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Spine Shivers
Tech Fury
When Emily Lemon wakes up to a song she's never heard before blasting from her cell phone, she has a weird feeling. But it isn't until she gets to school that she becomes suspicious. Why are the teachers and principal acting strangely? Why is the gym's scoreboard covered with a banner? And why are jumbled letters and numbers running across the computer screens? Emily is worried, so she and her best friend Lewis set out in search of her dad, who is a police officer. But when they get to the mall where he's on patrol, things get even more out of control and Emily starts to wonder if she's in the midst of a technological takeover.
128 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 1, 2015
13 people are currently reading
112 people want to read
About the author
J.A. Darke
10 books22 followersPseudonym for authors Eric Stevens and Brandon Terrell.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 28, 2021
This is my first read in the Spine Shivers series, and I didn't really care for it. It just took too much time to get into the action, and when it finally did it was over in a minute. I'll still be reading another in this series though. This one may have just been a dud.
October 25, 2019
Humans and technology have always been uneasy bedfellows, and countless stories caution against over-reliance on artificial intelligence. Will our gadgets enslave us if we infuse them with too much power and capacity for thought? Tech Fury presents this possibility through the story of fourteen-year-olds Emily Lemon and Lewis Cruz, who awaken one morning completely unaware that after today, human society will never be the same. The age of repressive artificial intelligence is here.
A phone, toaster, coffeemaker, mp3 player, and car all simultaneously malfunctioning is strange, but nothing to be terrified by. Emily and her friend Lewis walk to Roaring Brook Middle School together, where none of the technology seems to be working this morning. School faculty gathers the students in the gym for a day of games, but Emily and Lewis can tell there's a bigger problem the teachers are hiding. Rather than go home after school, Emily and Lewis head to the new mall, scheduled for its grand opening today. Emily's father is a mounted police officer, and he's supposed to be here patrolling the grounds on his horse. From the moment Emily and Lewis arrive, it's clear that all is not well. The mall is practically deserted; there aren't even employees in the stores. The reason becomes obvious when every electronic device in the building turns on by itself and attacks the two teens. Humans have lost control over technology, and Emily and Lewis are on the front lines of the war. Can they escape this mall full of murderous machines, and even if they do, will anything remain of the modern human world?
Technology rebelling against us has spawned great works of entertainment and art, but Tech Fury suffers for its lack of a disciplined story. It slips in and out of coherency, and the way the technology attacks is less than believable. If all artificial intelligence coalesced to take over the world and subjugate humans, I'm skeptical that lawn mowers and electronic toys would be a serious threat. An A.I. of that sophistication would probably aim higher than terrorizing a pair of eighth-graders in an abandoned shopping mall. Nelson Evergreen's illustrations are the best part of Tech Fury, and if you want a short read that won't demand much of you intellectually, this might be what you're looking for. I had fun with it.
A phone, toaster, coffeemaker, mp3 player, and car all simultaneously malfunctioning is strange, but nothing to be terrified by. Emily and her friend Lewis walk to Roaring Brook Middle School together, where none of the technology seems to be working this morning. School faculty gathers the students in the gym for a day of games, but Emily and Lewis can tell there's a bigger problem the teachers are hiding. Rather than go home after school, Emily and Lewis head to the new mall, scheduled for its grand opening today. Emily's father is a mounted police officer, and he's supposed to be here patrolling the grounds on his horse. From the moment Emily and Lewis arrive, it's clear that all is not well. The mall is practically deserted; there aren't even employees in the stores. The reason becomes obvious when every electronic device in the building turns on by itself and attacks the two teens. Humans have lost control over technology, and Emily and Lewis are on the front lines of the war. Can they escape this mall full of murderous machines, and even if they do, will anything remain of the modern human world?
Technology rebelling against us has spawned great works of entertainment and art, but Tech Fury suffers for its lack of a disciplined story. It slips in and out of coherency, and the way the technology attacks is less than believable. If all artificial intelligence coalesced to take over the world and subjugate humans, I'm skeptical that lawn mowers and electronic toys would be a serious threat. An A.I. of that sophistication would probably aim higher than terrorizing a pair of eighth-graders in an abandoned shopping mall. Nelson Evergreen's illustrations are the best part of Tech Fury, and if you want a short read that won't demand much of you intellectually, this might be what you're looking for. I had fun with it.
May 13, 2021
ALL THE YES for J.A. Darke's Tech Fury. I read this one right on the heels of finishing another book in the Spine Shivers series, The Grin in the Dark, and I am HOOKED. Tech Fury wasn't as creepy as Grin, but it was fantastic. Darke's ideas are so much fun, original, and feel like a whoosh of fresh air. Middle grade horror is what I love the most, and this series has given me incredible inspiration for my own stories. I am so excited to dive into the rest of the series. If they are anything like Grin and Tech Fury, there will be plenty more five star reviews coming from me. STRONG five star recommendation from me for this one because it's wildly fresh and just pure fun. I also adore good twist endings, and this one will rock you to your core. Check it out!
April 27, 2021
This will be the last of these looks at kinda sorta Goosebumps type series...for now, there are a couple more I am interested in but I'll save those for later since May will be kind of busy. This one is interesting. The title of the series, and the author name makes it seem like it fits right in with the Shivers type stuff of the 90's.,..but this series began in 2015. Yep. Guess the movie made people wanna fully jump on the train again.
This series has a handful of entries, it seems to be over for now. JA Darke does not exist, as like MT Coffin before him, it's a fake name and it's done by some ghostwriters, in this case it is Eric Stevens. I was more interested in a few of the others but this is the only one I had access to so I had to live with it.
It's mixed but honestly it was mostly fine. The two other notable reviewers on this site, whom I follow and trust, were closer to the negative but not awfully so, but I saw more value and thought the flaws weren't too bad.
Our protagonist, Emily Lemon, wakes one day to find out that the tech is going crazy. First it's just the usual stuff, but it goes on like for everyone. Soon, it gets dangerous and it becomes clear a tech uprising has begun.
This book is short, like 107-ish pages. I got through it super quickly as a result. I don't mind that since it seems to be for perhaps a slightly younger audience, although the content is about on par with the usual. Eric didn't seem to keep the short length in mind though, as it doesn't quite go all in like it should have.
It starts right away but it takes a while to truly go all out with the tech uprising. And when it does, it's near the end and the ending to the main story is quite abrupt. It doesn't have much true filler though, as most things relate to the premise at least. It just stays on "tech acts a bit odd"m for too long.
Not much as far as characters and whatnot, not a big deal given how these are but there's not too much to say there. There is decent horror once we get into it, most notably in a scene set in a mall where things finally started. Writing is simple but sells this well enough.
But for me the highlight is the twist ending. It's honestly kind of brilliant. One could perhaps predict it based on how it starts but it still works. It takes a turn I did not expect and is fairly dark in terms of what it means. It's a big kind of twist I don't usually see in these and I liked that.
So the twist redeems it. It alone show at least this author had their good ideas, just didn't take full advantage of the premise. We don't even know why this starts, it just does. So overall, it's more or less just fine, flawed but never annoying or even that boring per say. Just takes too long to truly get going and even then the story just feels empty.
But it has decent moments and a strong ending, so I thought it was a net positive, just not my favorite. Kind of like that American Chillers book in a way. From what I can gleam, the other ones seem to be better but I had to work with what I got. And what I got was...fine.
Bonus points for having at least one of the parents be super useful for once though. (Also, Emily is 14 instead of 12, weird)
This series has a handful of entries, it seems to be over for now. JA Darke does not exist, as like MT Coffin before him, it's a fake name and it's done by some ghostwriters, in this case it is Eric Stevens. I was more interested in a few of the others but this is the only one I had access to so I had to live with it.
It's mixed but honestly it was mostly fine. The two other notable reviewers on this site, whom I follow and trust, were closer to the negative but not awfully so, but I saw more value and thought the flaws weren't too bad.
Our protagonist, Emily Lemon, wakes one day to find out that the tech is going crazy. First it's just the usual stuff, but it goes on like for everyone. Soon, it gets dangerous and it becomes clear a tech uprising has begun.
This book is short, like 107-ish pages. I got through it super quickly as a result. I don't mind that since it seems to be for perhaps a slightly younger audience, although the content is about on par with the usual. Eric didn't seem to keep the short length in mind though, as it doesn't quite go all in like it should have.
It starts right away but it takes a while to truly go all out with the tech uprising. And when it does, it's near the end and the ending to the main story is quite abrupt. It doesn't have much true filler though, as most things relate to the premise at least. It just stays on "tech acts a bit odd"m for too long.
Not much as far as characters and whatnot, not a big deal given how these are but there's not too much to say there. There is decent horror once we get into it, most notably in a scene set in a mall where things finally started. Writing is simple but sells this well enough.
But for me the highlight is the twist ending. It's honestly kind of brilliant. One could perhaps predict it based on how it starts but it still works. It takes a turn I did not expect and is fairly dark in terms of what it means. It's a big kind of twist I don't usually see in these and I liked that.
So the twist redeems it. It alone show at least this author had their good ideas, just didn't take full advantage of the premise. We don't even know why this starts, it just does. So overall, it's more or less just fine, flawed but never annoying or even that boring per say. Just takes too long to truly get going and even then the story just feels empty.
But it has decent moments and a strong ending, so I thought it was a net positive, just not my favorite. Kind of like that American Chillers book in a way. From what I can gleam, the other ones seem to be better but I had to work with what I got. And what I got was...fine.
Bonus points for having at least one of the parents be super useful for once though. (Also, Emily is 14 instead of 12, weird)
June 30, 2023
Another fun entry into the Spine Shivers series by J.A. Darke. I wish there were more of these books. They never fail to entertain, and I appreciate their tendency to be pretty down beat, like a lot of classic Goosebumps and Fear Street.
Tech Fury is Maximum Overdrive and Terminator in a Middle Grade book setting, with shades of Chopping Mall as well. There is a post apocalyptic wrap around story too. It plays out predictably but also gives intriguing hints as to the nature of the book’s world post technological takeover.
I recommend this series to Middle Grade and reluctant readers. It’s also a solid read for adults who don’t mind their horror on the more PG-rated side.
Tech Fury is Maximum Overdrive and Terminator in a Middle Grade book setting, with shades of Chopping Mall as well. There is a post apocalyptic wrap around story too. It plays out predictably but also gives intriguing hints as to the nature of the book’s world post technological takeover.
I recommend this series to Middle Grade and reluctant readers. It’s also a solid read for adults who don’t mind their horror on the more PG-rated side.
January 2, 2022
Good 4-5th grade book from a Spine Shivers series. What would happen if machines took over the world.
June 22, 2023
This was a good read but not my favorite. I think this book a young reader can become easily distracted or not interested in finishing.
August 24, 2024
If I were in elementary school, I would’ve loved this book. It's a fun little kid's story about technology taking over.
I liked how at the end there was a script about modern technology and how it relates to the plot of the book.
I liked how at the end there was a script about modern technology and how it relates to the plot of the book.
November 3, 2021
1 star. Nothing about this was a good book. The language was at times questionable and the storytelling was subpar. Disappointing since A Grin in the Dark was a good one. Review to come.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews