Kindle Edition Amazon Amazon.com's Author Page of Greg M. Sarwa Category:  Action/Thriller Publisher: Ampol ISBN-10:  0615690122 Type: Fiction Pages: 224 Copyright: Jun 06, 2005 ISBN-13: 9780615690124 The Cattle by Greg M. Sarwa is the chilling tale of the "Real ID Act of 2005" and an engaging not-so-futuristic depiction of a future where their government mandated implants secured in every American citizen's body. Grippingly depicting the intricacies of the "Real ID Act" and the United States National Identification System, The Cattle carries readers through the entire process as systems are developed and tested in a sense of the "Mark of the Beast" lore. However, the "Mark of the Beast" includes a greater agenda than a collectively identifying every person. The Cattle slowly reveals the true intent behind the technology and public policy. The Cattle is very highly recommended reading for its vivid writing and outstanding predictive interpretation of a quite possible American future if we are not diligent in being aware of today's political trends and technological possibilities. Midwest Book Review 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. Every person in the United States 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 everyone with the Mark of the Beast? The evening before the National Identification System officially becomes a reality something goes wrong: Someone accidentally discovers the real purpose of the implants. A secret agenda, hidden behind the identity verification cover, is exposed. Excerpt "The Cattle" (Excerpt from the book) Chapter 1 Sunshine and shadows darted and danced on the silver fuselages of countless machines, suspended in mid-air, like a swarm of bees trying to find their way back to the hive. It was a typical bright June afternoon. Brian Warburton was driving back to the air terminal where he worked as a computer programmer. He was on a short break from work, and had stopped at home to take a quick snooze before returning. It’s going to be another beautiful evening at work, he said to himself. Brian loved his work. He felt an almost infinite love for his computers, but the feeling was not mutual. Sometimes, but not too often, he felt that he’d had enough of them. This was especially so, lately. His disaffection was generally caused by too much overtime work, the stress of short deadlines, and the need to have everything working perfectly. He knew that the pressures would go away, eventually, but right now he was tired; he needed to rest. Freaking job, he thought, walking through the bright, wide but crowded corridor of O’Hare’s Terminal number 5. I hope there won’t be any power outage tonight. The last couple of days had been terrible. Out of nowhere, they started to have problems with the electric generators that were supposed to provide power for the computer system. “That’s really stupid. The servers can be damaged by something like this,” he complained to his boss every time it happened, but no one seemed to be listening to him. Brian was trying to get through the crowd of passengers who, with their luggage at their sides, were waiting for something to happen. Next, he passed through a group of children who, becoming impatient and not having anything better to do, started a competition to see who could make the highest pitched noise. Lastly, he had to make his way through a large group of Transport Security Agency employees, who were about to give up on trying to keep order in the hallway. Where, the hell, are all those people coming from? He wondered. But he knew exactly where they were coming from. Ever since employees of the Department of Homeland Security, the Transportation Safety Agency, the National Guard and the Chicago Police Department started working side by side, a few months ago, to manage the large crowds of people trying to enter the United States, there was utter chaos in the airport. To expedite processing such a large number of people and to help the overworked staff, they brought in extra workers who were inexperienced in the screening process. After they implemented the new law, this hellfire was unleashed. It was bad before, he thought—but not that bad. Even the oldest and most experienced Immigration veterans didn’t remember anything like this happening before. Not ever. It was a deluge of people. It looked like everybody scheduled his or her meetings at the same time and in the same city. Everyone was trying to get things done before tomorrow’s deadline, not understanding nor wanting to hear that it wouldn’t matter at all.

Daniel Jolley
The Cattle is a fast-moving, tightly-packed science fiction nightmare grown from the seeds of modern-day events. Greg M. Sarwa takes the idea of a national identification card one step further - to a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) microchip crammed full of personal information and injected under the skin of the hand. Everyone in America - including foreign visitors - will be required by law to receive such an implant, and - surprisingly - there's almost unanimous approval for the new law in both Congress and among the American people. It is, after all, only to be used for means of identity verification. Or is it? In the murky depths of the federal government, a much bolder agenda is put into play around these harmless little microchips, and no one outside the inner cabal is the wiser. No one, that is, until a computer programmer, in the wrong place at the wrong time, sees more than he should during the final tests and indirectly leads an intrepid reporter on the pathway to the hidden truth behind the implants (if, that is, he can survive long enough to discover that well-hidden truth).

The mysterious death of a young computer programmer at O'Hare Airport on the eve of the implementation of the new National Identify System exposes a weakness in the government conspiracy, and the local office of Homeland Security is unable to respond immediately to the events surrounding it. By the time their guys arrive, a videotape of the dead man's final moments has left the building in the hands of a cop, and a very damaging computer disk has seemingly disappeared into thin air. The video tape finds its way into the hands of Jacob Reed, a prominent reporter for a national news network - who, ironically, had just completed a big story about the many benefits of the new national identification law. Unsure what to make of the tape initially, he knows he has something big in his lap, as the tape has left a bloody trail on its way to him. With the help of a hacker friend and a young immigrant woman from Poland who finds herself mixed up in the whole nefarious business for no reason other than incredibly bad luck, Reed begins to put together the pieces as he comes ever closer to getting his hands on the tell-all computer disk that Homeland Security agents are desperately trying to find reclaim.

Amazingly enough, The Cattle never devolves into a political diatribe or take on religious overtones - and that's pretty darn refreshing for a book with "Mark of the Beast" overtones and an insidious government conspiracy at the heart of things. It also hides its kernel of truth until close to the very end, keeping the level of suspense up and growing with each passing chapter. As for the ending, it doesn't follow the standard formula of what you would expect, and that makes it all the more effective.

You won't be bored, as the story moves much too fast to ever stall. Personally, I would have liked to see some pauses along the way to better appraise the main characters (on both sides of the conflict) and reflect on the implications of events. The plot is built on fast-moving twists and turns that take place over the course of one long night, though, and that does much to prescribe the pace at which events are revealed. The science fiction genre has a long tradition of "it can't happen here" novels, and The Cattle is firmly in that tradition - although I do consider the premise of the book rather far-fetched. Still, it's an electrifying read you'll have a hard time putting down.

Kurt A. Johnson, an Amazon.com Top 50 Reviewer
When computer-ace Brian Warburton goes in to work unexpectedly, he finds the government computers he works with are up to something very strange, and this discovery costs him his life. But, before he dies, Brian succeeds in smuggling proof of what the government is up to out of the building. When the computer information falls into the hands of journalist Jacob Reed, it's up to Jacob to unravel just what is happening and why. But, will he live long to warn the people?

I must admit that this little book caught me quite by surprise. Although it is connected to the End Times/Mark of the Beast genre, it is not straitjacketed by it. That is to say that though there is a passing "666" reference, you do not have to believe in such things to enjoy the book. Instead, the book is an enthralling tale of a government project that can make its citizens safer, and also a good deal less free.

Overall, I found this to be a suspenseful story, watching the main characters unravel the mystery and try to escape the embrace of the government. I really enjoyed the story, and think that it is a great cautionary tale. As American patriot Benjamin Franklin once said, "Those who are willing to trade freedom for security deserve neither freedom nor security."

I deeply enjoyed this book, and highly recommend it to everyone!

E. Bukowsky
The strength of "The Cattle," by Greg Sarwa, lies in its "ripped-from-the-headlines" theme. Every week, the news media proclaim that watchdog groups are uneasy about wireless eavesdropping and other infringements upon civil liberties in America. We live in an age when your emails and even your keyboard strokes can be monitored, your identity may be stolen, and the government has the ability to track every important fact about each individual who is a documented citizen in this country. So is the Orwellian scenario in this novel all that far-fetched?

The plot is standard stuff. Brian Warburton, a computer programmer at O'Hare Airport in Chicago, accidentally stumbles upon a top-secret government project, and he copies the potentially explosive information to a disk before he is terminated. The disk falls into the hands of Jacob Reed, a reporter, who is terrified about the fate that awaits him when the authorities locate him. Jacob's pursuer is Trevor Clifton, a man who has contempt for those who "shout about the right of privacy, guaranteed in the Constitution." He believes that the government's invasive program is necessary in order to fight terrorism, and he is willing to kill anyone who reveals that the new four-hundred-billion dollar "National Identification System," or NIDs, is more than just an innocuous way to keep terrorists out of the country.

Unsurprisingly, Jacob finds himself on the run, along with Anna Tabor, a beautiful young Polish woman who is dragged into this dangerous situation against her will. Sarwa wisely keeps the book moving with plenty of fast-paced action sequences. Detracting from the book's effectiveness is the wooden dialogue (example: "Please, Miss Tabor, Anna, pull yourself together!") and the overuse of italics and exclamation points. Examples: "He's shooting at us!" "We have to lose them somehow!" This is amateurish. Writers who are comfortable with their ability to generate suspense do not need to telegraph that something significant is going on by constantly inserting exclamation points for emphasis.

Still, I read this novel in a few hours and found the story involving and extremely frightening. "The Cattle" made me wonder: How far is our government willing to go to keep track of its citizens?