Cavallaro, Michael J. 1975-

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Cavallaro, Michael J. 1975-

PERSONAL:

Born 1975, in New Hyde Park, New York. Education: Villanova University, B.A., 1997.

ADDRESSES:

CAREER:

Writer, artist, novelist, and journalist. HarperCollins Publishers, New York, NY, editor, 2000-03; freelance corporate writer, 2003—. Worked as a staff writer for a public relations firm on Long Island, NY.

WRITINGS:

Cybernetica, Arcanum (Nesconsett, NY), 2006.

SIDELIGHTS:

Author and illustrator Michael J. Cavallaro is a former editor for HarperCollins, where he edited the works of such notable writers as Joyce Carol Oates and Clive Barker, and was part of the editorial team that first brought out the popular "Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events" series.

Cybernetica is Cavallaro's debut novel, a cautionary Orwellian tale of government control and loss of individual freedoms. In the aftermath of the Encryption Wars, humans living in Cybernetica are required to have a computer chip implanted that will control their actions through a process called sublimation. A renegade group of rebels known as the Drifters have refused to accept the chips, and they are at constant war with the government powers that control the vast computer networks directing the actions of those carrying the sublimation chips. Whoever controls the networks controls the population, and the Drifters seek the final goal of overthrowing the government, gaining control of the sublimation networks, and freeing the oppressed from the onerous influence of the chips. Their mission will be dangerous, however, as the majority of the war must be fought in cyberspace—which is controlled by the combined power of the Cybernetica government and the corporate world. Reviewer Harriet Klausner, in a review posted on the Harriet Klausner's Review Archive Web site, called Cybernetica an "intriguing science fiction cautionary thriller" and a "well-written exhilarating warning tale" about allowing too much intrusion into our lives by computers and the government.