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
This is the sort of book that stirs one so deeply that it is almost impossible to attempt to convey the impression it leaves. It is the story of today's Exodus, of America's great trek, as the hordes of dispossessed tenant farmers from the dust bowl turn their hopes to the promised land of California's fertile valleys. The story of one family, with the "hangers-on" that the great heart of extreme poverty sometimes collects, but in that story is symbolized the saga of a movement in which society is before the bar. What an indictment of a system — what an indictment of want and poverty in the land of plenty! There is flash after flash of unforgettable pictures, sharply etched with that restraint and power of pen that singles Steinbeck out from all his contemporaries. There is anger here, but it is a deep and disciplined passion, of a man who speaks out of the mind and heart of his knowledge of a people. One feels in reading that so they must think and feel and speak and live. It is an unresolved picture, a record of history still in the making. Not a book for casual reading. Not a book for unregenerate conservative. But a book for everyone whose social conscience is astir — or who is willing to face facts about a segment of American life which is and which must be recognized. Steinbeck is coming into his own. A new and full length novel from his pen is news. Publishers backing with advertising, promotion aids, posters, etc. Sure to be one of the big books of the Spring. First edition limited to half of advance as of March 1st. One half of dealer's orders to be filled with firsts.
Pub Date: April 14, 1939
ISBN: 0143039431
Page Count: 532
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1939
SEEN & HEARD
Genetically engineered dinosaurs run amok in Crichton's new, vastly entertaining science thriller. From the introduction alone—a classically Crichton-clear discussion of the implications of biotechnological research—it's evident that the Harvard M.D. has bounced back from the science-fantasy silliness of Sphere (1987) for another taut reworking of the Frankenstein theme, as in The Andromeda Strain and The Terminal Man. Here, Dr. Frankenstein is aging billionaire John Hammond, whose monster is a manmade ecosystem based on a Costa Rican island. Designed as the world's ultimate theme park, the ecosystem boasts climate and flora of the Jurassic Age and—most spectacularly—15 varieties of dinosaurs, created by elaborate genetic engineering that Crichton explains in fascinating detail, rich with dino-lore and complete with graphics. Into the park, for a safety check before its opening, comes the novel's band of characters—who, though well drawn, double as symbolic types in this unsubtle morality play. Among them are hero Alan Grant, noble paleontologist; Hammond, venal and obsessed; amoral dino-designer Henry Wu; Hammond's two innocent grandchildren; and mathematician Ian Malcolm, who in long diatribes serves as Crichton's mouthpiece to lament the folly of science. Upon arrival, the visitors tour the park; meanwhile, an industrial spy steals some dino embryos by shutting down the island's power—and its security grid, allowing the beasts to run loose. The bulk of the remaining narrative consists of dinos—ferocious T. Rex's, voracious velociraptors, venom-spitting dilophosaurs—stalking, ripping, and eating the cast in fast, furious, and suspenseful set-pieces as the ecosystem spins apart. And can Grant prevent the dinos from escaping to the mainland to create unchecked havoc? Though intrusive, the moralizing rarely slows this tornado-paced tale, a slick package of info-thrills that's Crichton's most clever since Congo (1980)—and easily the most exciting dinosaur novel ever written. A sure-fire best-seller.
Pub Date: Nov. 7, 1990
ISBN: 0394588169
Page Count: 424
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 21, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1990
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