Y2K: It's Already Too Late

by Jason Kelly

This engaging thriller depicts the chaos that ensues when the all-too-familiar year 2000 (Y2K) bug hits, crashing computer systems around the world. In Jason Kelly's novel, riots sweep through cities... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0966438701
• ISBN13: 9780966438703
• Release Date: June 1998
• Publisher: JK Press
• Length: 375 Pages
• Weight: 0.04 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.4" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Better than the NBC movie

This was the first y2k book I read and I thought it was pretty good. Now that I've read two other y2k novels and suffered through the NBC movie last night, I return to this title with much higher praise. The first half of the NBC movie was taken almost directly out of this book but the last half was nothing but a nuke plant meltdown flick -- quite boring. This novel covers a wider spectrum of scenarios including military and does so with a more interesting mix of characters. While NBC shows a grandfather saving the nuke plant with the advice to "hit it with a hammer," this novel shows teams of people from all backgrounds using their skills in their one field of expertise. This is a good book to read in the final weeks leading to Y2K. It shines brighter than other attempts to fictionalize this problem.

Better than just Y2K

I picked this up as a summer read and found it engaging. I read it in two days, which is fairly fast for me. I'm not a Y2K nut in either direction. I don't think the world will end from it, but I also don't think the whole problem is concocted so that programmers and book writers will make a bundle. I enjoyed this book because it had decent characters and a fast story. By the way, the person who posted the review on July 2, 1999 needs to reread the book. Almost no looting? The entire Los Angeles riot chapter is nothing but looting when the lights click off and people panic. To say that the book overlooks looting is just wrong.

Probably far-fetched, but still a good thriller

Fine, so none of us think Y2K will be as bad as all the hype says. It still makes for a darn good story and this book delivers. If Y2K fiction can be called a genre, this book is the keystone. If not, it's a great cyberthriller to take on your next airplane trip. I liked it better than Clancy's Netforce. What a waste of paper that was.

Consistent with real headlines

I met Jason Kelly at a booksigning in Huntington Beach, CA and was impressed with his knowledge of Y2K and his great presentation style. I purchased this book and loved it. The characters are genuine, which might make it hard for some cyber-thriller types to enjoy the story, but it worked for me. I enjoyed seeing Mark Solvang, the main character, try for years to convince government and the private sector that Y2K is coming and that it will be a big problem. He gets a few clients -- the government among them -- but fails to get the entire country on board. All of this is consistent with the headlines. Indeed, this very situation is what has happened over the past few years. Now, with nine months to go, we still aren't fully prepared for the Year 2000. Though I doubt the real consequences will be as bad as this story shows, the book still serves a purpose in getting people to pay attention to this important problem. Besides, it's a great read!

An exciting education

This novel surprised me. I have become quite bored with the Y2K topic, what with it being in the news everyday and dominated by panicked people who are fleeing cities. But this book came highly recommended so I purchased it and figured I'd read a few pages a day for several weeks. Hardly. Instead, it grabbed me in the first few pages and I finished it in a weekend. I was pleased to see just the right balance of Y2K facts and artistic liberty. Mr. Kelly managed to show the effect of panicked doomsayers on the population as people make a mad rush to prepare themselves by removing money from the bank in 1999 and causing a near collapse and a stock market plunge. The military scenes are all consistent with what the Pentagon has reported lately. The riots in LA were difficult to read because they are right on target. They do not spare the reader any gory details. Here, too, when I read the story and check its descriptions with archived reporting from the LA Times, I see that Mr. Kelly has done his homework. I agree with a previous reader who predicts that this book could end up on a shelf with the likes of "1984." It is uncannily close to current headlines and is probably a look at what we should expect over the next year and a half.