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Sudden Conflicts
It’s always easier to smile through your suffering when your true friends have your back.
Three college roommates aspire to join the world of high-tech super giants with their innovative software. Humor and years of deep friendship help them endure danger and intrigues while searching for investors. The friends are forced to make hard choices when revenge and morality present opposing pressures.
Gary Beck skillfully weaves an exciting and witty tale of college friends from disparate backgrounds as they battle against corporate greed and hackers.
Three extremely bright college roommates, Pete, Clar, and TJ, survive a school rampage shooting, which helps form a lifelong bond between them. Computer majors, they become business partners and develop a software program that tracks cyber-attacks. After earning their doctoral degrees, they move to New York City, sharing a tiny apartment, and begin contacting potential investors. But things don't work out as planned and they end up taking software coding jobs with a company that has a hidden agenda.
When TJ and Pete start dating two lovely young women, danger escalates, FBI agents become involved, and a Chinese businessman makes an offer they might not be able to refuse.
While the trio fights to gain millions of dollars from interested entrepreneurs, threats, hackers, and intrigues build to a climax. The friends are forced to make hard choices when revenge and morality present opposing pressures.
Three college roommates aspire to join the world of high-tech super giants with their innovative software. Humor and years of deep friendship help them endure danger and intrigues while searching for investors. The friends are forced to make hard choices when revenge and morality present opposing pressures.
Gary Beck skillfully weaves an exciting and witty tale of college friends from disparate backgrounds as they battle against corporate greed and hackers.
Three extremely bright college roommates, Pete, Clar, and TJ, survive a school rampage shooting, which helps form a lifelong bond between them. Computer majors, they become business partners and develop a software program that tracks cyber-attacks. After earning their doctoral degrees, they move to New York City, sharing a tiny apartment, and begin contacting potential investors. But things don't work out as planned and they end up taking software coding jobs with a company that has a hidden agenda.
When TJ and Pete start dating two lovely young women, danger escalates, FBI agents become involved, and a Chinese businessman makes an offer they might not be able to refuse.
While the trio fights to gain millions of dollars from interested entrepreneurs, threats, hackers, and intrigues build to a climax. The friends are forced to make hard choices when revenge and morality present opposing pressures.
296 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2017
1 person is currently reading
157 people want to read
About the author
Gary Beck
111 books35 followersGary Beck has spent most of his adult life as a theater director and worked as an art dealer when he couldn't earn a living in the theater. He has also been a tennis pro, a ditch digger and a salvage diver. His original plays and translations of Moliere, Aristophanes and Sophocles have been produced Off Broadway. His poetry, fiction and essays have appeared in hundreds of literary magazines and his published books include 28 poetry collections, 11 novels, 3 short story collections, 1 collection of essays and 2 books of plays. Published poetry books include: Dawn in Cities, Assault on Nature, Songs of a Clerk, Civilized Ways, Displays, Perceptions, Fault Lines, Tremors, Perturbations, Rude Awakenings, The Remission of Order, Contusions and Desperate Seeker (Winter Goose Publishing. Forthcoming: Learning Curve and Ignition Point). Earth Links, Too Harsh For Pastels, Severance, Redemption Value, Fractional Disorder and Disruptions (Cyberwit Publishing). His novels include Extreme Change (Winter Goose Publishing). and Wavelength (Cyberwit Publishing). His short story collections include: A Glimpse of Youth (Sweatshoppe Publications). Now I Accuse and other stories (Winter Goose Publishing) and Dogs Don’t Send Flowers and other stories (Wordcatcher Publishing). Collected Essays of Gary Beck (Cyberwit Publishing). The Big Match and other one act plays (Wordcatcher Publishing). Collected Plays of Gary Beck Volume 1 and Plays of Aristophanes translated, then directed by Gary Beck (Cyberwit Publishing). Gary lives in New York City.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 16, 2017
As always, do not let my star count override your judgement of content. More on the stars, counting, and my rating challenges later.
This is essentially a novel about three people, living together, told mostly from one point of view. They are degreed software developers building a key product of international significance: valuable to businesses and to governments.
They are very different people and get into very different relationships. They are ambitious and this leads them into dealing with unprincipled actors who put them, and their friends, in danger.
There are some fascinating depictions of law enforcement officers of various forces. Some are dumb, some are almost bullies, some are human and likeable.
There are plot twists. There is sex, but it is not graphic while being convincingly done. There are unpleasant interactions and unpleasant decisions made reluctantly.
If you’re scrolling for the tiny carps, you can forget it. Your version will be formatted correctly; I worked from a draft file and still enjoyed the story very much. Back to the good stuff.
Star counts are hard. This novel is told in an unusual way and has (for me at least) an unusual central plot. I’ve reviewed Beck before and he does not disappoint. My personal guidelines, when doing any review, are as follows: five stars means, roughly equal to best in genre. Rarely given. Four stars means, extremely good. Three stars means, definitely recommendable. I am a tough reviewer. Four stars from me is a strong recommendation.
(Note: this reviewer received a free copy of this book for an independent review. He is not associated with the author.)
This is essentially a novel about three people, living together, told mostly from one point of view. They are degreed software developers building a key product of international significance: valuable to businesses and to governments.
They are very different people and get into very different relationships. They are ambitious and this leads them into dealing with unprincipled actors who put them, and their friends, in danger.
There are some fascinating depictions of law enforcement officers of various forces. Some are dumb, some are almost bullies, some are human and likeable.
There are plot twists. There is sex, but it is not graphic while being convincingly done. There are unpleasant interactions and unpleasant decisions made reluctantly.
If you’re scrolling for the tiny carps, you can forget it. Your version will be formatted correctly; I worked from a draft file and still enjoyed the story very much. Back to the good stuff.
Star counts are hard. This novel is told in an unusual way and has (for me at least) an unusual central plot. I’ve reviewed Beck before and he does not disappoint. My personal guidelines, when doing any review, are as follows: five stars means, roughly equal to best in genre. Rarely given. Four stars means, extremely good. Three stars means, definitely recommendable. I am a tough reviewer. Four stars from me is a strong recommendation.
(Note: this reviewer received a free copy of this book for an independent review. He is not associated with the author.)
August 10, 2017
3.5 stars. Sudden Conflicts is an original techno-thriller, coupled with a coming-of-age story about a diverse trio of 20-something friends who find that real-world success isn't as easy as being an academic superstar. Pete, our narrator, and his college friends TJ and Clar bond over their genius-level software development skills and ambition to rise above troubled childhoods. TJ takes gentle enjoyment in defying stereotypes, as a physically imposing black man who would rather cook gourmet meals and code software than play sports. Clar is a tough Latina from the Bronx who channeled all her passion into her work after a gang rape left her too traumatized for intimacy. Pete comes from a dysfunctional poor white family. The friends take a software-development job in New York City as a stepping-stone to starting their own company to sell a cybersecurity product, but soon find themselves in over their heads in international cyberwarfare, espionage, and murder.
It didn't always feel plausible or healthy that the threesome's intense family-like bond edged out all other friends and separate interests, but perhaps this kind of hyper-focus and isolation is normal for serious tech geeks. Their devotion to each other gave the story a warmth that hard-science thrillers often lack. A lot of time was spent on their martial arts training, so it seemed like a missed opportunity that these skills played no role in the thriller's denouement.
Pete's relentless objectification of women was grating. A couple of instances would be realistic for a young tech genius with more smarts than social skills, but it happened often enough to be a major character trait. He couldn't help introducing sexual innuendo and fantasy into professional situations whenever a woman was involved, lied to his girlfriend, and constantly referred to his lust for her "flesh" in his interior monologue. This contrasted with TJ's tender respect for his own girlfriend. I had a hard time with the notion that Clar, whose life was so strongly impacted by male entitlement to women's bodies, would be able to trust and love someone who hasn't examined his sexism at all.
Beck is skilled at making the technological issues exciting and accessible to lay readers. The locations around the city are vividly described, as are the supporting characters, both comical and menacing. As someone who grew up in the city, I had fun trying to guess some of the unnamed restaurants where they splurged on deliciously detailed meals. The book really captures the flavor of NYC as experienced by smart yet naive young people who are striving to reinvent themselves.
It didn't always feel plausible or healthy that the threesome's intense family-like bond edged out all other friends and separate interests, but perhaps this kind of hyper-focus and isolation is normal for serious tech geeks. Their devotion to each other gave the story a warmth that hard-science thrillers often lack. A lot of time was spent on their martial arts training, so it seemed like a missed opportunity that these skills played no role in the thriller's denouement.
Pete's relentless objectification of women was grating. A couple of instances would be realistic for a young tech genius with more smarts than social skills, but it happened often enough to be a major character trait. He couldn't help introducing sexual innuendo and fantasy into professional situations whenever a woman was involved, lied to his girlfriend, and constantly referred to his lust for her "flesh" in his interior monologue. This contrasted with TJ's tender respect for his own girlfriend. I had a hard time with the notion that Clar, whose life was so strongly impacted by male entitlement to women's bodies, would be able to trust and love someone who hasn't examined his sexism at all.
Beck is skilled at making the technological issues exciting and accessible to lay readers. The locations around the city are vividly described, as are the supporting characters, both comical and menacing. As someone who grew up in the city, I had fun trying to guess some of the unnamed restaurants where they splurged on deliciously detailed meals. The book really captures the flavor of NYC as experienced by smart yet naive young people who are striving to reinvent themselves.
May 10, 2017
Technology and friendships can mix, and mix well!
In Gary Beck’s new novel, Sudden Conflicts, we follow the adventures of three unlikely friends – T.J., Clar, and Pete – who meet in college, become roommates, and form a close bond that builds as they navigate their way through their differences, all while working and living together in New York City. These three very different individuals manage to survive a school shooting at their college, and earn their PhDs -- all before going on to work together in the world of high-technology. The story moves at a brisk pace, offering insights into each character’s personality -giving a human element to the novel that sometimes is missing from books where the plot centers around technology. Mr. Beck allows for the personal development of the three friends, who grow closer as they delve deeper into the world of high-tech dangers, finding their security and safety at risk – as well as anyone who gets involved with them. Overall, this is an enjoyable, fast-paced read that should appeal to a wide range of individuals, regardless of their interest in computers or the cyber world. Gary Beck proves his talent for novels is right up there with his talent for poetry.
In Gary Beck’s new novel, Sudden Conflicts, we follow the adventures of three unlikely friends – T.J., Clar, and Pete – who meet in college, become roommates, and form a close bond that builds as they navigate their way through their differences, all while working and living together in New York City. These three very different individuals manage to survive a school shooting at their college, and earn their PhDs -- all before going on to work together in the world of high-technology. The story moves at a brisk pace, offering insights into each character’s personality -giving a human element to the novel that sometimes is missing from books where the plot centers around technology. Mr. Beck allows for the personal development of the three friends, who grow closer as they delve deeper into the world of high-tech dangers, finding their security and safety at risk – as well as anyone who gets involved with them. Overall, this is an enjoyable, fast-paced read that should appeal to a wide range of individuals, regardless of their interest in computers or the cyber world. Gary Beck proves his talent for novels is right up there with his talent for poetry.
July 3, 2017
"Sudden Conflicts" is a character-focused novel that embeds you in the lives of three interesting and enterprising (and sometimes a bit cocky) individuals who set out to make their mark in the world only to find that things aren't as easy as they first envisioned--hence the title.
The main characters are certainly interesting, and even the minor ones are as well. For once it's nice to see FBI agents who act like normal individuals instead of the almost cliché super-star feds, and I enjoyed seeing the main characters poke fun at them, and that make the story feel more natural. I liked was the authentic feel of New York that the author gives here. This is how NYC is, not the way you see it in so many movies.
The novel has some tense moments, although sometimes they seemed to be too quickly dismissed or pushed into the background. I wanted to see the tension level be a little higher. However, the way the characters handle their problems says something about their determination not to be daunted or cowed. Even so, it's a nicely written and enjoyable story that won't disappoint.
The main characters are certainly interesting, and even the minor ones are as well. For once it's nice to see FBI agents who act like normal individuals instead of the almost cliché super-star feds, and I enjoyed seeing the main characters poke fun at them, and that make the story feel more natural. I liked was the authentic feel of New York that the author gives here. This is how NYC is, not the way you see it in so many movies.
The novel has some tense moments, although sometimes they seemed to be too quickly dismissed or pushed into the background. I wanted to see the tension level be a little higher. However, the way the characters handle their problems says something about their determination not to be daunted or cowed. Even so, it's a nicely written and enjoyable story that won't disappoint.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews