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Coding Isis
Technology to die for...
The most significant improvement to mankind since the invention of the internet, Chris Sanders knows his research will change the world and make him a very rich man.
When Chris's beautiful research assistant is murdered, evidence suggests she and Chris were having an affair and he becomes the prime suspect. Accused of adultery and murder, Chris must turn to his wife for help in proving his innocence, but should she trust him? Will she help?
Detective Ben Naylor from Washington DC's Metro PD finds the evidence against Chris is unequivocal. Either Chris Sanders is a calculating, cold-blooded killer, or he is the unluckiest son-of-a-bitch alive.
Can Chris win the fight to prove his innocence? Can he win the battle for his life?
Coding Isis is a fast-paced techno-thriller that brings a new breed of hero to the genre.
The most significant improvement to mankind since the invention of the internet, Chris Sanders knows his research will change the world and make him a very rich man.
When Chris's beautiful research assistant is murdered, evidence suggests she and Chris were having an affair and he becomes the prime suspect. Accused of adultery and murder, Chris must turn to his wife for help in proving his innocence, but should she trust him? Will she help?
Detective Ben Naylor from Washington DC's Metro PD finds the evidence against Chris is unequivocal. Either Chris Sanders is a calculating, cold-blooded killer, or he is the unluckiest son-of-a-bitch alive.
Can Chris win the fight to prove his innocence? Can he win the battle for his life?
Coding Isis is a fast-paced techno-thriller that brings a new breed of hero to the genre.
369 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 31, 2012
30 people are currently reading
399 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
May 11, 2012
2.5 stars
The good: reasonably well written. Plot that grabs you immediately. Curious connections. Flawed, realistic characters, at least at the beginning.
The bad: about halfway through the book, the plot becomes TOTALLY predictable. The main character is accused of a crime. The evidence mounts. This happens early and you can't help but wonder what's going to happen in the remaining 60 percent of the book. It gets resolved pretty much from one page to the next, with little to no explanation. After that, the predictability of the plot almost led me to discard the book. But I kept thinking, "it can't be this obvious." There's a ton of computer programming technical talk; not surprising as the central character is a whiz kid former British military special ops turned computer programmer. While I found the computer talk interesting, I'm pretty sure it would be tedious to most people. The characters start making no sense as characters. The main character is a college professor who changes jobs from one day to the next moving to the private sector and then moves back to teaching a month later. [As a former college professor I know that this process is way more complicated.] Additionally the time lines start making no sense as the story progresses.
The ugly: gratuitous characters (i.e., the main character's old army buddy) thrown in late in the book, who do nothing to advance plot or character development. Gratuitous incidents (i.e., army buddy kisses his friend's wife and wife kisses him back) that do nothing to advance plot or character development. A totally obvious plot, who dunnit and why resolution that you could see coming a hundred miles away. An incredibly stupid, vain and arrogant main character who thinks he can outsmart an entire military intelligence machine. Ugh!
I did read the novel to the end. I did get angry with myself for reading the novel to the end. I was also annoyed by the cheap trick that resolves the plot.
That's it, that's all, take from this what you will.
The good: reasonably well written. Plot that grabs you immediately. Curious connections. Flawed, realistic characters, at least at the beginning.
The bad: about halfway through the book, the plot becomes TOTALLY predictable. The main character is accused of a crime. The evidence mounts. This happens early and you can't help but wonder what's going to happen in the remaining 60 percent of the book. It gets resolved pretty much from one page to the next, with little to no explanation. After that, the predictability of the plot almost led me to discard the book. But I kept thinking, "it can't be this obvious." There's a ton of computer programming technical talk; not surprising as the central character is a whiz kid former British military special ops turned computer programmer. While I found the computer talk interesting, I'm pretty sure it would be tedious to most people. The characters start making no sense as characters. The main character is a college professor who changes jobs from one day to the next moving to the private sector and then moves back to teaching a month later. [As a former college professor I know that this process is way more complicated.] Additionally the time lines start making no sense as the story progresses.
The ugly: gratuitous characters (i.e., the main character's old army buddy) thrown in late in the book, who do nothing to advance plot or character development. Gratuitous incidents (i.e., army buddy kisses his friend's wife and wife kisses him back) that do nothing to advance plot or character development. A totally obvious plot, who dunnit and why resolution that you could see coming a hundred miles away. An incredibly stupid, vain and arrogant main character who thinks he can outsmart an entire military intelligence machine. Ugh!
I did read the novel to the end. I did get angry with myself for reading the novel to the end. I was also annoyed by the cheap trick that resolves the plot.
That's it, that's all, take from this what you will.
December 7, 2022
Excellent Read!!
December 3, 2012
The intro to this book was great. Fantastic set-up, plot, characters, then it fell apart. I only finished it because I was hoping the main character would die and I had to see if he did.
First of all, I get it, you are from another country and writing in a voice with a character can be difficult BUT a little research wouldn't kill you. I am sorry but NO American sits there and thinks to themself "How long is the lift going to take?" "Mum is flying back from vacation" "Let me see what's on the telly" Americans don't use those slang words - AT ALL.
Two characters that one would think would serve a purpose and completely didn't so why were they even there? Wyn, the old army buddy and Michelle's father. They come in a important secondary characters and their time is a complete waste.
The main character Chris is a super genius, served in the military, has some common sense and suddenly once half way through the book he's a completely different character who's dumber than a box of rocks and you want to him smack so hard.
The only character I liked, Det. Ben Naylor, we don't know how he'll end up. That was a giant loose end. (he should have been killed instantly by the way with what occurred)
The ending, so completely contrived and bullshit, even with the suspension of disbelief.
Learn how a job in higher education works - a person doesn't just walk away from actively teaching without having a long conversation with department heads and so forth just to work for the people fronting money for research. One also doesn't not step back in to that role on a whim. And don't get me started on the "I hadn't even posted your job yet" bit because that is not how it functions what so ever.
If you feel the need to waste your time, go ahead, read this novel. I want my hours back.
I went in to this book with expectations, the synopsis on Amazon only describes the first 1/4 of the book. I thought Michelle would be fighting for Chris's innocence almost the entire thing. Nope, that took a mere chapter. Highly disappointed.
First of all, I get it, you are from another country and writing in a voice with a character can be difficult BUT a little research wouldn't kill you. I am sorry but NO American sits there and thinks to themself "How long is the lift going to take?" "Mum is flying back from vacation" "Let me see what's on the telly" Americans don't use those slang words - AT ALL.
Two characters that one would think would serve a purpose and completely didn't so why were they even there? Wyn, the old army buddy and Michelle's father. They come in a important secondary characters and their time is a complete waste.
The main character Chris is a super genius, served in the military, has some common sense and suddenly once half way through the book he's a completely different character who's dumber than a box of rocks and you want to him smack so hard.
The only character I liked, Det. Ben Naylor, we don't know how he'll end up. That was a giant loose end. (he should have been killed instantly by the way with what occurred)
The ending, so completely contrived and bullshit, even with the suspension of disbelief.
Learn how a job in higher education works - a person doesn't just walk away from actively teaching without having a long conversation with department heads and so forth just to work for the people fronting money for research. One also doesn't not step back in to that role on a whim. And don't get me started on the "I hadn't even posted your job yet" bit because that is not how it functions what so ever.
If you feel the need to waste your time, go ahead, read this novel. I want my hours back.
I went in to this book with expectations, the synopsis on Amazon only describes the first 1/4 of the book. I thought Michelle would be fighting for Chris's innocence almost the entire thing. Nope, that took a mere chapter. Highly disappointed.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 23, 2015
This was an irritating book. The mythological Isis seems hardly applicable and of course the Islamic State has captured the term in modern usage. Horus, another project code name, was a clever connection but no more than that. Some of the writing irritated me as well, the protencious Britishness of the lead, for instance with much being made of his heritage but none of impacting on any of the events. I found the story unimaginative, the technology portrayed underused and underexploited, the ending was obvious and I think Roys needs considerably more polish.
May 21, 2012
Chris Sanders is a computer whiz, a ex British soldier and now college teacher and researcher. He has developed remarkable software, but when one of his students and fellow researcher is shot while out jogging, he becomes a suspect in her killing. What follows is a run in with a super secret group that is developing a drone carried assassination weapon. I could say more, but that would give too much away so you’ll just have to read it yourself.
April 1, 2013
I liked this. It was fast moving and grabbed your interest from the get go. A computer whiz is arrested for the murder of one of his protégés. He is not guilty of the crime and sets out to learn what happened and how. Most readers will 'guess' the culprits right away, but that is not significant. It is the relationship between the characters and the methodology they use that lures the reader into the story. Good reading.
December 8, 2012
Good story line. Like the characters he developed though i thought Wyn
would have a bigger spot to play.
I enjoyed the plot as i do work with computers alot, and my wife would say i sometimes spend too much time with them as well.
The only grip i would have is that the main character Chris gets "stubborn" at the end. I felt the book would have ended differently than it did, not disappointed though as i wasn't expecting it to end that way.
would have a bigger spot to play.
I enjoyed the plot as i do work with computers alot, and my wife would say i sometimes spend too much time with them as well.
The only grip i would have is that the main character Chris gets "stubborn" at the end. I felt the book would have ended differently than it did, not disappointed though as i wasn't expecting it to end that way.
January 3, 2016
Different kind of read for me lately...though oddly recent books have featured more non-American characters, so this follows that trend. Another comment noted how the current issues globally with ISIS make you think this book may be about that...in a way, it is. The main character is decently developed but not all characters are. There were some interesting technology ideas in the book. Not crazy about the ending.
May 2, 2012
Working in the IT arena, and loving the terrorist connection of this book, I gave it four stars. Very interesting book, and I love the technology side of it. It seemed like the action unfolded very quickly though, a little foreshadowing made guessing some of the parts easy, but overall a great novel. I recommend if you like technology, terrorism, assassins, etc... you will like this book.
October 5, 2012
Excellent book!
Great plot pace and character development.
Just the right mix of techie geek and action.
Definitely a fan here.
Only one small, itty-bitty irk... while all of the words were spelled correctly, sometimes the phrasing could have been better. (Perhaps someone with an eye for grammatical errors could help here.)
Great plot pace and character development.
Just the right mix of techie geek and action.
Definitely a fan here.
Only one small, itty-bitty irk... while all of the words were spelled correctly, sometimes the phrasing could have been better. (Perhaps someone with an eye for grammatical errors could help here.)
January 15, 2013
It was fine. An interesting story as far as the possibilites of using drones to assasinate people. You could tell he was a new author in that he gave almost everyone an english accent even though only the main character was English. But you could tell he really knew his technology. It got me through a sleepless night, so for that I'm grateful.
April 26, 2012
I thought this started out strong, and sort of went to shambles in the middle. Also, the wife was supposed to be American, but she used more English colloquialisms than the main character did, which I found distracting once the story lost its pull. (Kindle freebie.)
August 7, 2012
Eh, it was ok. Nothing too memorable. Just another mediocre book. I did chuckle when the American characters would say something totally British: I'm going to go to hospital, or we need to take a holiday. (the author is British or something similar)
July 7, 2012
it was enjoyable and frighteningly plausible. It was predictable in some places, but a good storyline with the right amount of detail. There was a little oddness in the relationship between Chris and Michelle but overall a good read.
September 11, 2012
pretty good read. interesting ideas on technology and how governments will abuse / use them. got a bit hackneyed at the end. all in all a decent read though. will reccomend to anyone who likes a decent thriller
September 8, 2012
liked: subject interest use of tech was personally interesting to me, well written, descriptive enough about day to day activities without being laborious; Did not like: gratuitous sex scenes, infidelity hinted at as normal - would not recommend
October 4, 2012
Well, it started out great. At some point it became too predictable. I am not sure where that happened, so it was kind of gradual. Some of the attempted twists to the plot were obvious. All said, still an enjoyable read.
Read
March 1, 2013I don't generally read fiction books more than once. I'm on my third reading of Coding Isis and finding it just as fun and exciting as the first time. It's one of the best technothrillers I've ever read and I look forward to reading more by this author. A definite must read!
September 3, 2016
An exciting sci-fi story of murder, politics and computer code. It's quite believable that this could happen in the very near future. Not too technical, the story moves along quickly. It would make a good film.
March 29, 2012
I pictured Chris as looking like Daniel Craig. Ha ha. =)
June 19, 2012
So crazy that I'm reading this book about interactive glasses & john stewart just told me about google glasses. Way to read my mind, mr. stewart.
April 28, 2012
Well written book.
Fun read.
Could have removed the last couple of paragraphs about Michelle being pregnant. That was lame.
Fun read.
Could have removed the last couple of paragraphs about Michelle being pregnant. That was lame.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
to-read-and-have
June 8, 2012Free from Amazon
July 25, 2012
Ever read something that has made you what to bang your head against a brick wall? I just did.
July 3, 2012
Really good book.
July 20, 2012
Absolutely horrible- do not waste your time.
Want to read
September 19, 2012Kindle free download 9/14/12.
November 27, 2012
Interesting plot but a tad far fetched and pretty predictable. I recommend this book if you're looking for a light, easy read.
December 11, 2012
Great read. Would love more from this universe.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews