REVIEW: Zer0es by Chuck Wendig
Publishing information: Hardback; 432 pages
Publisher: Harper Voyager; 18 August 2015
ISBN: 978-0062351555
Series: Zer0es #1
Copy: Provided by publisher
Reviewer: Tyson
Amazon
Synopsis: "An exhilarating thrill-ride through the underbelly of cyber espionage in the vein of David Ignatius’s The Director and the television series Leverage, CSI: Cyber, and Person of Interest, which follows five iconoclastic hackers who are coerced into serving the U.S. government.
An Anonymous-style rabble rouser, an Arab spring hactivist, a black-hat hacker, an old-school cipherpunk, and an online troll are each offered a choice: go to prison or help protect the United States, putting their brains and skills to work for the government for one year.
But being a white-hat doesn’t always mean you work for the good guys. The would-be cyberspies discover that behind the scenes lurks a sinister NSA program, an artificial intelligence code-named Typhon, that has origins and an evolution both dangerous and disturbing. And if it’s not brought down, will soon be uncontrollable.
Can the hackers escape their federal watchers and confront Typhon and its mysterious creator? And what does the government really want them to do? If they decide to turn the tables, will their own secrets be exposed—and their lives erased like lines of bad code?
Combining the scientific-based, propulsive narrative style of Michael Crichton with the eerie atmosphere and conspiracy themes of The X-Files and the imaginative, speculative edge of Neal Stephenson and William Gibson, Zer0es explores our deep-seated fears about government surveillance and hacking in an inventive fast-paced novel sure to earn Chuck Wendig the widespread acclaim he deserves."
For quite some time I have been told that Chuck Wendig is an immensely talented author and that his Miriam Black series is one that you should miss. It is a series that I eventually plan to get to. However, I recently read and reviewed his first entry into the Star Wars universe and didn't quite care for it (review here). So when Zer0es arrived at my doorstep I decided to give Mr. Wendig another shot.
Zer0es is the story of a bunch of anti-social computer hackers, black hats, white hats, and internet trolls that have been blackmailed into working for the US government in a secret program that hacks foreign governments and corporations to help improve a government spying program. As the five team members uncover new information, they come across a code named project called Typhon that will impact their lives and send them on a dangerous path.
The book has a few cliches, we have all the regular misfits with Chance taking the lead. He is an aspiring Anonymous-style hacker who was trying to do the right thing and help out a classmate who was sexually assaulted when the government offered him a deal he couldn't refuse. DeAndre is the hacker who steals credit card information for his personal gain, he is street-wise but other computer hackers think very low of him and his abilities. Aleena, a Arab Spring activist who has a heart of gold. Regan, a emo internet troll and finally, we have Wade the oldest member of the group who runs bulletin boards and forums dedicated to conspiracy theories and collects classified government material.
Zer0es was a huge turnaround from my first experience with Wendig and while I felt the book did drag in a few places was a compelling story and had a lot of twists and turns, making it a much more interesting book than the his Star Wars entry. I do feel that it could have been cut down a little bit to make the book feel a little tighter but overall I was glad I gave the author a second shot and will probably check out some of his other books to see if they are just as good as this one. The book was interesting and if I am offered the second book for review I will give the sequel a shot.
Overall 8/10
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