PROXY WAR

Alex Mercer’s childhood has been far from idyllic. Orphaned as a child in southeastern Europe and eventually landing in the U.S., she endured a horrific foster family experience before ending up with a couple living in the San Francisco Bay area, who’d recently emigrated from South Korea. Now 18 and a freshman in computer engineering at the University of Michigan, the hacker prodigy finds herself in a potentially deadly situation. Not only is she being blackmailed by a corrupt mayoral candidate who wants her to manipulate voting results, but a cyber terrorist, about to unleash a “digital plague” on the world, has her in his sights because of her online meddling. The cyber terrorist, nicknamed Cipher, obsesses over making America pay for their involvement in Bosnia decades earlier and the horrors they facilitated on the country’s populace, which included Cipher’s family. His ultimate goal is simple: “to see the world burn.” As Alex desperately tries to stop Cipher’s master plan before he kills her and those close to her, she begins to put together seemingly disparate puzzle pieces, some of which include an army of North Korean hackers, a top-secret branch of the U.S. Cyber Command, and jaw-dropping revelations about her biological parents.There’s no question that Michaels delivers the goods to thriller fans. From the very first page, the pacing is pedal-to-the-metal, and the tension is palpable throughout. Alex’s paranoia bleeds through the pages: “Her attacker could be any of the people wandering the campus, searching for her. Ready to pull the trigger. Assuming they had a trigger. For all she knew, they’d dispatch her through more stealthy means like poison, or worse, a shiv wielded by a seemingly innocent passerby, the cold steel hidden beneath a benign smile.” But the real power here is Michaels’ character development. Alex’s complicated relationship with her foster parents and her revered Aunt Min—coupled with her own struggles to find herself and her place in the world—make her a three-dimensional, undeniably endearing hero. Additionally, there’s a subtle philosophical thread throughout, which gives the reading experience a profundity: “Hate exists not as a permanent scar upon the heart, but as a challenge, a call to action for each of us. It is an invitation to embark on the most noble of journeys: To reach out with an open heart, to listen with a compassionate ear, and to build, with the bricks of our shared humanity, a world where love triumphs over hate, understanding overcomes fear, and unity replaces division. This is the path to a brighter, kinder future—a world not of hate, but of hope.” Lastly, the author savvily leaves Alex, and other supporting characters, at a natural jumping-off point. Future installments could go in countless directions and be set anywhere in the world. The one minor criticism is that some plot twists are a bit predictable, especially for those who read a lot of thrillers.

May 14, 2025 - 05:32

Alex Mercer’s childhood has been far from idyllic. Orphaned as a child in southeastern Europe and eventually landing in the U.S., she endured a horrific foster family experience before ending up with a couple living in the San Francisco Bay area, who’d recently emigrated from South Korea. Now 18 and a freshman in computer engineering at the University of Michigan, the hacker prodigy finds herself in a potentially deadly situation. Not only is she being blackmailed by a corrupt mayoral candidate who wants her to manipulate voting results, but a cyber terrorist, about to unleash a “digital plague” on the world, has her in his sights because of her online meddling. The cyber terrorist, nicknamed Cipher, obsesses over making America pay for their involvement in Bosnia decades earlier and the horrors they facilitated on the country’s populace, which included Cipher’s family. His ultimate goal is simple: “to see the world burn.” As Alex desperately tries to stop Cipher’s master plan before he kills her and those close to her, she begins to put together seemingly disparate puzzle pieces, some of which include an army of North Korean hackers, a top-secret branch of the U.S. Cyber Command, and jaw-dropping revelations about her biological parents.There’s no question that Michaels delivers the goods to thriller fans. From the very first page, the pacing is pedal-to-the-metal, and the tension is palpable throughout. Alex’s paranoia bleeds through the pages: “Her attacker could be any of the people wandering the campus, searching for her. Ready to pull the trigger. Assuming they had a trigger. For all she knew, they’d dispatch her through more stealthy means like poison, or worse, a shiv wielded by a seemingly innocent passerby, the cold steel hidden beneath a benign smile.” But the real power here is Michaels’ character development. Alex’s complicated relationship with her foster parents and her revered Aunt Min—coupled with her own struggles to find herself and her place in the world—make her a three-dimensional, undeniably endearing hero. Additionally, there’s a subtle philosophical thread throughout, which gives the reading experience a profundity: “Hate exists not as a permanent scar upon the heart, but as a challenge, a call to action for each of us. It is an invitation to embark on the most noble of journeys: To reach out with an open heart, to listen with a compassionate ear, and to build, with the bricks of our shared humanity, a world where love triumphs over hate, understanding overcomes fear, and unity replaces division. This is the path to a brighter, kinder future—a world not of hate, but of hope.” Lastly, the author savvily leaves Alex, and other supporting characters, at a natural jumping-off point. Future installments could go in countless directions and be set anywhere in the world. The one minor criticism is that some plot twists are a bit predictable, especially for those who read a lot of thrillers.