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| The Cattle | 
 enlarge | Manufacturer: Ampol
Category: EBooks
List Price: $4.99
Buy New: $3.99
You Save: $1.00 (20%)
Avg. Customer Rating:  (17 reviews)
Sales Rank: 101585
Format: Kindle Book
Language: English (Published)
Media: Kindle Edition
ASIN: B0011ZRNMG
Publication Date: March 31, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Shortly after implementation of the ?Real ID Act of 2005?, the United States National Identification System is created and an intense period of information gathering is begun. Detailed personal data about all U.S. residents is stored in a registered, highly secured database controlled by an enigmatic government agency. The governmental grip tightens with new laws requiring standardized state documents that comply with federal guidelines. And this is only the beginning! Following exhaustive and flawless testing of the fledgling National Identification System, the government forces the issue of microprocessor implants for verification purposes. Every person in the United States of America will be implanted with a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) microchip to authenticate identity and store personal information. Yet, one question remains unanswered: Is identity verification the only reason for signifying us with the ?Mark of the Beast??l
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| Customer Reviews: Read 12 more reviews...
 Good quick read....edge of your seat !! February 4, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Under the guise of National Security we are slowly giving up our freedoms. Certain rights that we let carelessly, steathly slip away..until now, when the disappear! Overnight...This is only fiction...right?
Scared the heck out of me September 5, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
The War on Terror, launched immediately after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, has certainly had one unintended consequence: it has forced writers of contemporary thrillers to stay on their toes. You can't, for example, remain relevant if you're still writing a story about a smallpox plague unleashed on America's cities by Al-Qaeda sympathizers. That time came and went with the anthrax scare back in 2001 (if you still want to read a great fiction novel about terrorism and smallpox, however, check out Thomas Hopp's "The Jihad Virus".) Now the latest sensation revolves around invasion of privacy concerns, thanks in no small part to the NSA telephone records debacle. Our government is spying on you, American citizen! Well, not really--they're targeting terrorists despite all the blather to the contrary pumped out by the media. But that time may well come if the elites feel that their privileged position in our society is in danger. Then you'll likely see the most draconian measures enacted against both terrorists and "internal subversives," with the full backing of the national security organs, Congress, and the Supreme Court. Perhaps then what we see in Greg M. Sarwa's "The Cattle" will become a frightening reality.
"The Cattle" takes the reader to a disturbing place, a place in which the American government has passed "The Real ID Act of 2005" in an effort to provide greater security for the populace. What's it mean? Simple: everyone in the country must receive a Radio Frequency Identification microchip in order to move around in society. The chip will store personal information and act as a fraud proof identity card. Neat. One hopes they have ironed out all the kinks or else a lot of those annoying beepers will go off at department stores and libraries around the country. Seriously, the idea sounds good on the surface, and the technology and agencies exist to implant and monitor the chips. What a minute--IMPLANT? Yep, that's the catch. The RFID chips are implanted in the user's skin. Hmmm. There is sure going to be a lot of talk about the mark of the devil and all that nonsense. Also on the menu for discussion should be concerns about invasion of privacy. Too late. In Sarwa's book, the act has already passed and the process is just hours away from full implementation. The fat lady has, sadly, already sung. It's all over except for the totalitarianism.
The warning bells go off when a worker at O'Hare airport in Chicago accidentally stumbles over several highly classified government documents detailing some sinister goings on over at the Department of Homeland Security. He copies the files onto a CD and, before he perishes from a very convenient stroke, manages to stick the disc in the luggage of one Anna Tabor, a Polish immigrant just arriving in the United States. Also involved in the mix is Jacob Reed, a big shot reporter who learns about the odd event at the airport from a local cop. Soon, the cop dies in a similar way. Reed's investigation eventually leads him to Anna and the race is on to figure out exactly why government agents are dropping out of trees all over Chicago. Trevor Clifton, a high level bureaucrat working out of Homeland Security, understands the full implications of what's on that CD, and he'll stop at nothing to plug all the leaks before the truth shows up on the front page of the evening newspaper. You see, the RFID chip is more than an identification marker. It's more than a storage site for personal information. It's far, FAR more sinister than we can ever imagine.
I loved this book, but I always love stories full of conspiracy, action, and evil government bureaucracies run amok. Sarwa's book delivers on every cylinder in this respect, and he gives us the goods in a short read full of lean prose that gets to the point in a hurry. The best part of the novel is its overall plausibility. It's not difficult at all to believe this could happen. The technology exists, as any visit to a department store that uses RFID chips to track and protect merchandise will attest. You don't think the American public would ever endorse the implantation of a chip for "security" reasons? Think again, especially if the terrorists hit us hard with chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons in the near future. Two towers fell in New York and they were already trotting out plans for a national identification card. Heck, I've heard stories about some employers wanting to implant chips in workers for various reasons. Believe me, when you see people around you dropping like flies from dirty bomb fallout or smallpox, most of your fellow citizens will willingly go along with the chip implants if they think doing so might prevent further carnage.
"The Cattle" will have you thinking long and hard about what the future may hold for us if further attacks occur. The novel will also make you question just how much we ought to rely on our friendly big brother, the government, to save us from the world's ills. Lastly--and I just have to throw something in about this--Sarwa's little gem of a story will leave you gasping for breath thanks to its nihilistic conclusion. Have you ever seen the films "My Little Eye" or "Fallen"? If you have, you know that both pictures end on a downbeat note where no hope for salvation exists from an all-encompassing and powerful evil. The reader will find something very similar at the conclusion of "The Cattle." Sarwa obviously believes the country has already gone too far down the path to ultimate servitude. Perhaps he's right. In my darker moments, I agree with him. I hope and pray we're both wrong.
 Big hope. Bigger letdown July 31, 2006
6 out of 8 found this review helpful
I had big hopes for this book. It sounded like it would be a great story. However, it fell flat quickly and never got up.
It is obvious that English is not Mr. Sarwa's first language. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but the dialog suffers because of it. To say that the dialog comes across as cheesy would be an understatement. The dialog is just too forced and unnatural.
The book is too short and everything happens before you even get a chance to know your characters.
I don't know where all these 4 and 5 star reviews came from. Did they read the same book? Maybe I got shipped only half of the book?
I think had Mr. Sarwa spent more time on this book it would have been a great read.
 Gives new meaning to "ripped from today's headlines" July 14, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
As part of the Real ID Act of 2005, the National Identification System is created for American citizens as an anti-terrorism measure. The government goes into overdrive, collecting personal information to be stored in a highly secured database. Another part of the law mandates the injection of a RFID (radio frequency identification) chip in all American citizens, and all visitors to America, where that information will be stored. There are all sorts of safeguards in place to prevent misuse of the system, headquartered in a secure portion of O'Hare Airport in Chicago.
The system also has a much more evil, and extremely Classified, purpose, one which is accidentally discovered by mid-level systems analyst Brian Warburton. He copies the information on to a CD-ROM, and manages to get rid of it, just before he dies of a "stroke." This happens on the day before the law, and the mandatory RFID injection, is supposed to take effect. It falls into the hands of Jacob Reed, local TV reporter. Along with Anna Tabor, a young woman who flew in that day from Poland, and into whose luggage Warburton put the CD-ROM, he keeps one step ahead of police and federal agents looking for them. Can Jacob and Anna get this information on TV to warn the American people in time?
This book certainly gives new meaning to the phrase "ripped from today's headlines." It's a very spooky, and very well-done, story that will give the reader plenty to think about. It is recommended for everyone, but especially for those who think that implanting people with RFIDs, as an anti-terrorism measure, or as the next step in personal information storage, is a good thing.
riveting thriller May 21, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Rebeccasreads highly recommends THE CATTLE as a disturbing tech thriller for anyone who has pondered the issue of a national identity sytem.
Even though this book is badly in need of an editor whose first language is English, the premise of THE CATTLE overcomes any & all its shortcomings.
As with all good science fiction, it may only be fiction, but the truths within it cannot be denied.
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