Reece HirschRezensionen

Lawyers

Found this seen out and not all that interesting. Lawyers can be just like vacuum and used car salesman, most only care about what you can do for them!

Two sides to a police procedural story

This slight tech inspired story has a nice flow and interesting details. The technology aspects don't feel off so didn't bother the story premise.

Not bad, but not great. Too many "convenient" plot points that assist the main character. I still like the plot and general overall story, but character development was weak.

Pretty good

The plot is a real page turner. My only real criticism is that the main character is introduced as flawed in a major way. Overcoming her problems in service of the plot is not really dealt with, to me it was more just hand waved away. Still an enjoyable read.

The problem with writing novels based on current events is that, by the time the book is published, the events are no longer current. Black Nowhere features a Darknet site called Kyte. The author has clearly copied the real Silk Road Marketplace, a Darknet site launched in 2011 and shut down by the FBI in 2013. In this fictionalized story, the FBI is clueless about this sort of site existing on the Darknet, and so everything that happens in the story feels dated. If you don't know anything about the Darknet, you might be interested in this loosely fictionalized version of Silk Road. I was mostly annoyed by the similarities of the sites and the ignorance of the FBI.

Still, I persevered, hoping the story would surprise me. But the characters are flat and dull and stereotypical. Our heroine is a young woman who suffers from clinical depression. She self-medicates with various drugs and large amounts of alcohol kept in her water bottle. She's treated like crap by the FBI because she's young and female, but she somehow manages to put them all to shame while battling depression and addiction. The male lead is a college student based on Ross Ulbricht, the founder of Silk Road Marketplace. His character is childish and wholly unlikable.

The dialogue doesn't sound at all like that of twentysomething tech nerds. The interactions are stilted and dull.

I gave up at 35% on my Kindle.

*I received a review copy from the publisher, via NetGalley.*

This book took me a while to get into, but once I actually did I found it quite enjoyable. This is a totally different genre from what I usually read, but I would read Mr. Hirsch's work again. The characters were well written and I could truly visualize how they looked and sounded. This book kept me guessing and I constantly found I was wrong as there were many twists. Poor Will, he kept digging himself in deeper and deeper. Would definately recommend this book.

What a fantastic story. This is the second Reece Hirsch book I've read and I have enjoyed each of them. This was a page turner that never slowed down. Reece does a great job of using his knowledge of cyber crime to weave a plot that keeps the reader entertained and sitting on the edge of their seat. I really liked Chris and Zoey and hope they return in a future book. I will read everything Reece has written as he never disappoints and always takes me on a wild ride that I do not want to get off of.

I won this book through the Goodreads giveaway and thank Reece for my copy.

I received this book as a Goodreads first reader giveaway winner. I would have read this book in a day but I had company come over. It hooked me from the start with the co-worker falling 38 floors. Then it just kept going from there. I couldn't put it down. I was even reading it while watching a movie with my company because I wanted to know what happened next. Reece does a great job pulling you into the story from the very start and making you want to know what happens next. Great job for a first book. I look forward to reading more by him.

This is a well-written contemporary thriller. What sets it apart is the author's understanding of modern surveillance technologies. In major urban areas, it is difficult not to be under constant surveillance, even if no one is looking for you or cares what you are doing. This book is about what can happen if they care.

I received this ARC in return for an honest review, and all I can say is I was blown away with the story that rings true of Big Brother is watching you! Chris Bruen, a former computer crimes prosecutor, decided to open his law practice, he had no clue how the first client would change his life for the worst! When Ian Ayres turned to be an ethical hacker, he had no idea that is legit hacking for one company that hired him to search for bugs would prove to be his downfall when he found data that wasn't supposed to be found and he searched for Chris to help him as people wanted him dead because he knew too much!

Chris Bruen didn't want to believe Ian at first as his story sounded like a best seller thriller novel, but once they returned to his office to see the place shot up and a man in a suit that shot at them he knew Ian's story was true, but how did they escape when all of San Francisco had cameras on every street that would track them wherever they went??

I would like to thank Thomas & Mercer, as well as NetGalley, for a copy of this e-ARC to review. Though I received this ebook for free, that has no impact upon the honesty of my review.

Goodreads Teaser: "When former computer-crimes prosecutor Chris Bruen and retired hacktivist Zoey Doucet open their San Francisco law firm, it’s the best day of their professional lives. That is, until their first client walks through the door.

Ian Ayres is an “ethical hacker” who was hired by a company to test the security of its online systems. On the job, he uncovered some highly classified information: the existence of a top-secret government surveillance agency and its Skeleton Key, a program that can break any form of encryption. Now Ayres is on the run. And after government agents descend on Chris and Zoey’s office during their potential client’s visit—killing two employees—they, too, are forced to flee for their lives.

From California to Ecuador to Mexico, the trio must try to evade a hired assassin, a bloodthirsty drug cartel, and their own government. But how can they escape an adversary that can access every phone call, every email, every video feed?

'Surveillance' is critically acclaimed author Reece Hirsch’s third book in the Chris Bruen series."

Beginning with a bang, this book keeps you on the edge of your seat all the way to the end. There's no doubt that Hirsch has a true talent for creating mysterious thrillers that walk that fine line between fiction and reality. For the events in this story do just that, keeping you firmly engaged in Bruen's life or death race while at the same time planting that kernel of doubt about this story being fictional. Sure the actual story is made up, but isn't it more than possible that it's based upon real events? Starting with a mind-boggling question such as this, incorporating realistic and relatable characters, and placing them all within a world we're intimately familiar with, and Hirsch has crafted a thriller that lingers long after the last page has been turned and the book set down.

Chris Bruen, Zoey Doucet, Ian Ayers, and all the other players in this deadly game of cat and mouse have nuances and shading that make them come alive off the page. Within a few pages they all feel like they might be people you could easily know, or come into contact with during the course of your daily life. They have distinct personalities and quirks. Granted we only see those that come out under extreme duress, but even so they hint at many of the other traits each person possesses - humor, impatience, love, sneakiness, brutality, mellowness, etc. All of which combines to make them easy to relate to, or at least have strong feelings about or for. So of course that makes us root for those we consider to be the good guys, and dread encountering those we think must be the bad guys.

Setting all this in places we know, places we may have been, just brings the possibility of this as reality that much closer to home. A brilliant move, and one that makes it virtually impossible to get away from the underlying issues and ideas exposed by this book. Exceptionally well done, it has made me want to read many more works by Hirsch - as quickly as I can get my hands on them. Even if only to shake loose the ideas this book has implanted in my head!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Fast-paced and entirely captivating, this book was hard to put down. I couldn't wait to find out how, or if, Will would ever find a way to clear himself of all the trouble that he found himself in the middle of. Loved the San Francisco setting, too.
I'll be sure to look out for more books from Reece Hirsch!

I received a free copy through Goodreads.
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Wow! I had no idea hacking could be so fascinating. At first glance I thought the book would focus on too much hacker and computer terms, thus leading to a story where I am left lost and bored. But man I was proven wrong!!

This book was such a thrill to read from start to finish! Betrayal, secrets and deceit are just the tip of the iceberg. The computer/hacker terms were explained in a way that was relatively easy to catch on and did not dominate the story as much as I had thought. I really enjoyed everything Chris did in order to clear his name and how he used every resource to his advantage to get from places to places while being hunted by every single agency on the USA and Europe.

That final twist at the climax and in the end was definitely worth it. I hope to read more of the hunt for Lurker 2.0.

Overall, a very thrilling read from start to finish.

Intrusion
By: Reese Hirsch
Published By: Thomas & Mercer
Copy Courtesy of Goodreads
First Reads Giveaway
Reviewed By: tk

Chris Bruen is a privacy and security lawyer. His current focus is trying to find out who has stolen algorithms of an internet search engine. Although to some it may appear as no big problem. Kids trying to be hackers could be one possibility. Another larger possibility is a company with intent. What are they going to do with this information? Who would it benefit? Bruen will risk it all to find the answers, even if he loses himself in the process.

Absolutely mind-blowing story! Even though a work of fiction, Reese Hirsch will push you to open your mind to incredible possibilities of a possible take over by “others” using the internet as true weapon. Threats to our everyday lives come in many shapes. It is terrifying to imagine such a devious plan could work.

Hold on with both hands when you open your mind to the terror of a plot so ingenious that you will surely be convinced that it is happening right here and now. I look forward to the next Reese Hirsch novel, and his amazing talent as a suspense/thriller genre writer.

Highly recommended. 5/5

"The Adversary" is a very well written techno-thriller reminiscent of the movie "Die Hard," where computer hackers try to take over a city and cause widespread death and destruction. Trying to stop this mayhem is ex-hacker Chris Bruen, who gets involved whether he wants to or not.

Chris was a former Department of Justice attorney working on cyber crimes. He decided to take his skills private and joined a law firm where he basically did the same thing, only he could offer offenders with options other than going to prison. Since he was previously a hacker, Chris sympathized with many of those he was sent to corral. The book delves a little into Chris's background and tells the tale of a simple prank gone bad. But Chris turned his life around, went to law school, and never went back to hacking. The same can not be said for others in his position.

The book starts out with Chris traveling to Europe to retrieve the source code for an operating system used by almost everyone. Chris's client (think Microsoft) wanted the code returned because if it became widely available, hackers could find holes to insert viruses and this would in turn impact the trust of those using their product. But someone had beaten Chris to his target and as he stands knocking on the door, he hears a gunshot. Upon gaining entrance to the apartment, he finds the hacker dead, but also finds a copy of the source code along with a virus they called LURKER.

Upon returning to San Francisco, Chris finds himself in the middle of the attempt to find those responsible for the Lurker virus. Enlisting the help of Zoey. a local hacker, they return to Europe in order to follow up a lead. It is then they find out that the mastermind behind the virus has targeted a major city for the virus and that he has implicated Chris in the conspiracy. Believing he needed to remain free in order to clear his name, Chris and Zoey must evade Interpol, the CIA, the DOJ, and the real hacker as well.

I thought this was a very good book. The pace was steady, picking up toward the end and the final climax. It was written in a way that non tech savvy readers would understand what was going on and gave a little insight into the world of hacking. I hope Mr. Hirsch includes Zoey in his subsequent novels as I thought she made a good companion to Chris. I am looking forward to reading more about Chris Bruen and his future exploits.

Good thriller, with enough realism to make anybody nervous about the multitude of computers that run practically everything in our lives...and what can go wrong when someone nasty and intelligent hacks in to make a shambles of things. We follow the main character as his life comes down around his ears and he runs from law enforcement (persuaded by clever manipulation into thinking he is the terrorist) while trying to figure out who is behind the attacks, what the "big" terrorist attack will be, and how to stop it. Unfortunately, old sins have long shadows, and he discovers his own unwitting part in how things are playing out.

There are a couple of minor weaknesses, but nothing that should seriously mar the reader's enjoyment. Plenty of twists, turns, and shattering revelations add to the already fraught with danger scenarios. It will make you stop and think how safe you really are, and what cyberterrorist attacks can do to shatter your peace of mind. Definitely a book worth picking up.

Reece Hirsch's first book hooked me on Tech Thrillers. I have been fascinated by the Internet ever since my son guided my toe into cyberspace. But Reece Hirsh opens the world of hackers for all of us.

In The Adversary, Chris Bruen, a former DO prosecutor works for a law firm that specializes in date security laws. He was sent to Amsterdam to retrieve all stolen copies of a source code from a hacker known as the Lurker. The settlement papers were a good deal for the hacker since he could avert criminal prosecution. But when Chris arrived at the hacker’s apartment, someone had beaten him to the hacker. He heard a shot ring out and found the hacker tied to a bicycle rack with a bullet hole through his head. Usually this type of assignment did not end that way! He thought that would be all the excitement for a while but he was wrong.

When he arrived back in San Francisco, he found him pursued by a truly evil black hat hacker group. They were determined to set him up as the designer of computer virus that could spell death for thousands of people in New York in so many ways.

With flashbacks into Chris Bruen’s childhood and easy to understand explanations hacker terminology, Reece Hirsch lead me on a thrilling adventure that kept me turning the pages. I am really looking forward to the next book in this series. I want to know more about Chris Bruen, what happened during his DOJ career, what about his wife who died of breast cancer, what about the background of any characters carried over from this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this Tech thriller and want to read the next one in the series. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Tech thrillers or hacker culture.

I won this book from GoodReads but that in no way influenced my thoughts or feelings in this review.

This book was a thrill ride from the start. My interest never waned and I loved all the San Francisco references. It's a quick read in that the story's pace is so quick you're afraid you might miss something exciting if you put it down.

I'll definitely read more form Reece Hirsch and recommend this one to friends.

This book started off with a suicide only a couple pages in, and I felt hooked in by that. Unfortunately my interest began waning in the book only a few pages later. This book suddenly became a formulaic legal thriller; throw in some Russian gangsters, murder, terrorism, corrupt lawyers, and a scared as all hell protagonist. This has just been written already too many times, nothing seemed fresh.

Some of the situations in this book did not seem at all realistic to me. It never felt like Will was in enough danger from Yuri and Nikolai for him to not have gone to the police. Yuri and Nikolai seemed more like fumbling fools than tough gangsters. Also the ending in regards to what happened with the investigation of Will didn't seem realistic at all. You mean to tell me just because all those departments that are investigating him receive one piece of evidence that Will is just cleared.

I came into reading this book hoping for something new and fresh, and sadly just found the same old thing.

Will Connelly, a corporate attorney on the cusp of becoming a partner in the law firm he works for, thinks he has his life together until he witnesses a colleague's apparent suicide. When asked to take over the lead negotiations for a merger involving an encryption software giant, Will begins to realize he's caught in the middle of a nightmare.

The debut novel of Reece Hirsch starts out with a great hook, and by the time I finished the first chapter I knew I was going to enjoy the book. There are a few times the plot thins, though the author more than makes up for it with another twisty turn that keeps the story going. And does the story go. The tension remains taut as Will is forced to decide which is more important, his morals and doing what is right within the letter of the law, or that which may keep him or loved ones from harm.

Reece manages to keep things believable, although I wanted a few characters fleshed out more, I was relieved to find I wasn't lost in lawyerese during the negotiations of the merger.

For a first novel, well done, and look forward to many more.½

Finally, I have found a novel to end my summer reading slump! This is a smart, well crafted thriller that will have readers hooked from the opening sequence. Reminiscent of some of the better John Grisham novels, The Insider presents a down to earth lawyer who is thrust into an extraordinary conspiracy. With murder, mobsters and a fast pace, author Reece Hirsch has managed to write a thriller that thoroughly entertains. If every author wrote a debut novel like this one, every author would be a best seller!Thanks to the author and publishers for the opportunity to read this as part of the First Reads program.

This book had me hooked from page one! The book starts with a suicide/murder with the victim coming through the windows of the corporate law offices. The main character, Will Connelly, leads the mystery as he makes law partner and unwinds a complex conspiracy. What's not to like with elements of the Russian mob, a likeable lead character, a good murder mystery and lots of action?

The book reminded me of some of the early John Grisham novels. This is a great first book from Reece Hirsch and I am hoping he will publish more books, and soon!

Reader received a free copy of this book from the Good Reads First Reads Program

When corporate attorney Will Connelly goes to work one morning the most important thing on his mind is will he make partner. But when he looks out his window and sees fellow attorney, Ben Fisher, fall to his death things go from bad to worse. His I.D. card is found on Ben and the police think that Will killed Ben. When Will is given the project that Ben was working on, enter the Russians who want Will to give them insider information or else. He is being investigated by the DOJ, is fired from his job, and is being hunted. Will sets out to find out who set him up and clear his name.

This book is such a fast paced read. I loved it and never found a dull spot in the whole book. I would recommend this book to everyone no matter what you like to read. I would get mad at the fact that Will refused to ask for help from law enforcement but absolutely loved the way everything was tied up in the end with a nice neat bow. My only hope is that Reece Hirsch makes a series with these characters. Please!!!!

Reading THE INSIDER by Reece Hirsch I realised that the sub-genre of legal thrillers is one that I rarely read, let alone anything set in one of those huge corporate styled legal firms that seem to take up huge building and do all sorts of incomprehensible "commercial" things. So with that in mind, I'm uncomfortably aware I'm not the most most informed commentator on these types of books. Will Connelly is a lawyer working his way up the corporate ladder in his firm, finally making it to partner, although seeing one of his main competitors for the position fall from an upper story window in the building early one morning perhaps should have been some sort of a warning. As is the idea that new partners in legal firms should, at all costs, avoid mysterious Russian women in bars.

The author does an excellent job at taking the reader into the day to day workings and machinations of a large corporate legal firm, without being deathly boring, and there is quite an overall feeling of tension and imminent danger in the storyline. Readers are going to have to happily swallow the threat felt by a single male lawyer from that world who gets involved with the wrong woman, but once the action shifted into the world of murder, insider trading and terrorism things really start to belt along at break-neck pace. There is a point part way through the book where it seems that Connelly hasn't quite got the idea of when you've dug yourself into a corner - stop digging! So I was interested to see how Hirsch was going to get him out of the increasingly complicated problem. Which he did with some aplomb and all loose ends tied up, which is exactly the sort of ending that a lot of readers absolutely love.

I'm not sure how popular Hirsch is going to be with corporate lawyers, particularly those with firms looking for young and upcoming partners. I suspect reading this book might make your average graduate wonder about their career choice. But for fans of legal type thrillers, THE INSIDER has a lot to offer and, in the event of further books, could easily become a series worth following.

The Insider is a suspenseful legal thriller that takes place in the fast paced world of lawyers and corporate double dealing. Will Connelly witnesses a fellow colleague, Ben, fall from his office window to his death. Soon after, Will finds out he has made partner and is now in charge of the merger for a new client, Jupiter Software.
However, Will soon discovers that he is the focus of the police's investigation in Ben's death. He then finds himself the target of an SEC insider-trading investigation, as well as a pawn involved in a criminal scheme with the Russian mob and a terrorist plot.
The book immediately takes off with the death of Will's co-worker in the first few pages. I was constantly guessing which characters were involved in the criminal plot. At times I felt like Will made really bad choices, but as you continue reading and get to the end of the book, it became clear that Will was a pawn in a plot much more complicated that it first appears. I had not read a legal thriller in a long time. This book was an exciting, riveting read. I also really enjoyed the understated humor between Will and the Russian thugs. I think I devoured the book in a few days.