theories are real but a global organization also exists to keep us safe. Dick Thornby is an agent that has a propensity for putting it all together along with a propensity for explosions. Dick's opening skirmish in New Zealand provides insight to the character and his techniques and proceeds to more sleuthing and action. A mixture of intrigue, family conflict, military techniques, cyber threats, humor and casualties, there is plenty to keep readers interested.

Fair disclosure: I do know the author and we have a number of mutual friends. I also don't generally read this type of genre. That being said, I enjoyed reading this novel as a change of pace, read book 2 and i am looking forward to book 3

[Baglady · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spies meet gamers~ I'm neither but read more spy novels than gaming stories, so I had some confusion at the beginning when it seemed that there were many characters with no connection to each other much less the same plot. But over time the relationships between characters became clear, and the spy elements were creative enough to keep me interested. Gamer events needed to be explained to the spy, and that explanation worked for me. At least enough to understand why the plot went the way it did, and what the conflicts were. Nice to have a hero-spy who isn't James Bond type.

[Catrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

From the summary, it sounded like this one would be right up my alley. I’m not sure what it was, but i just couldn’t get into this story. It was a challenge for me to get to the end.

The narration, by Bruce Pilkenton, was well done. The pace was varied to enhance the changes in level of action.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and I have voluntarily left this review.

[Siobhan D · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the narration of Bruce Pilkenton

Dick Thornby, is a spy who has spent his life protecting the world from individuals and organizations. At the same time wrecking his marriage and relationship with his son, Seth. Dick is sent to New Zealand to prevent an arms deal. Dick and his son Seth are drawn into the world of cyber criminals.

[Mary Good · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting combination of reality and gaming milieus. Quit reading it because I lost interest in it (despite the interesting settings). Just didn’t care about the characters or what happened to them.

[Adrian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Spy thriller, at times a little corny, and like many in this genre, with a fair share of spills and thrills. Worth having in a holiday bag, but not if you're a New Zealander.

[Kathleen]

Not realistic but scary if this plot could actually happen.

[Beaulah McLean · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this story, was hoping to hear more about Luke, Brian, Seth and Melanie at the end though. The narrator was fabulous.

[Trevor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spy Dick Thornby is trying to juggle his professional and personal life. With his latest mission proving more complicated than usual, he finds himself fighting in the real and virtual world.

[Lori Peterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Received as a review copy from Story Origin; also received an audio review copy from Story Origin, narrated by Bruce Pilkenton who does an extraordinary job of voice mastery with various accents and hilarious dialogue to make this adventurous tale heard with a darker edge.

For Dick Thornby, a life of trying to protect the world from malicious individuals and organizations has wrecked his marriage and a bond with his son, Seth. When sent to New Zealand to prevent an important arms deal, it will throw Dick and the secret organization he works for into a dangerous world of cyber criminals. This deadly world will also draw his son Seth into the same danger that could cost him his life for wanting people to have freedoms others would oppose. A brilliant thrill ride, highly recommended.

[Lynda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Life can be rough for a middle age spy, but Dick's good at his job, and enjoys it for the most part. His latest assignment seems easy enough until he blows up a warehouse that is. Things just get worse from there. Somehow he finds himself in a virtual realty game trying to save the world. Could it get any worse? Probably. Interesting characters, suspense and lots of action will keep you listen until the very end. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request, and have voluntarily left this review.

[Patricia Terry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a marvelous surprise. It has far more depth to the story than I expected after reading the description. The opening makes you think it might be a different kind of story than it is, and you don't know everything that's going on until close to the end. It really was fantastic. This is now my favorite spy story ever. All the action is there, but so much more as well. I received a free review copy of this audio book in exchange for an honest review.

[Raya Whitehouse · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was quite interesting. The main character didnt seem like he was going to be invincible, he was quite down to earth and relatable for people. There is lots of action within this book for readers / listeners to enjoy

This book was definitely a good pick for me.

Narrator did an ok job reading the book, could have been better.

I received a free review copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving am honest review.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. A lot of information I did not know about what is going on in the cyber world,the gaming community, the alternative currency field. The story follows agents delving into the cyber world and danger is not far behind. Would recommend.

[Kort Ploshay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyable, fast paced story, well narrated to hold your interest. A good deal of character development in a relatively short timeframe, and a great twists and turns storyline that spans the globe - virtually.

My highest recommendation - 5 stars!!

[Laurie Robertson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nicely paced, an almost anti-hero type spy.
Certainly nothing like your James Bond novels.
Death and mayhem galore with some really different twists.
A great read, thoroughly recommended for any action/thriller reader.

[Dierdre Vans Evers]

Hard to get into and I quit after 5 chapters