Somewhere out there, right now, the NSA, the CIA and a top secret group of quantum physicists are trying to build a computer that can hold a human soul and talk to God. At least, that's the premise of Greg Iles' The Footprints of God. It's not as kooky as it sounds. Pursued by the NSA and the military, with only his psychiatrist to help, a professor must prove his sanity and unravel the mystery of his complicated nightmares, a side-effect of his work, all while trying to stop a supercomputer with a God complex from destroying the planet. Similar in theme to Dan Brown's work, yet better written, this novel tackles issues of religion and modern science with a fast-moving, engaging plot. ( )

(2003)A pretty good sci-fi thriller about a AI computer that is loaded with the equivalent of a person's mind and soul. It then goes rogue and tries to destroy the world.Iles, author of eight best-sellers, takes the standard paranoid thriller starring an endangered man and the woman who believes he's delusional until a series of shocks forces her to accept the too-strange-to-believe truth--and makes it run like Mussolini's trains. Everything arrives on time, as expected: boy is involved in scientific experiment; boy loses parts of mind; boy meets girl; boy runs away with girl after coworkers sniff out his suspicions and decide to snuff out his life. In this case, physician and ethicist Dr. David Tennant has spent the last few years of his life working on government-funded, hush-hush Project Trinity, which strives to build a supercomputer by liberating human intelligence from the human body. As the project progresses, Tennant's ethical concerns increase, especially when Trinity team members begin to develop neurological disorders. Once Tennant has sought psychiatric help, his psychiatrist (naturally, a beautiful woman) is drawn into the guessing game of whether Tennant is paranoid or insightful. With the murder of Tennant's closest colleague, and Tennant's inability to cover his disillusionment with the project, the game is afoot, as the government bears down on our hero and his psychiatrist friend. Cardboard characters and a mostly predictable plot, but Iles, a consummate storyteller, keeps suspense and blood pressure high. Connie FletcherCopyright ? American Library Association. All rights reserved

While the notion that technology could merge with consciousness may not be unique, Greg Iles' story raises philosophical, spiritual and conceptual questions. In some ways similar to Orwell's "1984", we find advanced technology in the place of Big Brother, which in itself is scary. Connected globally the danger it presents is monstrous, the benefits minimal. Fast paced, the story takes the reader into a world where Artificial Intelligence merges with its creator's mind and goes rogue. Within the context we find ourselves asking, 'is it possible?' When we observe the pace at which technology is advancing today, the answer would seem to be 'yes'. Characters are interesting, the plot continually twisting, it accelerates to the finale at break neck pace. In the Epilogue, the author pays homage to Ray Kurzweil, author of "The Age of Spiritual Machines", and designer of the synthesizer which is completely logical. A well crafted story, it's fascinating in all respects. Highly recommended for those who seek something unique, 'out of the box' and explosive. ( )

I am a huge Greg Iles fan but I'm not sure, if this is the first one of his I'd ever read, whether I'd go looking for something else of his. It had all the right elements, fascinating story (maybe a little too out there for my taste), good characters all of whom are fully respected by the author... maybe the telling got a little tedious. I was ready to abandon it about 3/4ths of the way through. I'm glad I didn't but I would have liked it to be a bit snappier. Won't keep me from making sure I've read all of his books! ( )

A secret US project to transfer someone's brain to a new supercomputer is the basic premise which requires some suspension of belief, which was OK but I struggled with the cod philosophy which accompanied it. ( )