An adrenalized, technology-laden actioner.
Covert operative Jake Pendleton returns to stop a possibly devastating cyberwarfare alliance between North Korea and Iran in Barrett’s (Blown, 2015, etc.) latest series thriller.
Jake’s latest assignment as emissary for Virginia espionage firm Commonwealth Consultants sends him to Italy. He and his partner, Italian intelligence agent Francesca Catanzaro, are searching for a hacker nicknamed “The Jew,” who’d tried to warn two American executives of their company’s cybersecurity breaches. The Defense Department was a major client of both companies, and when the aforementioned executives turn up dead, government officials believe that Iranian hacking team Tarh Andishan may be responsible. A series of cybercrimes in the United States further indicates that Iran has aligned itself with North Korea. A major cyberattack called “Disruption” appears to be underway, involving the hacking of various countries’ banking systems. The scheme may involve Boris, a cyberterrorist whom Jake once failed to capture in Washington, D.C., and may also be connected to the disappearance of a Malaysian jetliner more than two years ago. Jake, meanwhile, is worried about Francesca, who seems distracted by her former partner and lover, Marco Serreti, the deputy director of Italy’s intelligence agency. Despite this, Jake and Francesca rush to locate “The Jew” before Disruption begins. This high-speed thriller moves quickly through different parts of the world and through the stories of its myriad characters. It’s all very straightforward but maintains a high level of intensity. Barrett wisely keeps the plot simple and the technical jargon at a minimum, defining terminology in the context of the narrative without interrupting the flow. Barrett adds other twists to preserve the momentum, such as when Jake’s love interest, Kyli, gets caught in a lab explosion. Although Jake and Francesca get involved in multiple chases and occasional brawls, their involvement with the actual cyberthreat is often superficial. Early on, Jake admits, “I don’t know much about hacking,” and he needs others to explain concepts, such as a digital signature. This does, however, give a relatively minor character, Commonwealth Consultants analyst George Fontaine, a chance to shine.
An adrenalized, technology-laden actioner.Pub Date: Oct. 25, 2016
ISBN: 9780988506183
Page Count: 404
Publisher: Switchback Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 12, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.
Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-609-60737-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
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