DEATH IN THE CLOUD

In Simon’s latest series thriller, two brothers take on a powerful neo-Nazi organization that uses stolen artificial intelligence in its quest for world domination.

Years ago, Alex Nicholas was gunned down while having dinner in a restaurant. However, thanks to artificial intelligence software that he helped to create, he finds a way to continue his existence in the cloud—as a realistic, nearly sentient facsimile of his living consciousness. His brother, Michael, now the head of Alex’s company, Tartarus, finds solace in this version of his brother and talks to him regularly through a computer interface. Unfortunately for the Nicholas brothers and for the rest of the world, Monsignor Kurt Schlegelberger and Claus Dietrich, members of the Neo-Nazi Free Forces Party, get hold of Alex’s technology and aim to use it to fulfill their goal to “finish what Adolf Hitler began.” Fortunately, the United States government enlists the help of Michael and Alex to stop them. Over the course of this action-packed story, Simon, the author of Death Logs Out (2019), employs prose that’s potent and detailed. He also seamlessly weaves in side plots, including one involving Michael’s former bodyguard/lover, which manage to work even when they’re not particularly necessary to the already busy story. Michael is the de facto protagonist, but Alex is more likely to pique readers’ interest. The chapters effectively veer among the actions of various players, from Michael and Alex’s conversations in Westport, Connecticut, to President Harry O’Brien’s conversations with his security team in Washington, D.C., to a hijacker’s actions as he commandeers a plane and aims to fly it into the White House. The plot does lose some momentum in the middle, however, as characters’ conversations become a bit repetitive.

An engaging and often lively novel.