A wrong turn down the information superhighway. A strange chatroom where users speak in code. Randy Kincaid is suddenly caught in a web of lies -- and murder. With the help of cyberhead Maya Bessamer, Randy must find out who's behind the killings. Or the next victim might be him.
We have another pair of snarky and clever teen sleuths, but this time the stakes are very high: a string of racially motivated crimes could possibly have a connection to a chatroom-based terrorist ring.
Whoa. Cray is ambitious but pulls it off with snappy dialogue (can’t get enough of the made up internet slang), tons of action (we even get a SKATEBOARD CHASE), and characters you want to root for.
Gosh, I love this series so much. Totally underrated.
Extra points for the cover boy with the perfect late 90s teen heartthrob hair à la Devon Sawa and JTT.
I liked the inclusion of code breaking and the (albeit far fetched) steps Randy took with the clues. He’s clever and Maya is even smarter. It’s good to see even a female computer genius even in a book published in the late 90’s. Bringing up topics such as terrorist attacks, and though pretty simplistic, this book feels ahead of its time.
What did I think? I think this book was the balls!
I have to wake up early tomorrow and I'm suffering a vertigo attack but finishing this book tonight it was so worth it. I haven't felt giddy after reading a book in a while now but it's hard not to seeing as I was at the edge of my imaginary seat the whole time I was reading it! It had a great plot thought I think it could have been better. Imagine if they gave the antagonist a more complex and detailed background; that would have made him/her even a scarier character to think of.
It was easy to read and easy to follow. It's the type of book that keeps you entertained until you get it done. I never would have expected in a million years for a book with a "goosebumps" type of artwork cover to have such Nancy Drew vibe with a little danger from Agatha Christie but just rightly mixed so that when a teen or an adolescent picks it up, it's not too daunting or complicated. (Never judge a book by it's cover totally applies here lol)
Can we also talk about how "gnarly" the jargons are? Man, the 90s really were the best. And I expected nothing less from a book published in 1997. Way to go, Jordan Cray. I shall now be picking up your books if I want to have an easy read that makes me feel the good kind of anxiety while waiting for sleep to come.
The author wrote the book on the first person POV and it suits readers grade 7 and up. Fast-paced, entertaining, and reflective of the youth during the early years of the Internet. So I’m going to give this 4 out of 5 stars. Read my review here: https://starstack.blog/2019/08/15/dan...
The technology is dated of course, yet uses the internet as it’s basis and setting which is still very relevant. A great story but today’s youth might need some help with the more old fashioned tech vocabulary.