The pleasure of their prose opens a Prologue as a taste tester – ‘Her watchful eyes followed rapid movements across the bright flickering monitor as each piece of the puzzle moved to its assigned location. Her subdued smile increased as each piece was transmitted. She knew that Q on the other side would have them captured and reassembled seconds after they arrived at their destination. This was the last of the updates for the communications interceptor routines…Complex communications were her specialty…’
To prepare for the fascinating thriller, they authors offer – ‘Jacob Michaels, computer network security-tester extraordinaire, tries to settle into a quiet life of work to polish his cyber security skills after the death of his mother. Jacob is unaware that his growing reputation makes him a person of interest. Cyber-criminals are hunting for new recruits. They target this brilliant programmer to seduce him into joining their cause. More people are hunting him than just the Russian cyber kingpin. Jacob sets off to find those who are targeting him. He discovers he’s in the crosshairs of previously unknown global experts. Of course, having his identity erased puts him front and center above anything else. Buzz, when looking for the easy way, makes a ghastly judgment error and inadvertently crosses the line to the darknet. He pleads to his best friend Jacob for help. Jacob, brilliant as he is, doesn’t have enough experience to help Buzz on his own. Jacob battles against global cyber masterminds using his knowledge of programming, identity theft, and hacking. He is pulled up short when his security knowledge is dwarfed following his introduction to the distractingly beautiful encryptionist Petra. Jacob’s challenge is how to keep ahead of the criminals and learn who to trust.’
The Enigma Series becomes an instant addiction, that sort of literary commitment that underscores the pleasure of reading. Very highly recommended. Grady Harp
