ISBN 0-671-53649-4 (US hbk),,, 0-679-43090-3 (US trade pbk, Advance Reader's Edition),,, 0-679-42407-5 (US trade pbk)

"The Deus Machine not only introduces a fiction talent with the imagination of a Michael Crichton, the breakneck pace of a Tom Clancy, and the humanity of a Dean Koontz, but unveils a whole new order of suspense novel, the biotech thriller. Pierre Ouellette will have readers breathless as they race through this extraordinary tale of a sentient computer, a fatherless boy, and a troubled computer genius who join forces to save the world from genetic annihilation.

"It's the spring of 2005 and the United States is in the grip of a paralyzing depression that threatens to collapse the federal government. Against this tense backdrop, a genius renegade computer-systems designer sets DEUS -- a supercomputer with the potential for real intelligence -- on the most fateful course possible: perpetually reinventing and improving itself and, ultimately, creating life. But there are those who strive to harness DEUS to further their own malign intent: the development of deadly viruses that are being covertly tested on hapless human subjects.

"Amid a mounting storm of political intrigue and technological terrorism, something incredible occurs within the confines of DEUS, something that sets off a biological chain reaction more bizarre and perilous than any the world has seen. Only Riley, an unemployed computer expert, has the skill to stop the encroaching danger of new, threatening life forms generated by DEUS in its attempt to selfdestruct. But even as the supercomputer edges closer to suicide, it forges life-sustaining bonds with Riley, the woman he loves, and an abandoned little boy whom DEUS comes to regard as something truly remarkable -- a friend....

"Technologically awe-inspiring, dramatically taut, Pierre Ouellette's The Deus Machine completely transforms the meaning and range of the hi-tech thriller and launches what will be a fabulous -- and groundbreaking -- fiction career." [jacket blurb, US uncorrected proof, 1994]

"Pierre Ouellette hurtles you on a gripping journey into the dark side of technology in the future. An unbeatable read from start to finish." --Clive Cussler.

"The Deus Machine is one of the best books I have ever read." --Jim Brinkerhoff (TeK Consulting Services).