DOUBLE DIGIT

Mathematics genius Digit is back, although her adventures this time aren’t quite as much fun as in A Girl Named Digit (2012).

Starting college at MIT and a long-distance relationship with boyfriend John leaves Digit struggling. School is good, but when John breaks up with Digit with the excuse that his feelings for her throw him off balance, she goes off the rails. Digit hacks into the Department of Defense to bypass the usual protocols and make time to go to a toga party, but she attracts the attention of the National Security Agency—and worse. Jonas Furnis, Digit’s old enemy, kidnaps her, along with John. Furnis wants Digit to work with him to enact eco-terrorism against the United States. And if she doesn’t cooperate, it’s not just her life on the line—it’ll be John’s and millions of civilians’, too. Digit might be able to use her brain to save the day, but will she be able to repair her relationship with John? While it was easy to suspend disbelief and enjoy the giddy fun in Monaghan’s first novel, it’s not so easy here. The plotting is needlessly complex, with one too many near-death experiences for Digit. More distasteful is the way the men in Digit’s life—John, Digit’s father and John’s father—try to control her romantic life, with little genuine resistance from Digit.

Sadly, readers won’t get double the pleasure in this second installment.