REVIEW: "Assured Destruction: Script Kiddie" - by Michael F. Stewart (Tribute Books Blog Tour)

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"Jan Rose no longer steals data from the old computers she recycles. She doesn't need to. As the newest member of the police department’s High Tech Crime Unit, the laptop of a murderer has landed on her desk. Her job: to profile and expose a killer.

But that’s not all.

A creep lurks in the shadows, stalking a friend, and Jan must stop him before the hunt turns deadly. The clock counts down for Jan to save her friend, her job, her boyfriend—maybe even her life."


Formats: paperback & ebook
Release: August 2013
Pages: 156
ISBN: 9780981269979
Publisher: Non Sequitur Press

AMAZON  -   GOODREADS  

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
After crewing ships in the Antarctic and the Baltic Sea and some fun in venture capital, Michael anchored himself (happily) to a marriage and a boatload of kids. Now he injects his adventurous spirit into his writing with brief respites for research into the jungles of Sumatra and Guatemala, the ruins of Egypt and Tik’al, paddling the Zambezi and diving whatever cave or ocean reef will have him. He is a member of the International Thriller Writers and SF Canada, and the author of the Assured Destruction series, 24 Bones, The Sand Dragon, Hurakan, Ruination and several award winning graphic novels for young adults.

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REVIEW
It is not unheard of for the government to hire individuals who have caused them heaps o' trouble for virtual reasons.  Who better to protect computer systems than someone skilled at hacking?  Who better to track down con artists than a con artist?  I'm sure they have means of weeding out the goofs from those who are actually able to take their mischievous skills and wield them in the fight for justice...but what if the person wielding some made skills is 16 years old and is seriously not taken seriously due to her youth and *cough* unconventional methods?

"24 Bones" - Michael F. Stewart (Tribute Books Blog Tour)

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Every five hundred years the phoenix dies.

Samiya, born-into-shadow, is soon to battle her born-into-light brother. Abandoned by their parents, neither wishes to play the preordained role of beast and hero. When their loved ones are taken hostage, they are forced to follow the path laid out in myth, culminating in a battle first fought six thousand years ago in ancient Cairo. A mythic clash where one defeats the other and both become gods.

To break free from their fates, Samiya and her brother must unravel a mystery twisted by cults, greed, and magic. But myth is a powerful force and failure to live up to it may not only destroy their lives but the lives of the ones they love most.

When the phoenix dies, the only certainty is flames.





ABOUT THE AUTHOR
After crewing ships in the Antarctic and the Baltic Sea and some fun in venture capital, Michael anchored himself (happily) to a marriage and a boatload of kids. Now he injects his adventurous spirit into his writing with brief respites for research into the jungles of Sumatra and Guatemala, the ruins of Egypt and Tik’al, paddling the Zambezi and diving whatever cave or ocean reef will have him. He is a member of the International Thriller Writers and SF Canada, and the author of the Assured Destruction series, 24 Bones, The Sand Dragon, Hurakan, Ruination and several award winning graphic novels for young adults.

REVIEW

My husband and brother are both fairly well steeped in Egyptian mythology.  My brother spent hours when we were young trying to decipher hieroglyphs in books that we got from school, and my husband is generally interested in any and all mythology.  While I've not had as intense a curiousity about such, I've absorbed some knowledge about Egyptian mythology simply from being around the nerdy males in my life. This work deals heavily with Egyptian mythology come to life in modern times, and draws parallels between Egyptian myth and one of my favorite books - The Bible - in ways that I didn't expect.  Hmmmm.

"Assured Destruction" - by Michael Stewart (Tribute Books Blog Tour)

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"Sixteen-year-old Jan Rose knows that nothing is ever truly deleted. At least, not from the hard drives she scours to create the online identities she calls the Shadownet.

Hobby? Art form? Sad, pathetic plea to garner friendship, even virtually? Sure, Jan is guilty on all counts. Maybe she’s even addicted to it. It’s an exploration. Everyone has something to hide. The Shadownet’s hard drives are Jan’s secrets. They're stolen from her family’s computer recycling business Assured Destruction. If the police found out, Jan’s family would lose their livelihood. 

When the real people behind Shadownet’s hard drives endure vicious cyber attacks, Jan realizes she is responsible. She doesn’t know who is targeting these people or why but as her life collapses Jan must use all her tech savvy to bring the perpetrators to justice before she becomes the next victim."




ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Michael Stewart

After crewing ships in the Antarctic and the Baltic Sea and some fun in venture capital, Michael anchored himself (happily) to a marriage and a boatload of kids. Now he injects his adventurous spirit into his writing with brief respites for research into the jungles of Sumatra and Guatemala, the ruins of Egypt and Tik’al, paddling the Zambezi and diving whatever cave or ocean reef will have him. He is a member of the International Thriller Writers and SF Canada, and the author of the Assured Destruction series, 24 Bones, The Sand Dragon, Hurakan, Ruination and several award winning graphic novels for young adults.


REVIEW
I know very little about computers.  Being able to utilize basic Microsoft programs, game a little, cuss Excel into cooperating with me, minor photo editing...I'd quickly be swamped by the genius of Jan - the main character in Assured Destruction.  But what happens when someone's genius gets the better of them...or those around them....