Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: Technothriller

IDENTIFIED: A Hacker Thriller by John Wilander – Dystopian, Technothriller, Sci-Fi, Hard Hacker Fiction

Identified by John Wilander is a dystopian novel about the omniscient power of our potential cyber future.

West, a young man, spent 15 years in prison for hacking government systems. His mother, a highly visible activist against his imprisonment, is also trying unsuccessfully to get her health insurance to pay for her fight against a deadly medical condition. In Identified West believes the government is responsible for illegally blocking her insurance and vows to find out who’s behind the effort and put his mom back on the insurance rolls.

This is no easy task. Cybersecurity is now a fully linked global enterprise called the G20S, an expansion of today’s G20 nations. Virtually every form of human activity across the world can be logged by the system. It will take a small crew of talented hackers who call themselves the Survivors to develop unique hacker tools for West to break into the system, find the guilty, and get his mother insured. At every point, success could slip out of their grasp.

The Survivors make for a wild and charming cast of characters, well-integrated into their futuristic world.

One is a former adult actor who was pushed out of the business by AI fakes. Another, cheekily named BestBye, plays with a Rubik’s Cube Snake, with virtually endless possible solutions.

Identified maintains strong plausibility. Reading it is virtually a handbook for people curious about what hackers do and how they do it.

Nothing is out of bounds. Even a faked auto accident is a tool to develop a new identity among this group. Every move they make is under surveillance, with arrests and long prison sentences awaiting even the smallest misstep. Readers will feel awe at the efforts the Survivors make to hack the system, and share their dread at being caught.

Ultimately, this novel shares with readers the thrill of breaking into a closed system, doing what no one else can do, and defeating it no matter what the cost. Despite the futuristic setting, everything outlined in the book, from the government controls to the hackers’ tools, feels grounded in our world. This is confident writing, from an author who knows this subject deeply.

March 18, 2024
COGNITION by Jacques St-Malo – Technothrillers, Philosophical Fiction, Genetic Manipulation

A scientific thriller by Jacques St-Malo, Cognition draws from a variety of sources – from Middle East royals to Asians, corporate tycoons from the US and UK to the Chinese and US administrations – to create a canvas as broad and fascinating as the philosophical and moral speculations it presents.

Cognition moves along in the span of a few decades, with its many facets of people in search of the child entrusted with the full capability of germinal-choice technology – to finish off the exclusive child before its countrymen could claim the genius mind for themselves. Meanwhile, an agitation based on the rage of those denied this germline manipulation is being waged against the richly endowed children of the privileged. The tug-of-war between the several factions throughout the book, each with their own set of interests and ideologies, creates numerous opportunities for philosophical debates among these genetically engineered children, educating the reader on the many ramifications of genetic manipulation that results in mental and physical enhancement.

Upon the fall of the last monarch’s regime in Turkey, the royal child prince is taken away to a foreign land to live with his mother’s maidservant for safety of life.

The Chinese Code Seagull is under operation to locate the child entrusted with the full Prometheus module —alpha and beta complement. Ethan, the sought-after child, is growing up away from his regal life and knowledge of real identity as a housekeeper’s son in the home of billionaire business mogul Bruce Taylor. Valerie Taylor, Bruce’s daughter, is another ‘extra somatic’ or genetically tailored child whose fate intersects with Ethan’s. Their course is eventually altered by the gap in their familial genealogy.

Driven by resentment against privileged for the lack of opportunities, Connor Dashaw becomes a rolling force in populist Aamon Wade’s political party fighting against germ line-treatment, which is only affordable by the rich.

All the big players in the novel – political, business, and administration – enact a cat-and mouse game to get grip of a clue puzzle to gain greater power. The collision of many motives results in a chain reaction that consumes everyone in its radar – those seeking a countermeasure to humanity’s predetermined DNA on the one hand, and arbitrariness on the other.

The novel explores, through the psyches of three children, the feeling of estrangement.

Ethan and Connor, in their own ways, embody the estrangement: one is a prince who is oblivious of his identity, while the other is socially deprived of prospects. Ethan feels at ease in the peaceful seclusion of tycoon Taylor’s historic palace-like property. However, his position as a servant’s son stings him, and he considers it humiliating to spend his life “tending to another’s leisure.” Connor, on the other hand, becomes a staunch supporter of political ideology against extrasomatics. The feeling of not belonging returns to Ethan, along with genetically modified Valerie, when they do not find friends or partners who share their “eccentric” views.

Each chapter of the story begins with a quote and introspection about the topic of the chapter.

The author’s tone is upbeat and open about his various philosophies as well as current technologies, which demonstrates his extensive knowledge and necessitates thought. A subtle critical tone accompanies the ardent tone: there is an occasional commentary on the human urge to exert control over others and his own fate, however unethical it may be.

Cognition mixes a wealth of material – from science and technology to business and philosophy, and politics – to create an enthralling fiction about modern evolution. A heavy-read that requires time and consideration, Cognition will especially appeal to tech nerds due to the abundance of scientific discussion that it presents.

Cognition by Jacques St-Malo won 1st Place in the CIBA 2019 Cygnus Book Awards for Science Fiction.

May 25, 2022
A DIVINE WIND by Norman M. Jacobs MD, MS – Technothrillers, Literature and Fiction, Environmental Thrillers

A Divine Wind by Norman M. Jacobs MD, MS is a technothriller that will keep readers glued in their seats until the last page is read.

Working in secret, one government experiments with technology that allows them complete control over the weather. If the user guides the technology with a heavy hand, the weather will strike like a weapon; likewise, if those at the control wield compassion, calm weather that nourishes the land will result. Calculated strategies could deploy storms against one’s foes. Of course, any intentions to channel the weather for good may produce scattered, unintended, and deadly consequences. There’s an old saying, “An ill wind may blow nobody any good.” However, a divine wind may unite people if they don’t kill one another first.

Doron Ben Avrahim suffered significant losses in his life. At just eight years old, his parents died in the 9/11 Twin Towers attacks. The young and devastated Doron journeys to Israel, becoming a ward of his relatives. Now Israeli army lieutenant Doron is captured in Iran. It happens just one week before his wedding. On the day of the arrest, Sarah, his beloved fiancé, tried on her wedding dress. Life offered Doron nothing except Sarah. All joy had forsaken him as a child, and six months into his captivity, if not for Sarah, he didn’t care if he lived or died. Then a tornado sweeps into Iran and changes everything.

Everyone wants to know what happened and why.

High-ranking officials in the United States, including the President and Vice President, develop curiosity about the strange weather events in the Middle East. Governments around the world press for information. What happened? Was it an artificial event? Who did it? Can the technology be duplicated? And, how can we get our hands on it? Israeli officials, driven by their people’s plight of living under constant threat of annihilation, want to keep the technology secret. It makes no sense to share it with the world.

Can there ever be peace?

As governments of the world do what governments do best – investigate, interrogate, and spy on one another, the world’s citizens learn of a unique family that crossed borders. These people have learned about what can unite them and how they can all dream of a better world. Once they envision it, they believe they can create it. Can a foundation be built on a dream, or will it crumble under the winds of change?

Author Norman M. Jacobs, a physician/scientist, builds his plot on a most intriguing premise: the ability to alter weather patterns and control specific storms at will. The theoretical science, including its eventual and significant butterfly effect, develops in a most fascinating and approachable way, leaving readers imagining the likelihood of such a tool’s viability in our world today.

A Divine Wind begins at a heart-pounding, thrilling pace, as any technothriller should. Jacobs then weaves historical events into his characters’ lives, bringing depth and empathy for what shapes their actions. Here, Jacobs allows us a glimpse into the communities and destinies of two cultures and questions their futures. In the end, we ask the all-important, sobering question, can there ever be peace? Ultimately, Jacobs delivers an intelligent technothriller far too close to home to be anything else but highly recommended!

May 22, 2021
The KAFIR PROJECT by Lee Burvine – Technothriller, Atheism, Mystery

From page one, things are not going as planned on The Kafir Project, and author Lee Burvine has many more surprises in store before this undertaking ends. The action leaps off the page from beginning to the grand finale in this thought-provoking thriller. The villains are well-organized and highly motivated to stop the Project dead, as well as anyone who gets in their way.

Gevin Rees is a television science communicator, a celebrity who explains complex scientific discoveries and theories to television audiences. He interviews guests on specific topics and is surprised the world’s most celebrated and reclusive physicist, Edward Fischer, wants to meet with him. It’s even more curious because Fischer’s death in an explosion had been broadly reported. However, he stands before Gevin Rees and begins to tell a story of intrigue about a secret project on a pier along San Francisco Bay. The story is interrupted with gunfire. This time there is no doubt that Fischer is dead. Now on the run, Gevin Rees is a new target.

To solve this mystery, Fischer throws Rees a pack. The contents answer few questions and suggest new ones. Why did Fischer want Rees involved? Before this perilous journey ends, Rees will need to join forces with unexpected allies. One is a rogue agent; others are scientists. Even as a team is taxed to escape the persistent, elusive, evil people determined to stop them and Fischer’s project, Faraj, one of the antagonists declares, “We need the dark to appreciate the light.” His methods are very dark, indeed.

To have any hope to escape these people, Rees will need to employ all of his scientific knowledge, along with sharpening his wits and pushing his fervor beyond limits. But will these efforts be enough to discover the truth of the project? The core of worldwide belief systems is at stake – and a lot of money.

The author’s lifelong thirst to get to the bottom of things has culminated in The Kafir Project, his first novel, and the science behind the plot is beautifully shown through the characters, especially by the TV celebrity turned unexpected hero, Gevin Rees. The Kafir Project is an excellent work of fiction, packed with action and profound ideas that will linger long after the last page is read.

The Kafir Project by Lee Burvine won 1st Place in the CIBA 2017 Global Thriller Awards.

August 12, 2019
BLACK AUTUMN by Jeff Kirkham and Jason Ross – Post Apocalyptic America, Thriller/Suspense, Military

Imagine what would happen if a handful of unrelated mistakes, errors in communications, misguided actions, and natural disasters sparked a worldwide tragedy, an apocalypse… Would you be ready to handle the fallout?

Here’s the story of a rogue nuke in the wrong hands explosively starting a Black Autumn, as authored by Jeff Kirkham and Jason Ross. Like other post-apocalyptic literature, it’s the people who don’t survive the initial explosion who may be the lucky ones. But those who follow the Ross/Kirkham way of life have an edge. A most vital edge in surviving and thriving in this new world order.

Jason Ross and Jeff Kirkham cast themselves as characters in the book: Jeff, a highly- experienced American Special Forces operative, and Jason Ross as the well-prepared owner of the expansive Ross Homestead property. In the novel, they organize a group of families who have spent years preparing for the possibility of a tragic event requiring sustained emergency survival. Some members of the group view their membership in the group as a social activity, with the possibility of a cataclysmic event as improbable. Others, however, understand such an event is not just plausible but probable, and any chance of survival will fall to those who are well prepared.

This book begins with separate, spontaneous and unrelated, terror-filled actions on the world scene. These actions have unintended and catastrophic consequences. These families must now work together in earnest, in primitive circumstances, to forge any sort of a future.

But like most post-apocalyptic novels, there are the “haves” and “have-nots.” Masses of unprepared and desperate people on the outside threaten to steal Homestead’s provisions, and they will do anything to get their hands on even a morsel. Likewise, the local governments beg Ross and Kirkham to enter into negotiations for supplies under the threat of moving in and taking what they want.

Tactical planning and confrontations are detailed, fascinating, and deadly. But this book goes beyond the maneuvers and weaponry, exposing the fragility of human emotions and endurance. Complex loyalties and relationships are tested, with thought-provoking debates over the most important questions surrounding life and death.

In case you think this is a survivalist guide disguised as a novel, think again. From the first page to the last, readers will step into a world that is currently not their own, but perhaps, may be one fateful day.

These authors live what they write. Jeff Kirkham served nearly three decades as a Green Beret and is the proverbial brains behind ReadyMan’s survival tools and products. Co-author Jason Ross has dedicated twenty years to mastering preparedness in raising sustainable crops, composting, shooting, small squad tactics, solar power, and animal husbandry. In other words, these guys know from what they speak.

Black Autumn could be a revelation of what is to come. The catalysts of the novel are based on scenarios much of our population may scoff at, but others, foresee as a certainty. Whatever side of the fence you fall on, Black Autumn is a chilling portrayal of humankind’s possible future, and one that readers will not easily be able to put down without asking, “Am I ready?”

October 11, 2018