Story: 4 / 10
Characters: 7
Setting: 2
Prose: 3 ( )

I really wanted to like this book. The author is a software engineer; I'm a software engineer. He wrote a thriller; I want to write a thriller. He got published; I want to get published. I'm going to work hard to make my first published fiction better than this, however.

This is not unreadable, but it's overwritten and not compelling. I found myself skimming through it at a dizzying pace because not much was happening and most of the words on the page were giving superfluous backstory and description. This is supposed to be a thriller, pared down and full of impending doom and action. The author tried to create a sense of the former by describing the consequences of some computer crashes and tacked on the latter toward the end when our deskbound heroes suddenly started surviving gunfights. And then there is the gratuitous PG-13 sex thrown in to spice things up. What is needed are some stakes that really drive the story and the characters, not just a series of scenes that would barely support a Lifetime movie of the week.

There might be an interesting story in here somewhere. And some interesting characters. An agent or editor needed to tell Mr. Russinovich to go back and write another couple of drafts and find them. ( )

It wasn't a bad book, just not what I was hoping for. It is a typical international thriller, but with Mark Russinovich's name on the front I was expecting more propeller head material. There's a few smidges here and there, but presented in such a way the typical reader can either gloss over it, or ignore it entirely. Call it a 2-1/2, and be prepared for more of the same, since the ending sure hints at turning this into a series rather than a one shot deal. ( )

With more and more internet connected devices and our reliance on Technology, cyber security has become more and more important. I found this to be a dull story based on common stereotypes, a lack of character building, a lack of depth in general, and some sexual content that didn't add to the story. I persevered until about 60% through and then abandoned it. ( )

Overall not too bad, the drama over discovering and tracking a new virus/malware and its' special purpose was fairly well done. I think it wrapped up fairly quickly and I might have liked to see some more fallout and more details on how it worked. But I understand that the book had to be accessible to the general public.
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