Forced to be Free

by Koen Martens

A near-future techno thriller.

Young and brilliant hacker Sam takes a job at a defence contractor to fight for his freedom in a Europe that is about to be overrun by the Russian Federation.

With time running out, Sam finds out who his real allies are. Fighting betrayal and his inner demons, he must pull out all his clever hacking tricks to stop the advancing army.

Can he stop the invasion, and if so, at what price?

ebook

Published September 18, 2021

About the author

Koen Martens is a science fiction author and retired hacker with a degree in artificial intelligence. A software architect by day, Koen has worked with quantum computers, lithography machines, cloud servers and many other high-tech gadgets. Koen’s experience lends a great degree of realism to his writing and provides him with a healthy dose of scepticism towards humanity’s unhealthy relationship with technology.

While born in the Netherlands, Koen, together with his husband, now lives in Sweden. In his spare time, he can often be found roaming the woods of Örebro lan (getting lost despite the assistance of gps navigation) or online to stay in touch with his friends from hackerspace Hack42. Koen regularly enjoys live jazz at concerts and festivals, and plays and restores pinball games.

Reviews

[Moem · Rating 4 out of 5]

I mostly liked this. The story was engaging, I definitely wanted to know how it would unfold. I did not manage to 'see' Sam very clearly, and I probably would have liked him more as a character if I had. But all in all it was a satisfying read.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting short story, great to fill a couple of hours! A nice taster of this exciting dystopian series! A first for me from by this writer, but it has grabbed my interest & I will look for more to read by them!

[Ralf de Kleine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice little story, isolated futures #2 is next on the list.

[Ile Barrionuevo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoying this right now!!

[PAR · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a brilliant read! It pulled me in from beginning to end and held my attention.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very exciting novel that had me on the edge of my seat.

[Budd Trippet · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed Koen Marten's book "Forced to Be Free" and will eagerly read the rest of the books in this series. The scenarios portrayed, though in a Sci Fi setting are too eerily familiar. Europe menaced by an aggressive Russian Federation - check. Implants for Internet access - I'm sure we will see them sooner than 2051. As a retired Network Admin who had to detect and defuse numerous penetration tests for my former employer - the hacking portrayed is accurate and not of the 'magical TV movie' variety. Marten's experience in programming and hacking shows. Characters are realistic and the action and plotting are fast and first rate. did this 1st book get my interest - absolutely!

[Nac · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable read, I look forward to the others.

[Catherine Pratt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was not for me. I read it because I promised a review. So here it is. I almost DNF by his book. I kept at it because of a promise. I try to keep my promises. The only reason why I tolerated this book is because it was kinda written in diary form. I love reading books like that because you can really get into the mind of the author and characters. It's a fairly short book. Just because this book was not for me doesn't mean you have to not read it. You may actually like it. Read the book and review it honestly without my influence in what I said and what I have for rating. Again you might like it so read it.

I received a free copy of the book and is voluntarily writing a review

[Thomas Björkman · Rating 2 out of 5]

very short

[Seth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book highly recommend.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read!