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Brain Jack

by Brian Falkner (Goodreads Author)

3.89 of 5 stars 3.89 · rating details · 1,464 ratings · 253 reviews

Another terrifying sci-fi page-turner from the author of The Tomorrow Code!

Las Vegas is gone—destroyed in a terrorist attack. Black Hawk helicopters patrol the skies over New York City. And immersive online gaming is the most dangerous street drug around. In this dystopic near-future, technology has leapt forward once again, and neuro-headsets have replaced computer keyboa...more

Hardcover, 349 pages

Published September 28th 2010 by Random House Books for Young Readers (first published 2009)

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Community Reviews

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Jan 15, 2013 Karen Yingling rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult

Ha, ha! I checked this book out of the public library, so the warnings at the front of the book about how hackers can find out everything about me in ten minutes from my purchase of the book and get into my computer are groundless. Well, until now, since I've posted this. And since I spent Christmas morning removing a "Security Sheild" virus from my computer, I'm willing to take this chilling tale to heart!

Sam spends a little too much time on computers, and draws the attention of the Homeland Se...more

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Apr 29, 2012 Amy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: best-of-the-best-challenge-2012, young-adult

"In a dystopian near-future, neuro-headsets have replaced computer keyboards. Just slip on a headset, and it's the Internet at the speed of thought. For teen hacker Sam Wilson, a headset is a must. But as he masters the new technology, he has a terrifying realization. If anything on his computer is vulnerable to an attack, what happens when his mind is linked to the system? Could consciousness itself be hacked?

Brian Falkner, author of The Tomorrow Code and The Project, delivers an action-packed...more

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Mar 28, 2013 Noorain K rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I have currently been reading Brain Jack by Brain Falkner it is the best book ever! The main character is Sam one reason I like him is he always knows what to do. Like the part where the phantom takes over Dodge (he is the leader of an hacking team) then Kiwi comes in and sees Dodge under the phantoms spell and Sam running away. I thought it was smart to run away while Kiwi was looking away. The author describes setting really good one part I know is when Sam is on an airplane to go to New York...more

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Jan 22, 2013 Jack R. rated it 3 of 5 stars

In Brian Falkner’s novel, Brain Jack, a seven-teen year old kid named Sam and his best friend Fargas, hack into a big really big corporation to sneak in an order for a new computer interface that lets them interact with the net through their thoughts also comes with a wired up cap that goes over their heads. Personally, the author may have written this book to tell people hacking is not right and you should not do it because it’s illegal. You can get caught by the writers of the thing you are tr...more

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Dec 14, 2012 Leo rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

12/13/12. Just click on "View Spoiler"(view spoiler)...more

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Sep 25, 2012 Gilbert Patten-Elliott rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Apr 26, 2012 ChevkenstronVonHuedenthorp rated it 5 of 5 stars

Falkner's Brain Jack absolutley blew my mind. I was extremely engrossed in the amazingly unique storyline, which takes place in present day America. Although it is present day, it depicts our world as having more advanced technolgy such as Neuro-Headsets that allow the user to operate a computer without a mouse and keyboard. All they need is brain power. However, the amazing technolgy that is being used by over 90% of the world is turned against them. A "Internet Phantom" is hacking through the...more

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Feb 28, 2012 Patrick Kozlowski rated it 4 of 5 stars

The book I read was Brain Jack by Brian Falkner. It follows the events of a mischievous hacker named Sam Wilson. It is a normal sized novel, 349 pages. No sequels have been made as of February 27th, 2012. This was a surprisingly good book.
There are a variety of characters, but some characters had no description. For example Sam’s friend Fargas is present in the beginning of the story, but he isn’t described that well and he is forgotten in the middle of the book. The main characters were well de...more The book I read was Brain Jack by Brian Falkner. It follows the events of a mischievous hacker named Sam Wilson. It is a normal sized novel, 349 pages. No sequels have been made as of February 27th, 2012. This was a surprisingly good book.
There are a variety of characters, but some characters had no description. For example Sam’s friend Fargas is present in the beginning of the story, but he isn’t described that well and he is forgotten in the middle of the book. The main characters were well developed, and they had many different personalities. Some characters treated Sam as the new guy when he joined the CDD, and they didn’t trust him with important tasks. They were well developed; another example would be during the beginning of the story when Sam was unaware of the dangers of Neuro Headsets. He started to witness the effects throughout the story and realized they aren’t as safe as they are made out to be. Sam and the other main characters evolved in some way throughout the book.
The plot was realistic for the story. It is not known exactly when it takes place however it is hinted to be somewhere in the near future. The plot built up at a good pace. It started to get a good twist towards the middle of the book when Sam is at the CDD. I found myself wanting to read more especially at the middle. It went a little fast at parts, but these were minimal.
The author did a good job with the writing. Even though some characters were left in the dark, he did a pretty good description of the environments. Technical terms in the writing for example USB3, Blu Ray, Neuro Headsets, were simple and didn’t go too much in depth. Some parts of the book were slow; the beginning would be an example. The dialog was laid out well, but some parts were dry.
The book was fictional, but some things could be applied to real life. This book was based on Neuro Technology. The story revolves on it turning out to be dangerous, people were basically surrendering their minds when they put on the Neuro Headset, this allowed anyone to “access” their brain and even “delete” it.
Overall I thought this was a good book. It was dry at times, but it got really good at the end. If you like science fiction I would recommend this book to you.
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Oct 10, 2011 Janaye rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, dystopia

This was a really original take on an apocalyptic/dystopian novel but I was not all that impressed. There were several times throughout the book that I felt that something was not explained properly and so I wandered around confused because I could not pinpoint exactly where my confusion came from so I could not go back and reread a specific part. I felt that some of the characters were not needed and this was just annoying.

Sam's best friend should have either not been involved or should have b...more

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Mar 19, 2011 Noodle rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: top-reads

It's been a couple of days since I last managed to read a decent book. I did try two different novels, but they quickly got put aside, not even worth a mention, but now I can finally review a goodie.

Brainjack by kiwi author Brian Falkner. Another YA read, but well worth a look-in. I'm all into sci-fi, furturistic, end-of-the-world type stories and this one doesn't fail.

Basically, the future of the internet is neuro-headsets, where you view the internet inside your head. Close your eyes and you'r...more

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Feb 12, 2011 Karen Ball rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-challenge

On Friday, on his way to school, Sam Wilson brought the United States of America to its knees.
Is that a killer way to start a story or what? Set in the near future, where Las Vegas is a smoking nuclear wasteland thanks to terrorists, and online gaming has become so addictive that people actually die from it, technology is everything. 17-year-old Sam starts out just trying to get some extremely expensive laptops and neuro-headsets from a massive US corporation that can't possible miss the money....more

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Jan 18, 2011 Jan rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: teenbooks, dystopia, science-fiction

I liked this very fast-paced cyber thriller. It was compulsive readable. As you might expect, it is plot driven high octane action, but it also addresses some important themes related to technology: our dependence upon technology in today’s society; addiction to some aspects of technology (gaming and virtual reality); loss of privacy; and sacrificing independence for the convenience offered by technology. You know, that old “man vs computer” thing.

I puzzled a bit about the ending. Sam essentiall...more

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Jan 01, 2011 Beth rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed

Compelling theme but slightly awkward execution. That's how I'd summarize this one. The premise is clever, if a bit overt in the wish-fulfillment department at some points, and a few plot twists are genuinely unexpected. But the writing is too abrupt and the transitions are too choppy (usually when the author incorporates technical explanations), so the story doesn't flow well. The introduction and the epilogue are a little too cutesy. And the main thrust of the plot - going up against a massive...more

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Nov 15, 2010 P.M. rated it 4 of 5 stars

17 year old Sam Wilson decided to hack into the Transcomerica network to buy a neuro headset and laptop for himself and his best friend Derek Fargas. When the Department of Homeland Security comes looking for him, he decides to lie low and get to understand the new technology. Unfortunately, he can't resist the chance to improve his hacking skills by accepting an invitation from a hackers' group to get into the White House network.This leads to his arrest and being spirited away to Recton, a juv...more

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Sep 11, 2010 YA Reads Book Reviews rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Sam Wilson is just your average teenager. At least he looks like your average teenager. What is different about Sam is his ability with computers. Sam can access nearly anything that is on the internet. He has written his own computer programs to allow this and just recently pulled off one of the biggest hacks the world has seen – with a few side effects. Sam hacked into Telecomerica, got himself and his friend a new computer and neuro-headset, but in the process, caused the majority of the Unit...more Sam Wilson is just your average teenager. At least he looks like your average teenager. What is different about Sam is his ability with computers. Sam can access nearly anything that is on the internet. He has written his own computer programs to allow this and just recently pulled off one of the biggest hacks the world has seen – with a few side effects. Sam hacked into Telecomerica, got himself and his friend a new computer and neuro-headset, but in the process, caused the majority of the United States of America to lose power. For a few days.

Of course, if you ask Sam, none of that was meant to happen but he needed to blow off his trackers somehow. And as Sam successfully gets his new computer without any obvious form of detection, Sam is ready for his next challenge – NetH@ack. The secret convention of the most skilled hackers on the net. With belief in his ability that he can’t be caught, Sam almost succeeds. That is, until the Cyber Defence Division of Homeland Security knocks on his door.

Transport to a containment facility, Sam is destined to be a prisoner for the rest of his life. Seemingly forgotten by all but his mother, it is the worst situation Sam could have ended up in. Constant security, no internet access and limited computer time on a computer so ancient and riddled in security protection, that it seems impossible to get through. Apparently. But if you know what Sam does, then it seems like biding your time is all that you have to do.

Making one of the most daring escape attempts in the history of Recton Hall, against all odds, Sam succeeds only to be picked up, again, by the Cyber Defence Division which seems like it was waiting for this exact move, somehow knowing that Sam would try to escape. Once Sam reaches CDD headquarters, everything that he thought he knew, gets turned completely on its head. Sam is given a lifetime opportunity – if he can survive the probation.

And when the next war begins, it starts in cyberspace, and Sam is part of the front line of defence, and it’s up to Sam to stop the internet taking over the world.

Brian Jack by Brian Falkner is a fast moving action thriller that kept me turning page after page, wondering what is going to happen next. When I started reading, and I found that Brian Jack was based in cyberspace, I was worried that it would become too technical, that I wouldn’t understand the language being used, but quite like his previous novel Falkner provides a way that you don’t need to be a tech-savvy person to understand and enjoy the novel. The feeling of being in over your head only enhances the understanding of the stakes the characters would be going through. The development of Sam from a teenager who believes he can do anything into a person who understands the implications of what one single action will have on the world is believable and engaging from start to finish.

A good read with a fast plot and an action thriller for all ages.(less)

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Dec 11, 2012 Joseph rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Brain Jack
By Brian Falkner
350 Pages
Sci-Fi Dystopian
Fiction
12/10/12

This book starts out with a kid named Sam. He is apparently an amazing computer whiz. He has been hacking into the U.S.'s advanced computer geeks. He soon finds himself barely escaping from the government, who seek to find him. They eventually do, and he is sent to jail. But he somehow escapes and finds himself being added to the U.S.'s advanced computer geeks to work for them. He finds himself helping the team track down the ba...more Brain Jack
By Brian Falkner
350 Pages
Sci-Fi Dystopian
Fiction
12/10/12

This book starts out with a kid named Sam. He is apparently an amazing computer whiz. He has been hacking into the U.S.'s advanced computer geeks. He soon finds himself barely escaping from the government, who seek to find him. They eventually do, and he is sent to jail. But he somehow escapes and finds himself being added to the U.S.'s advanced computer geeks to work for them. He finds himself helping the team track down the bad guys, until something horrific happens. Suddenly, a member goes down, and everyone is blaming Sam and Dodge, his closest friend. He finds himself escaping and teaming up with a few other people, and beating the very evil itself: the neuro-headsets. These special headsets can intrude people's brain and use them to do what the headset want it to do. Somehow, Sam must find a way to beat this.

I have many thoughts about this book. My first is that this book needs to be just a bit more realistic and it would be in the realistic section, rather than the sci-fi section. We would need to add some components, and switch the storyline just a bit, but still have the same main idea and story. The story was decent, and has some realistic items inside it. Overall, this book was good but not that amazing either. It’s one of those in between books. This book had a lot of things about technology, so I would recommend this book to people who like technology related books. I would have to say that this is the first technology fiction book I read that may actually realistic in the future. But of course I’m not sure. This book also had some adventure in it too. Sam, the main character, goes on a journey, in order to stop the neuro-headsets. This is one of the other parts of this story, the other side. The ending wasn’t that great. Like many books, this ending just isn’t the one I really like. It’s too straight out simple, with nothing to it. It gives you that “lame wow moment”. It just spills the beans and plainly ends the book. But don’t get me wrong, this book wasn’t that bad. In the end, I would rate this book a 2.5/5, but since I can’t, it would be a 2/5.
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Jul 01, 2012 Derrick rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, scifi, ya

(view spoiler)

Basically, the author is a complete computer geek and goes into indepth detail [shallow, pointless detail I might add] about how the protagonist does his hacking. TCP this, firewall that, blah blah blah. I like computers and have a passing familiarity with networks, etc, but this was just over the top.

The thing that didn't make...more

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Jul 08, 2011 Charlotte McClain rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

There were about 90 pages about two-thirds of the way through that were good. In the beginning we are told that Sam is a genius and he hacks into an unhackable system, crippling the US computer system in the process, all to steal some cool computer stuff that was never really explained clearly. He did this with the help of a friend who was never more than a plot point that could have been edited out without any loss. Sam gets hired by a government anticyberterrorism unit to fight evil online in...more

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Jun 04, 2011 Karin rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: technology, techno-thriller, computer-games, hackers, hacking, security, future, science-fiction, computer-programming, teenagers, young-adult-fiction, mystery, suspense-thriller, nuclear-bomb, friendship, borrowed-from-the-library

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Sam Wilson is a computer hacker – one of the elite – and he’s just pulled off his biggest job yet: hacking Telecomerica. He and his friend, Fargas, manage to bypass Telecomerica’s many security measures and gain access and control of their network. They’re mostly screwing around – just to see if it can be done – and the only thing Sam does with his godlike power is order up some new laptops and the latest neuro headsets (the ones that plug right into your brain) for himself and his friend. Unfor...more

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May 19, 2011 Nathan R rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The future of computers has arrived! The neuro headset allows you to operate computers as fast as you can think! But what happens when you link millions of minds to the most powerful network in the world? Could the human subconcious control itself? Could it create without realizing? Could it destroy?

Sam is about to find out. Sam is just the averrage computer trying to get some free stuff. But when he pulls off the biggest hack in the country and shuts down half of the country, the government tak...more

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Apr 11, 2012 Lisa rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, kindle-baby, own

Shortly after pulling off a daring hack in order to obtain for himself and a friend the latest in neuro-headsets (that take the place of the mouse and keypad, and allow you to negotiate computers with your mind), teenaged Sam is head-hunted by Homeland Security to join their Cyber Defense Division. Before long, not only the team but the rest of society itself is under attack, with neuro-users becoming ‘infected’ with false memories that lead to Sam and a couple of his team-mates going on the run...more

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May 11, 2011 Lord Nouda rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed

Just finished reading it...yesterday. The antagonist was totally unexpected (seeing as how this was a book focusing on elite teenagers hackers, I'd thought they would have a more...conventional enemy to fit the common plot line), and unfortunately wasn't all that well thought out. IT would have been more fun to read if the "main" enemy was human and of comparable skill to the main characters (which it was initially) rather than a godlike entity that pwns everyone it touches.

The way the story end...more Just finished reading it...yesterday. The antagonist was totally unexpected (seeing as how this was a book focusing on elite teenagers hackers, I'd thought they would have a more...conventional enemy to fit the common plot line), and unfortunately wasn't all that well thought out. IT would have been more fun to read if the "main" enemy was human and of comparable skill to the main characters (which it was initially) rather than a godlike entity that pwns everyone it touches.

The way the story ends is also kinda lame. The story starts out with a massive bang, kid hacks into top corporation's network to get freebies (a pair of top of the line laptops and neuro-headgear that allows you to interface with the computer directly with your brain) and ends up crashing the entire interwebs by over-estimating the abilities of corporate admins (well he is one of the best hackers out there, the rest of the IT community are mere noobs compared to him). The first few pages got me hooked and READY TO BUY THE DAMN book but the stupid local bookstores don't stock it (I read it at Harris in another city, far far away and MPH doesn't have the book).

He gets caught eventually after falling into a social-engineering hack by undercover operatives at a hacker's convention. That's where the story starts to go downhill in terms of enjoyability. He gets recruited by the government into a secret cyber-def unit, gets an epic lifestyle all paid by the US of A; pretty perfect right? There's even a hot girl thrown in somewhere who is pretty cold towards him but eventually becomes "close".

But the enemy in the story is too god-mode for me and I'm not talking about the cyber-terrorists who get knocked out by the main antagonist like everyone else. The way Sam ends up beating it is just too....meh. Beat God by becoming God. Lulz, that's just so lame it hurt to reach the end of the book.

Overall, it starts out awesome but it feels too...rushed. The way it turned out is disappointing. Just because the author tried a different ending doesn't mean it's anywhere near as good as it could have been if he had followed a more conventional plot.(less)

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Dec 02, 2011 Erin Forson rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Brain Jack
by Brian Falkner
It takes a true Picasso to create a work of Modern Art; it takes a Michelangelo to create a masterpiece; and it takes Sam Wilson to hack into the unhackable network. An action tale told in the vein of movies like IRobot, and video games like Resident Evil, Sam finds himself caught in a very powerful cyber web. He’s a cyber criminal busted by the U.S. Government, forced to work with an elite team of hackers to protect life as we know it. As luck would have it, his job ca...more

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Aug 30, 2011 Tony Bertauski rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Didn't understand half of the book but enjoyed all of it.

Falkner delves into the hacking underworld with the precision of a surgeon and the expertise of an engineer. He crafts convincing language of computer geeks that turns the characters into convincing super hackers in a technological thriller.

This book may be not be everyone, since the terminology is over the heads of us mere technology mortals. For all I know, he was making it up, but it certainly doesn't feel that way. And even though I di...more

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Sep 29, 2010 Carrie rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: YA

Shelves: books-i-own, arc-s-i-ve-won

I won this ARC from Random House

After reading the prologue, I was hooked. I had to find out who was capable of creeping though my computer, finding all my secrets, and how this person figured out how to do it. I loved how in the beginning, I felt connected; Brian Falkner brings you right into the story. The story is how Sam, a teenage computer hacker, becomes connected to each of our lives though our personal computers. This is the story before it all happens, how and why he does it.

Las Vegas ha...more I won this ARC from Random House

After reading the prologue, I was hooked. I had to find out who was capable of creeping though my computer, finding all my secrets, and how this person figured out how to do it. I loved how in the beginning, I felt connected; Brian Falkner brings you right into the story. The story is how Sam, a teenage computer hacker, becomes connected to each of our lives though our personal computers. This is the story before it all happens, how and why he does it.

Las Vegas has been destroyed in a terrorist attack. The government is going to make sure something like this doesn’t ever happen again.

Sam Wilson and his friend Fargas want new laptops. Not only do they want new computers but they also want the cool headsets that come with them. When using these headsets, you are connected to others through thought and able to control it by using ones brain instead of using a keyboard. You just think it, and it will happen on the screen. Sam and Fargas decide to hack into a company and have a couple delivered to them without ever paying for them; little do they know they are being watched.

When the boys go to an international hacker’s convention, Sam is invited to much more but only if he can figure it out. When he does, he discovers it’s only a trap/test. After being arrested and figuring out how to escape from a juvenile detention center he soon finds himself part of the government program with a handful of computer genius. There the group tries to be a step ahead of terrorist. But terrorist aren’t the real problem, it’s the trendy headsets.

I’m going to stop there. ‘Brain Jack’ is a fast pace thriller. Full of surprise and action. I though I would be lost in this book as I’m not the best when it comes to maneuvering though a computer, but I was surprised at how much I picked up on as I continued on. Great book for those who like nonstop action, and the thought of what might be in the future. Clean read with believable with likeable characters. I couldn’t put it down.
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May 16, 2013 Jacob Ba rated it 4 of 5 stars

Brian Falkner's Brain Jack is a near-future science fiction story that explores what could happen to a society reliant upon neuro-technology (through which, in the book, people can operate computers using only their brains, while wearing special headsets). Seventeen-year-old Sam is a talented hacker. So talented that the first sentence of Chapter 1 is: "On Friday, on his way to school, Sam Wilson brought the United States of America to its knees” (1). Personally, I felt like this beginning was h...more Brian Falkner's Brain Jack is a near-future science fiction story that explores what could happen to a society reliant upon neuro-technology (through which, in the book, people can operate computers using only their brains, while wearing special headsets). Seventeen-year-old Sam is a talented hacker. So talented that the first sentence of Chapter 1 is: "On Friday, on his way to school, Sam Wilson brought the United States of America to its knees” (1). Personally, I felt like this beginning was hard to resist coming from a young character. He is able to move through one of the largest telecommunication systems in the country undetected for a while using his computer hacking skills. However, unusual activity is noted by the web security team working for the large company. Sam realizes that he has been spotted and decides to get out quickly. There is a lot of activity that follows as Sam scrambles to finish the job and delete any evidence that could link this hack back to him. Sam thinks that he is home free. He got out before any of the security systems were able to find him ...right? This is not the case because shortly after this incident, there was a knock at his front door of his house. Sam is removed from his home and put in prison. He is given a choice: serve jail time for the crime he has committed or go to work for Homeland Security. Well, given that choice what would you do? Sam's unique hacking ability has been recognized by the government, and they really need his skills.
Brain Jack was a very good choice for me to read with many positives about the book. What I liked about this book is that there's a fair bit of technology, but it's explained very smoothly as a part of the plot. I thought that the author did a nice job of explaining things for a non-technical audience, in a way that won't bore more technical readers. Falkner presented a clever look forward at the potential impact of our reliance on technology, but keeps the emphasis solidly on action, rather than reflection. I really liked the scenes that in which Sam was trying to hack into the different computer networks. I liked them because they are portrayed as action sequences. For example: "Sam crept carefully into the network of the UPS supplier and slid slowly down the wire to the UPS device itself. It wasn't enough to load Cross Fire onto the server, though; it had to be run. The program had to be executed and he couldn't do that through a serial connection. He encased Cross Fire in a self-executing shell and renamed it to that of a common internal Windows program" (51). I really liked these action sequences because they keep you on your toes and make you keep on reading about what is going to happen next. Part of the reason I liked the book because the book could almost be an awesome action movie. There are scenes written in which Sam acts as a wing-man with vivid imagery in your mind, as he makes his way through different computer networks. An example of this imagery was when Sam was cruising through the streets of San Jose on their mission that they were sent on: "Vienna spun out onto San Carlos Street, just about collecting a trio of middle-aged women in a BMW sedan. There were thuds and crashes from underneath as she bounced the vehicle over the light-rail tracks in the center of the road, and the van leaned -- surely on two wheels, Sam thoughts -- as they twisted left onto the roadway heading east" (207). Lastly, I liked that the book became a lot more interesting with the real-world action sequences such as chase scenes.
The main theme expressed in the Brain Jack is the vulnerability of the human mind as a result of the link of technology and the human brain. In the book, the future United States of America gets introduced to this new form of technology called neuro-technology. Nuero-technology is a type of technology in which people work computers with their minds. But in this society that Sam is living in, this might not be the safest invention they made. Now your own mind is vulnerable, as vulnerable as the largest telecommunication system in the country that Sam hacked. Sam can now access all of your personal information stored in your head by as simple as hacking into the computer that you have and change them if they would like. The importance of our memories is brought up before Sam starts hacking into people’s memories and changing them when he is talking to Dodge: “’We are our memories,’ Dodge said. ‘That's all we are. That's what makes us the person we are. The sum of all our memories from the day we were born. If you took a person and replaced his set of memories with another set, he'd be a different person. He'd think, act, and feel things differently’” (153). What Dodge is saying that if we change our lifetime memories, you would feel and act differently and your life will never be the same without your old memories. Falkner is trying to get the point across that if we continue relying on technology too much; we might just end up like this future society.
With its strong focus on technology and computer networks, Brain Jack is not for all readers. But I think it's an excellent choice for kids who have grown up comfortable with advanced technology. Hackers and gamers, especially, won't want to miss it. Brain Jack's pacing should work well for really any teen readers.
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Feb 27, 2012 Karen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Kind of interesting until about page 120, then it truly takes off. I don't know why I gave this book so much latitude. Usually I give up after about page 50 if a book isn't living up to my expectations, but I'm glad I did. The idea that we could be done in by our own technological advances is not a new one (Frankenstein's Monster, by Marie Shelley is an old example), but this one is a new take on the theme. The science is good, as the technology to connnect the brain directly to computers, espec...more

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Jan 31, 2012 Megan Mann rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: eng-492

Sam is just your every day high schooler. Well, in the sense that he's young and goes to school. However, he's smarter than he looks. On an average morning, he decides to hack into the country's most protected communications firm, Telecomerica, just to see if he could. He gets through the system without being detected and assumes that no one will be watching...until someone is. Before he's caught, he unleashes a virus that crashes their system just after ordering his friend Fargas and himself ne...more Sam is just your every day high schooler. Well, in the sense that he's young and goes to school. However, he's smarter than he looks. On an average morning, he decides to hack into the country's most protected communications firm, Telecomerica, just to see if he could. He gets through the system without being detected and assumes that no one will be watching...until someone is. Before he's caught, he unleashes a virus that crashes their system just after ordering his friend Fargas and himself neuro-headsets.

A few days later, he and Fargas attend a hackers convention. Sam believes he is attending H@ck-Con, when really the big boys are just trying to weed out the fakes from the real deal. When Sam proves himself, two masked people come up to him and say that that real Con is online. If he wants to join, he'll have to hack into one of the most guarded networks in the world: The White House. At 9 PM, Sam sets to work on creating a tunnel inside the building's network. Only minutes later, he's in. Just as he's about to approach the room where the others are located, his doorbell rings and his flown to a juvenile detention center called Recton. Did they find out that it was Sam who pulled off the hack into Telecomerica? Were they aware that he had just hacked into the White House's network? What will happen to him now that he's been caught?

I'm hardly scratching the surface of this book, but giving anything more away would honestly take away from it. This was an outstanding book. Completely terrifying, but incredible. There were so many moments where I was not only blown away by this guy's intelligence, but of the surprises lurking around every corner. I certainly did not see over half of this book coming. It was so smart. I was really happy that I had decided to pick this up.

As I said, this book also completely terrified me. While I can hang with Kubrick, Huxley, Vonnegut and Orwell like anybody else, the technological advances of today and within the pages of this book somehow didn't seem too different. This was something that I could see happening and that's not cool. It made me wonder if someone was watching me and quietly sifting through the contents of my phone and laptop. I feel like this sort of technology is imminent and that's so incredibly scary. But I guess that's the nature of certain pieces of Sci-Fi; they're meant to make us worry.(less)

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Feb 05, 2011 Andrew rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Andrew Bedows
CFM
Brain Jack by Brian Falkner was a book that was leading the reader one way, then took a tight turn onto the road of being a hero. It was an unexpected turn for better. It worked like a charm bringing a distant issue in the book to the front of the story. It applies all the variables to the storyline that would make a scenario like this plausible in reality.
This science fiction book is one of the best of the best. It uses real life examples such as airplanes, for example the Bo...more

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Feb 22, 2012 Arthur Pengerbil rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Reading Level: Grades 6+

After accidentally crashing the country's online systems for three days, teenage hacker Sam finds himself recruited and working for Homeland Security - and all he intended to do was use Telecomerica's giant bank account to purchase new state-of-the-art laptops and neuroheadsets for him and his best friend. Suddenly, thrust into the world of professional hacking, Sam begins to unearth information about Telecomerica and the neuro-headsets that go against even his unscrupulo...more

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“We are our memories," Dodge said. "That's all we are. That's what makes us the person we are. The sum of all our memories from the day we were born. If you took a person and replaced his set of memories with another set, he'd be a different person. He'd think, act, and feel things differently.” — 14 people liked it

“She said, "You may be able to implant an image, even a taste or a smell, but I don't think you can implant the feelings that went with the experience that created the memory.” — 9 people liked it

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