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Foolproof: A Novel
A stunning global thriller that exposes a terrorist plot to topple democracies worldwide
On the morning of 9/11, Brenda Grant and Daniel Henderson met for coffee before going to their software firm in the World Trade Center. That casual act saved them from the Twin Towers’ collapse, even as their friends and Brenda’s fiancé were killed and their company obliterated. Going on to found a software security firm, they never forgot that morning of horror. Grant and Henderson established a clandestine division inside their new company committed to covertly tracking down global terrorists. In a search involving Washington DC, Egypt, Italy, and Turkey, they expose a plot to hijack a US presidential election, rig voting machines, and topple democracies worldwide.
On the morning of 9/11, Brenda Grant and Daniel Henderson met for coffee before going to their software firm in the World Trade Center. That casual act saved them from the Twin Towers’ collapse, even as their friends and Brenda’s fiancé were killed and their company obliterated. Going on to found a software security firm, they never forgot that morning of horror. Grant and Henderson established a clandestine division inside their new company committed to covertly tracking down global terrorists. In a search involving Washington DC, Egypt, Italy, and Turkey, they expose a plot to hijack a US presidential election, rig voting machines, and topple democracies worldwide.
352 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 22, 2009
4 people are currently reading
55 people want to read
About the author
Barbara D'Amato
45 books27 followersAka Malacai Black
Barbara D'Amato has had a checkered career, working in the distant past as an assistant surgical orderly, carpenter for stage magic illusions, assistant tiger handler, stage manager, researcher for attorneys in criminal cases, and recently sometimes teaching mystery writing to Chicago police officers.
"Writing is the greatest job of all," D'Amato says. "I get to hang around with cops, go ask people questions about their jobs that I would be too chicken to ask without a reason, and walk around Chicago looking for good murder locales. Best of all, I get to read mystery and suspense novels and call it keeping up with the field."
She was the 1999-2000 president of Mystery Writers of America. D'Amato is also a past president of Sisters in Crime International.
D'Amato is a playwright, novelist, and crime researcher. Her research on the Dr. John Branion murder case formed the basis for a segment on "Unsolved Mysteries," and she appeared on the program. Her musical comedies, The Magic Man and children's musical The Magic of Young Houdini, written with husband Anthony D'Amato, played in Chicago and London. Their Prohibition-era musical comedy RSVP Broadway, which played in Chicago in 1980, was named an "event of particular interest" by Chicago magazine. A native of Michigan, she has been a resident of Chicago for many years.
Barbara D'Amato has had a checkered career, working in the distant past as an assistant surgical orderly, carpenter for stage magic illusions, assistant tiger handler, stage manager, researcher for attorneys in criminal cases, and recently sometimes teaching mystery writing to Chicago police officers.
"Writing is the greatest job of all," D'Amato says. "I get to hang around with cops, go ask people questions about their jobs that I would be too chicken to ask without a reason, and walk around Chicago looking for good murder locales. Best of all, I get to read mystery and suspense novels and call it keeping up with the field."
She was the 1999-2000 president of Mystery Writers of America. D'Amato is also a past president of Sisters in Crime International.
D'Amato is a playwright, novelist, and crime researcher. Her research on the Dr. John Branion murder case formed the basis for a segment on "Unsolved Mysteries," and she appeared on the program. Her musical comedies, The Magic Man and children's musical The Magic of Young Houdini, written with husband Anthony D'Amato, played in Chicago and London. Their Prohibition-era musical comedy RSVP Broadway, which played in Chicago in 1980, was named an "event of particular interest" by Chicago magazine. A native of Michigan, she has been a resident of Chicago for many years.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
April 19, 2015
The opening pulled me in with trepidation. It was a little hard to follow the characters for a while until the motorcycle chase scene.
May 24, 2018
This thriller, written in 2009, has themes ripped from today's headlines. Brenda Grant and Daniel Henderson were two minutes away from being in the World Trade Center when the first plane hits on the morning of 9/11. Their company was above where the plane hit and no one managed to get out before the towers collapsed. Brenda lost her fiance who was one of the company owners.
A few years later, Brenda and Grant have started a security company and have a mission to track down terrorists. When they find evidence by trolling chat rooms and the deep web, they try to pass the information along to authorities who can do something about their finds with varying degrees of success.
Sarah, an old college friend of Brenda's gives her a call one day to set up an appointment but, before they can meet, she dies in what looks like a street accident. Having a bit of the friend's point of view, we know that she was pushed into traffic by a man she just met. Brenda, who hasn't seen her since college, wonders why Sarah, who works for a software development company, wanted to meet with her.
Brenda and Daniel are also approached by a man from the government who gives his name as Allen Cooper who works for NSAA and wants to hire their firm for some security work. They are hesitant because they don't like working for the government but the money is too good to pass up. Coop begins to make a play for Brenda by asking her out and taking her to expensive places but Brenda's heart is still with the fiance she lost on 9/11.
Coop asks them to look into a new vote tallying program that will be used in the next presidential election which is only days away. It looks to be a really tight race between the incombent President Kierkstra, a corrupt politician from South Dakota, who took office when the President died of a heart attack and Governor Evan Harkinnon. Meanwhile, Brenda is still puzzled about Sarah's death and sends memo to all of her offices to see if anyone knows more about her. She hears from her office in Egypt that Sarah has some concerns about an election program she was working on but then the office goes silent.
Daniel flies out to see what is going on in Egypt and the story takes a James Bond twist as he becomes the target of unknown assassins and has to wend his way back home facing all sorts of danger and gathering data along the way.
The story was exciting and fast-paced. The villains were larger than life but our smart computer security experts are a match for them. I enjoyed the characters in this one and would recommend it to those who read thrillers.
A few years later, Brenda and Grant have started a security company and have a mission to track down terrorists. When they find evidence by trolling chat rooms and the deep web, they try to pass the information along to authorities who can do something about their finds with varying degrees of success.
Sarah, an old college friend of Brenda's gives her a call one day to set up an appointment but, before they can meet, she dies in what looks like a street accident. Having a bit of the friend's point of view, we know that she was pushed into traffic by a man she just met. Brenda, who hasn't seen her since college, wonders why Sarah, who works for a software development company, wanted to meet with her.
Brenda and Daniel are also approached by a man from the government who gives his name as Allen Cooper who works for NSAA and wants to hire their firm for some security work. They are hesitant because they don't like working for the government but the money is too good to pass up. Coop begins to make a play for Brenda by asking her out and taking her to expensive places but Brenda's heart is still with the fiance she lost on 9/11.
Coop asks them to look into a new vote tallying program that will be used in the next presidential election which is only days away. It looks to be a really tight race between the incombent President Kierkstra, a corrupt politician from South Dakota, who took office when the President died of a heart attack and Governor Evan Harkinnon. Meanwhile, Brenda is still puzzled about Sarah's death and sends memo to all of her offices to see if anyone knows more about her. She hears from her office in Egypt that Sarah has some concerns about an election program she was working on but then the office goes silent.
Daniel flies out to see what is going on in Egypt and the story takes a James Bond twist as he becomes the target of unknown assassins and has to wend his way back home facing all sorts of danger and gathering data along the way.
The story was exciting and fast-paced. The villains were larger than life but our smart computer security experts are a match for them. I enjoyed the characters in this one and would recommend it to those who read thrillers.
March 22, 2010
I have to admit, I got to the final thirty pages or so and I was wondering how they were really going to wrap it up. It seemed impossible, there were so many loose threads. The way they wrapped it up was INGENIOUS.
Read more books by these three authors.
Read more books by these three authors.
August 14, 2011
This book was gripping enough to see me safely through one of the more anxious days of waiting in my life - and for that I will be forever grateful.
May 21, 2013
It had me hooked from the beginning and pulled me through until the end. I lost sleep just so I finish it I am glad I stumbled upon this book.
February 27, 2018
An easy to read page-turner, although the main characters weren't particularly likeable or believable. The dialogue was quite clunky in places to the point of being distracting. The type of book you'd read at the airport to ease your boredom.
June 25, 2014
On the morning of 9/11 Brenda Grant and Daniel Henderson are leaving the coffee shop where they meet before work just as an airplane hits the first tower. They witness what seems to be a terrible accident and fear for their co-workers who work on one of the floors above where the plane just hit in “Foolproof.”
As Brenda calls her boss/boyfriend to ask what is going on, he tells her the people on their floor are trapped and cannot go down because of the fire, so they’re going up the steps to try to get away. That’s the last Brenda and Daniel hear from anyone in the towers. They are there to witness the other airplane, as well as both towers falling and the terrible scenes that comprised that tragedy, knowing friends and loved ones were inside the buildings.
Motivated by the terrorist attack, as well as money left by the company’s owners to the few survivors who were not at work when the attack happened, Daniel and Brenda start their own software security firm, DB Security Consultants. Both exceptional code writers, Daniel and Brenda specialize in helping companies maintain their security, as well as find new ways to make their programs more secure.
When a National Security Association agent asks them to sign on to make sure a vote tallying system is secure, Daniel and Brenda disagree whether to take on a government agency or not. Daniel doesn’t like getting involved in politics, Brenda sees the dollar signs that will allow them to hire more employees. They do end up taking the job.
Brenda ends up dating the NSA agent and getting much more involved than she ever planned on. Along the course of the investigation DB is running, Brenda comes across the name of a woman she went to college with. This woman recently committed suicide, and Brenda wonders why she would have done that. The woman was the original script writer of the program DB is working on for the NSA.
Combine this storyline, which sends Daniel on a James Bond-type mission across three continents, along with a crooked and evil American president, and you have a pretty decent political thriller. Daniel’s time on the run in the middle of this book is extremely unbelievable, but fun to read nonetheless.
I’m not sure if it chalks up to three authors for this book, but the storyline is not as seamless as it could be, and Daniel and Brenda both seem to be human superheroes. Far-fetched as it is, I still found this story enjoyable.
As Brenda calls her boss/boyfriend to ask what is going on, he tells her the people on their floor are trapped and cannot go down because of the fire, so they’re going up the steps to try to get away. That’s the last Brenda and Daniel hear from anyone in the towers. They are there to witness the other airplane, as well as both towers falling and the terrible scenes that comprised that tragedy, knowing friends and loved ones were inside the buildings.
Motivated by the terrorist attack, as well as money left by the company’s owners to the few survivors who were not at work when the attack happened, Daniel and Brenda start their own software security firm, DB Security Consultants. Both exceptional code writers, Daniel and Brenda specialize in helping companies maintain their security, as well as find new ways to make their programs more secure.
When a National Security Association agent asks them to sign on to make sure a vote tallying system is secure, Daniel and Brenda disagree whether to take on a government agency or not. Daniel doesn’t like getting involved in politics, Brenda sees the dollar signs that will allow them to hire more employees. They do end up taking the job.
Brenda ends up dating the NSA agent and getting much more involved than she ever planned on. Along the course of the investigation DB is running, Brenda comes across the name of a woman she went to college with. This woman recently committed suicide, and Brenda wonders why she would have done that. The woman was the original script writer of the program DB is working on for the NSA.
Combine this storyline, which sends Daniel on a James Bond-type mission across three continents, along with a crooked and evil American president, and you have a pretty decent political thriller. Daniel’s time on the run in the middle of this book is extremely unbelievable, but fun to read nonetheless.
I’m not sure if it chalks up to three authors for this book, but the storyline is not as seamless as it could be, and Daniel and Brenda both seem to be human superheroes. Far-fetched as it is, I still found this story enjoyable.
March 23, 2010
Voting fraud isn't a topic one would normally think of as sexy or thrilling. However, Foolproof by co-authors Barbara D'Amato, Jeanne M. Dams and Mark Zubro, proves that even computer geeks can be the stars of amazing thrillers.
The story starts on 9/11. The two protagonists linger at a coffeehouse that morning, thus surviving the Twin Towers' collapse. In the aftermath, Brenda Grant (who lost her fiance, Jeremy, in the disaster) and Daniel Henderson, her gay co-worker, decide to start their own business – seeking out terrorists using their computer savvy. With the determination that comes from personal loss, they build an international business that thoroughly scours the Net for signs of terrorist activity.
Meanwhile, one of Brenda's school acquaintances (another woman who works in computers) makes an appointment to see her, but ends up having an unfortunate accident (oops, pushed into Manhattan traffic) before they can meet. In addition, the Cairo office sends the duo a mysterious message. Daniel follows up with a trip to Cairo. One he'll never forget.
Holding down the fort back in the New York office, Brenda must deal with the urbane Allen Cooper, who's hired the firm on behalf of the Feds to make sure the computer voting system is bug-free and reliable. Cooper's interest in Brenda quickly goes from professional to personal. Thus, while Brenda fights to maintain her professional distance from a client (while acknowledging that maybe it's time to let her guard down and put Jeremy's loss behind her), Daniel's running from people who are trying to kill him.
Intercut between these scenes, we see the President of the United States (a ranting idiot, ostensibly named Kierkstra, but the reader is free to fill in the blank) conferring with a mystery man named Alexander Cabot about a plot to steal votes in the impending election.
To read the entire review, go to: http://thriller-fiction.suite101.com/...
The story starts on 9/11. The two protagonists linger at a coffeehouse that morning, thus surviving the Twin Towers' collapse. In the aftermath, Brenda Grant (who lost her fiance, Jeremy, in the disaster) and Daniel Henderson, her gay co-worker, decide to start their own business – seeking out terrorists using their computer savvy. With the determination that comes from personal loss, they build an international business that thoroughly scours the Net for signs of terrorist activity.
Meanwhile, one of Brenda's school acquaintances (another woman who works in computers) makes an appointment to see her, but ends up having an unfortunate accident (oops, pushed into Manhattan traffic) before they can meet. In addition, the Cairo office sends the duo a mysterious message. Daniel follows up with a trip to Cairo. One he'll never forget.
Holding down the fort back in the New York office, Brenda must deal with the urbane Allen Cooper, who's hired the firm on behalf of the Feds to make sure the computer voting system is bug-free and reliable. Cooper's interest in Brenda quickly goes from professional to personal. Thus, while Brenda fights to maintain her professional distance from a client (while acknowledging that maybe it's time to let her guard down and put Jeremy's loss behind her), Daniel's running from people who are trying to kill him.
Intercut between these scenes, we see the President of the United States (a ranting idiot, ostensibly named Kierkstra, but the reader is free to fill in the blank) conferring with a mystery man named Alexander Cabot about a plot to steal votes in the impending election.
To read the entire review, go to: http://thriller-fiction.suite101.com/...
February 26, 2010
I've read Jeanne Dams, who writes British cozies, and was interested to see her in this joint authorship. This book is a thriller, with two interesting protagonists who run a computer security agency that goes after terrorists after 9/11.
The plot gets pretty silly halfway through the book when the nerdy male half of the pair suddenly turns into the equivalent of Jason Bourne and rampages through Europe. And the Bad Guys are pretty obvious. And for the plot to move it requires a suspension of disbelief that none of the governmental security agencies are ever interested in this little company's findings, so the company don't bother informing them of their findings anymore.
Otherwise I enjoyed it, though, and expect this to develop into an interesting series.
The plot gets pretty silly halfway through the book when the nerdy male half of the pair suddenly turns into the equivalent of Jason Bourne and rampages through Europe. And the Bad Guys are pretty obvious. And for the plot to move it requires a suspension of disbelief that none of the governmental security agencies are ever interested in this little company's findings, so the company don't bother informing them of their findings anymore.
Otherwise I enjoyed it, though, and expect this to develop into an interesting series.
June 30, 2010
Interesting book on how 2 computer geeks stopped for coffe making them late for work at the world trade center on 9/11. They then started a security firm and did work tracking terrorists in between jobs.
Read
August 2, 2011Bought because it had the name Mark Richard Zubro's name on it as co-author, this is not written in his voice at all. I haven't read other D'Amato, but given my choice, I'd read a Zubro book then another of these "collaborations".
February 25, 2010
Really interesting.
November 11, 2011
I like this book about the paranoid, conspiracy theory society that we live in today and the fact that this could actually happen. AND YOU CAN"T STOP IT.
June 18, 2012
Very fast paced and exciting. Loved every page!
Read
June 12, 2016Intrigue and misdirection in cyberworld of Brenda and Dan. Who canthey trust?
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews