Another clever, energetic addition to an appealing series.
In the 12th installment of this techno-thriller series, a fiendish organization policing online activities targets members of R-Group, a cybersecurity team.
The Special Artificial Intelligence Task Force raids the R-Group’s Zurich operations center. As supercomputers are illegal, the team annihilates the group’s resident AI, ICABOD, and arrests hacker Quip. Once other members of the family-owned R-Group initiate a prison break, they’re fugitives. That doesn’t stop them from stymying the nefarious MAG group, which is spearheading the hits against AI–enhanced supercomputers. They thwart MAG’s attempt to destroy one particular AI, which the R-Group can then secretly utilize to “reassemble” ICABOD. As MAG is already fearful of R-Group’s building another artificial intelligence, they send an anatomic biped programmed to assassinate any remaining members if necessary. They moreover set their sights on Gracie Rodreguiz in New York, suspecting (rightly so) that she’s part of the cybersecurity family. R-Group adamantly avoids detection using ancient devices from last century—pagers. With luck and resolve, the family might be able to revive ICABOD, which they can use in their inevitable confrontation against MAG. Like Breakfield and Burkey’s preceding installment, The Enigma Beyond (2020), their latest novel brims with cool technology. In one instance, the R-Group covertly bounces signals off of still-orbiting, seemingly abandoned zombie satellites. There’s also up-to-date tech that some readers may recognize, including deepfakes. The authors masterfully handle a sizable cast while maintaining momentum. These players, many of whom are recurring, land in various engrossing circumstances; Gracie, for example, finds both peril and romance. Despite returning enemies, this novel could be a stand-alone. But myriad delightful characters mean endless story possibilities for additional sequels or spinoffs.
Another clever, energetic addition to an appealing series. (bibliography, acknowledgements, author bios)Pub Date: Jan. 8, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-946858-48-1
Page Count: 340
Publisher: ICABOD Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 19, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.
Are we not men? We are—well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z (2006).
A zombie apocalypse is one thing. A volcanic eruption is quite another, for, as the journalist who does a framing voice-over narration for Brooks’ latest puts it, when Mount Rainier popped its cork, “it was the psychological aspect, the hyperbole-fueled hysteria that had ended up killing the most people.” Maybe, but the sasquatches whom the volcano displaced contributed to the statistics, too, if only out of self-defense. Brooks places the epicenter of the Bigfoot war in a high-tech hideaway populated by the kind of people you might find in a Jurassic Park franchise: the schmo who doesn’t know how to do much of anything but tries anyway, the well-intentioned bleeding heart, the know-it-all intellectual who turns out to know the wrong things, the immigrant with a tough backstory and an instinct for survival. Indeed, the novel does double duty as a survival manual, packed full of good advice—for instance, try not to get wounded, for “injury turns you from a giver to a taker. Taking up our resources, our time to care for you.” Brooks presents a case for making room for Bigfoot in the world while peppering his narrative with timely social criticism about bad behavior on the human side of the conflict: The explosion of Rainier might have been better forecast had the president not slashed the budget of the U.S. Geological Survey, leading to “immediate suspension of the National Volcano Early Warning System,” and there’s always someone around looking to monetize the natural disaster and the sasquatch-y onslaught that follows. Brooks is a pro at building suspense even if it plays out in some rather spectacularly yucky episodes, one involving a short spear that takes its name from “the sucking sound of pulling it out of the dead man’s heart and lungs.” Grossness aside, it puts you right there on the scene.
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.Pub Date: June 16, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-2678-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
Roberts revisits a favorite theme: The power of community can defeat a great evil.
After escaping from a serial killer, a woman tries to reclaim her life.
After a childhood as an Army brat, Morgan Albright is determined to put down roots. She bought a small house in the perfect neighborhood outside of Baltimore, living with a friend and working two jobs to make ends meet. Morgan’s life is happy and fulfilling, and she is making progress on her financial and career goals. Her perfect world is shattered when someone breaks into her home and murders her roommate. At first, the police assume it was a random act of violence, but after discovering the killer stole Morgan’s identity and her entire savings, they realize the crime fits the profile of a serial killer named Gavin Rozwell. The police inform Morgan that her roommate was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time; she was the real intended target. Morgan’s grief, coupled with the financial devastation from the identity theft, leaves her no choice but to return home to Vermont to live with her mother and grandmother. Morgan reconnects with her family and rebuilds her life, including landing the perfect job and falling in love. The police and FBI pursue Gavin, who continues to stalk and kill women, each time leaving a reminder at the crime scene that shows he’s fixated on Morgan as the one who got away. Roberts shows Gavin’s slow descent into obsession and madness as the inverse of Morgan’s healing journey back to herself and her community. The novel highlights Morgan’s preparations for the inevitable final countdown with Gavin, but the lack of immediacy and urgency of the threat makes for a subdued, restrained thriller.
Roberts revisits a favorite theme: The power of community can defeat a great evil.Pub Date: May 23, 2023
ISBN: 9781250284112
Page Count: 448
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: March 27, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2023
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