Great book, with great plot!

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ilenia Avatar

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To be honest, I wasn't expecting much from this book. The plot sounded alright at first, and I was quite intrigued. In the end, the book turned really good! it is a great mystery/crime/thriller book, with modern threats and crimes, and it is set after the beginning of the pandemic, so the book is quite actual and reflects current times.
The characters are written brilliantly, they are quite three-dimensional, with good drive, and their ambitions and quests drive the plot forward quite well.
From a computer science student point of view, I enjoyed reading a quite accurate representation of hacking and cyber security threats, instead of the usual 'it'll take me 30 seconds to break into the mainframe of the CIA or FBI". I loved the representation of women in STEM, as hackers, cyber security experts and data scientists, as well as strong-willed teenagers who, for once, are not represented as whiny individuals with no interest in life but their phones.
The story is well written, and the beginning you are not sure where this is going, but the plot thickens with every chapter, keeping you gripped.
The cover is alright, even though it doesn't fully reflect the mysterious plot.
I didn't like two things of this book: the random references to the zodiac signs of the characters, as they didn't feel relevant to the character or the story; and the fact that Brioni infringed the Computer Misuse Act repeatedly, but I guess that added to the crime/mysterious genre of the book.

A great book that I recommend vividly. I might check out other books by Sam Blake's too.