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A Final Reminder
December 2020
A boundlessly wealthy capitalist genius.
His elite team recruited from ‘round the world creating stunning, beneficial tech.
Crisis. A new deadly virus emerges.
And the team discovers a malignant foreign power plotting to steal their work.
Blackmail, sex-slavery, murder. Will the forces of good be turned to evil?
How far will either side go to win?
Will the pandemic make it pointless? Maybe.
(book proceeds go to: Save Our Youth, Costa Mesa, California)
About Buzz
Trinity College, Bachelor's degree.
Easy Rider inspired a year of wandering,
motorcycle gang in Little Rock. love commune in The Ozarks.
Master's degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Invited to Munich, Germany as guest scientist.
Worked with stunningly intelligent techies inventing medical lasers.
Recruited by Big US Corp to California: intrapreneur new laser devices.
Seduced by capitalism: serial tech start-ups.
Marriage to a fabulous wife, two creative, courageous kids.
College professor Physical Sciences and Technologies, Irvine.
Inventions: photopolymerization, digital imaging for a diabetes cure, stem cell culturing.
Festival awards for films made with locals in Jinotega, Nicaragua.
Travel research for A Final Reminder to Korea, Kamchatka, Tokyo.
Norway, Bulgaria, Albania, North Macedonia, New Zealand.
Three months pursued by the coronavirus at its freshest, Hong Kong thru Cambodia, Vietnam.
Writing 'til now scientific publications, patents along reality's ragged boundary to sci-fi.
A Final Reminder is my first venture into lettered fiction.
Who's Who in A Final Reminder
Dr. Dirk Samuelson has assembled a team of elites to build the first direct connection between the human brain and Arctan International Corporation’s computer Cloud.
But he is about to discover that he also has his Joker.
Dr. Dirk Samuelson
“Hello, Matt, I’m Dirk Samuelson.” Bumping knuckles. “Please call me Dirk. Like time, its brief.”
One particular feature stood out, ice-blue eyes; Samuelson had blood relatives on the Kamchatka Peninsula.
Souchi Kim
The most self-controlled and, perhaps, most intelligent woman Matt had ever been alone with turned to brief him...
She put one hand softly on his now-clothed chest and kissed him languorously on the cheek just to the south of his mouth.
"Like you, I have been instructed to make bold, independent decisions."
Soh, Augmented Intelligence
Just as he was finishing the sentence, his face became rigid, eyes unblinking. Souchi stopped in her tracks. It looked like Matt was having a stroke.
“Matt, what’s up?”
He slumped and turned to look at her. In a low voice he answered, “Soh talked to me. And I hadn’t requested it.”
Douglas Matthew County III
The effect of a few hundred drifting molecules of her delicate Chanel Five coursed through his nerves and crushed his id. Matt felt dizzy.
Rehema Njoroge
had a valid firearms license, but not for the caliber of the weapons she carried.
If something went down, financial and political influences would make her mess disappear.
Antionette Césaire
One thought lingered. She would make him pay.
Dr. Alicia Hoescht
a world authority on electric signals in the human eye
with a cult-following among young academics for her bilingual techno-blog and psychedelic hair color
Devon McBain
Just about any family calamity that could befall a child had visited him.
...nobody as likely to get you in and then back out of big trouble and have so damn much fun at it.
The human embodiment of good drugs
Stefan Krzyzanowski
Stefan never turned his back to the front door. He hadn’t consulted Feng Shui to lay out Zig’s Bar.
But then, Mr. Shui didn’t have Stefan’s problems
"One, The Golden Rule. Do unto others what they cannot do for themselves.
Two. The Silver Rule. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Old school, no problem. Live it.
Three. The Brass Rule or maybe better, the Brass Knuckles Rule. Do unto others as they have done unto you.
Brass is the operative Rule for you now.
Questions?"
-Dr. Dirk Samuelson-
REVIEWS
What They’re Saying
A Final Reminder is a book for you, the readers. I've given it my all. I would love to hear from you! All comments appreciated.
I found the characters to be funny, smart and strong, particularly the female characters, Souchi and Alicia. Once I started this book I couldn’t put it down!... wicked sense of humor and a brilliant mind for detail.
Pamela Tong
Intrigue, heroism, adventure, corporate greed, sex, all rolled into an easy read who-done-it techno thriller apropos to current times that engages your interest to keep reading. You are present in time and place with well-developed characters while a suspenseful story is weaved. Great relaxing read.
Mark Leskovar
#1 all profits to kids in need
#2 A captivating romance adventure interwoven with wild motorcycle chases. A near future techno crime novel, is not quite tame enough to give to conservative friends, yet, what a blast! Buzz McCord’s fresh characters shine. Thumbs up!
Carl Holz
Buckle up for a thrill ride through dive bars, big data, and international intrigue. And it’s all in the service of exploring timeless themes in current and future context: Can prostitution solve more problems than it creates, when does surveillance in the interest of good become evil, how does a tall American blend in at a bar in Asia.
A trio of smart misfits push the boundaries of science and good sense. Recruited by the founder of a multinational corporation headquartered in San Francisco to do big things, they get in big trouble on their own; in Vietnam no less. Befriended by a cab driver and an ex-pat car shop owner you wouldn’t want to mess with, an entire family gets involved. A big family. There’s shooting.
Whatever you want in a good read is here. Action, boxing, romance, science, crime rings, high-stakes business, and where to get a drink in Ho Chi Minh city. Except horses: No one rides a horse. Motor cycles and luxury jet liners come into play. Just no horses.
John Morley
Such a fun read of international crime and adventure bound up in romance.
Sophia Jensen
Journalist/Photographer
Brilliant!
McCord nails the nuanced interplay in conversation and interpersonal relationships which make the story come alive. From the salty expressions, jibes and the shall we say “rustic” verbiage of a gym atmosphere, to the subtle flirtatious innuendos amongst workmates, to the almost sterile corporate world- it’s spot on.
The quick stepping dialogue entertains throughout.
...the protagonist lives a life that most of us mortals may simply dream of or admire, much about him urges one to reflect on one's own aspirations. This holds true from the concept of leveraging time and accomplishing what one can in a limited lifetime, to his sophisticated relationship with his wife, working together on something “bigger than themselves”.
Martino
Very impressed with the breadth of story and character ideas and attributes, …tied all together into a very cool story that is fiction-esque but explores a lot of avenues that our world has just started down.
Ryck Daniels
Irvine Valley College
A Final Reminder is not one of those Beam Me Up, Martians Ahoy types of Sci Fi. Perhaps, it isn’t real science fiction. Certainly, it is based on science with real footnote documentation and there are elements of futurism and lots of good versus evil action. Unlike, Sci Fi, the sociological features and cultural dilemmas jump out as major themes. The characters are not superhuman but are real, flawed and easily visualized.
Buzz McCord has written a fresh action-packed showstopper. I loved every minute of it! I highly recommend this read.
AJazz
It was compelling and exciting, right up to the end. The footnotes were an education in themselves. From a Silicon Valley/tech standpoint, it was fascinating reading.
Millie Paul
Oceanside Symphony Orchestra
If you are repelled by action-packed sex crime conflicts on the streets of Ho Chi Min City, don’t read A Final Reminder. It is futuristic and scientifically based so much so that Professor Buzz McCord has included detailed footnotes. But then again, it has a riveting love story, substantial characters, witty dialog, and global appeal. Buzz has created a compelling story, believable characters and a thought provoking map of the future.
PissoCol
Press for A Final Reminder
News, Views and More
Broadway World. December 2020
...moves energetically between upbeat and malevolent. Its author wrote it to simultaneously entertain and enrage.
California Newswire. December 2020
Business Entertainment & Technology News from California
“A Final Reminder” walks the line between literary fiction and international intrigue. It transports readers to a near-future world...of bioluminescent hairdos and augmented human intelligence.
FOX 5 KVVU TV Las Vegas.
December 11, 2020
Born out of a raging pandemic, Buzz McCord’s new techno-thriller wrestles with artificial intelligence, surveillance and sex crime.
Market Watch. Dec. 23, 2020
...as we face pandemic disasters, McCord paints a believable, hopeful world of bioluminescent hairdos and augmented human intelligence scarred by ubiquitous ultraviolet sterilization and government-mandated instant pathogen detector machines.
Beyond
A Final Reminder
Porcelain projects
named for its resemblance to little white sea-shells.
A hard translucent ceramic of kaolin and quartz fired at high temperature.
A thing of lasting use and magical beauty.
Buzz has created a series of delicate but resilient porcelain vessels, thin and translucent. numbered - signed - dated.
Custom design requests accepted.
(artwork proceeds go to: Save Our Youth, Costa Mesa, California)
B010 Blue Flame
26 cm X 11.5 cm X 515 g
Born: June 20, 2020
Contact
Let me know your thoughts. Will try to respond quickly but I am working on Book Two..
Southern California
A Final Reminder. The future coming soon to a reality near you.
Ride with
a rich cast of characters on a roller coaster of innovation, technology, despicable crime and thrills! Including the brain-machine interface, computer surveillance, sex-trafficking, Big Data, enterprise software, data analytics, space-based communications, international terrorism, Korean cuisine, the dive bar scene in Mission, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, pharmaceutical sleep learning, Polish soul food, hair-raising Ho Chi Minh City traffic, and motorcycle chases through Vietnamese sidewalk restaurants.
When you’re not learning, you’ll be dodging bullets, lasers and humorous zingers.