Customer Reviews

Storm

5 star:		(21)
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The tale in Storm really is a very modern - almost mind-blowing - intriguing, intelligent and compelling story, quite tech-savvy but with several interesting human touches as well. In the beginning we meet up with a young kid, Dutch, already a full-blown, highly skilled hacker, and his similarly talented cyber-friends. The friends are Spyder, Ray, Skye and Skreemer. They call themselves STORM, and only Dutch and Spyder of the five hackers in the group know one another the old-fashioned, physical way. The others have met over safe phone lines and in cyberspace, and they only know one another by their call names. While they are in the process of finally - after many futile attempts - hacking into a top secret site, one of the guys is arrested (while phreaking, i.e. manipulating telephone networks) and the group splits up.

After having stayed away from hacking for twenty years and been out of touch with the other members of the group, Dutch is suddenly, out of nowhere, contacted by one of the guys from STORM. He needs Dutch for a new hack the group has been planning for a long time. It is the final challenge, the ultimate hack - they want to break in to an ultra top secret military facility, heavily encrypted and protected by impenetrable firewalls. Dutch can't resist this intriguing challenge, and soon he is on his way to Compound Five, the most heavily protected facility of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), to attack the Intelink. It turns out to be a hack different from anything Dutch anticipated, and so much more - it will take everything Dutch has to make it out alive.

Storm is hot! It's a wonderful high-adrenaline action-packed roller-coaster of a thriller, as intense and engaging in some ways as the Millennium trilogy by Stieg Larsson and my favorite Dan Brown novel, Digital Fortress. The plot really rocks, and I found the technology and hacking to be fascinating to the extreme. This really is a fabulous read, an excellent cyber-thriller, and I have to admit that I can't wait for the next book in this series.

Fair warning... I really like cyber-thrillers, especially with a liberal dose of hacking thrown in. To that end, I had no problems saying yes to reviewing Storm by Dave Pearson. For a first novel, Pearson did quite well. He throws together a virtual band of hackers who come together to hack the biggest prize of all, the Intelink high-security top-secret intranet run by the US government. But to do so, they need to slip into a heavily guarded compound on a isolated island during the middle of a war games training exercise and gain access to the computers there. Once inside, they can assemble and insert a state-of-the-art virus to gather the data they want and can sell to the highest bidder.

It might be a bit too much to expect that a team of stereotypical hackers could operate as a combat commando unit. But Pearson puts down a back story (and reveals more towards the end) that makes it all imaginable in terms of a cyber-thriller plot. There are also a number of plot twists and turns as the story unfolds, making it a page-turner... "just one more chapter, then I'll turn out the light..." And since he positions this as the first of a series, I'm looking forward to the next installment.

Storm is that book that would work great as a beach or vacation read... just sit back and go for a wild ride.

Disclosure:
Obtained From: Publisher
Payment: Free

Awesome. This book kept me up several nights in a row because I couldn't put it down until I finished it. I was a little skeptical at first as this is not a genre I know anything about (I'm generally a Jane Austen kind of person), but I was hooked by the end of the first chapter. I'm not sure how many cyber-thrillers are in my future, but I will definitely read Pearson's next book (here's to hoping there's a sequel....).

What a surprising new type of novel - it's like Dan Brown's Digital Fortress and John Grisham's plot style was melded as one. This is a page turner like no other and I can't wait to see what Dave Pearson's next novel holds. If you like military ops, are a techie who knows computer programming, or just like a good adventure, this is the novel for you. An outstanding first novel!

Having just finished the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, it must be the summer for Hackers. And Dutch, STORM's protagonist, is equally as compelling as a great former hacker returning to use his skills again...this time for the ultimate goal...survival. STORM starts off strong and holds your attention the entire read...building your excitment and anxiety levels as you go! My husband and I both read it and emjoyed it for different reasons. He's past military and got completely engrossed in that part of the storyline, while I loved the personal influences and histories that are woven throughout. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes suspense and a well-formed story. I can only hope Dave Pearson has another Dutch book in the works!

I must say, I read this book not knowing what I might find--WOW, was I surprised! This book is a fun read! In the vein of a Tom Clancy or Clive Cussler novel, with a sense of the TV show "Lost", STORM is a whirlwind adventure. It is an ambitious, well-executed plot from this new author. Pick up this book, and you won't put it down. I can't wait for Dave Pearson's next installment in the saga of Dutch and the STORM team!

This book is a bona-fied page turner. It is truly a "must read." Mr. Pearson masterfully blends the world of cyber terrorism/warfare with that of conventional special ops warfare. If you enjoy techno-thrillers, I guarantee you will not be disappointed.

STORM was a good read despite its unusual category.
Since most cyber-thrillers are esoteric and popular only with fans, STORM is a break into mainstream fiction that appeals to a wider audience.
STORM would make a great movie if Hollywood chose actors like it did when movies were black and white.

This book has a nice blend of Cyber technology and page-turning military action. I think the author did a great job of providing both elements with obvious expertise. The intricate plot did not bog down with techy details. Good character development and palpable tension between the protagonist and his old hacker buddies. A nice twist in the end places this novel on a higher shelf than most cyber-tech efforts and begs a sequel from its author.

STORM is an incredible book - a real page turner! I couldn't wait to read on to find out the next twist in the adventure. I've never read a novel about hacking, an truthfully, didn't know if I'd really get into it or not, but now I'm hooked! I'm looking forward to the next novel in the series and many more after that!