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Civil Terror: Gridlock (Jake Bendel Thrillers Book 1) by [J. Luke Bennecke]

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J. Luke Bennecke

Civil Terror: Gridlock (Jake Bendel Thrillers Book 1) Kindle Edition

by J. Luke Bennecke (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

106 ratings

Book 1 of 1: Jake Bendel Thrillers

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2023 First Place Winner, Feathered Quill Awards Best of Backlist category

"A cyber-tale rooted in reality. Civil Terror: Gridlock is a thriller with surprisingly deep implications." - BookTrib

Self-driving vehicles finally arrive. But so do the terrorists. A thought-provoking thriller about artificial intelligence and the self-driving revolution.

You'll be forced to consider how you would react if you were cornered and trapped in a terrifying life-threatening situation.

Fed up with slogging through the treacherous LA traffic to get to work, Jake Bendel and a cunning team of experts create a roadway system for self-driving cars -- preventing thousands of traffic deaths and reducing commute times from hours to minutes. For three months, no traffic congestion. No accidents. No fatalities. People finally feel safe in their cars. But should they?

Especially when the dark side of humanity sees this as a chance to destroy the United States. A terrorist group weaponizes the system and devises a scheme to kill more Americans in one day than all the U.S. soldiers killed in World War II.

Viktor, a tormented psychopath and the mastermind behind this ruthless attack, is driven by the voices in his head who guide his every move. While he and his brothers mercilessly annihilate Americans, Viktor plants evidence that convinces the public Jake is the architect behind the most heinous terrorist attack in U.S. history.

But one rogue FBI agent believes Jake is innocent. Together they unearth a mole deep inside the FBI, go off the grid, and hash through a trail of hidden clues to stop Viktor from slaughtering millions of unsuspecting American drivers in a matter of minutes.

The clock is ticking. Can they stop him in time to prevent another savage bloodbath?

Civil Terror: Gridlock will grab you by the throat and pull you into a vicious struggle that will define the fate of the world for generations to come. If you like Dan Brown, Tom Clancy, or Jon Grisham, you'll love J. Luke Bennecke.

Book 1 of 1

Jake Bendel Thrillers
Print length

494 pages
Language

English
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publication date

March 5, 2018
File size

1110 KB
Page Flip

Enabled
Word Wise

Enabled
Enhanced typesetting

Enabled
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Books In This Series (1 Books)

Complete Series

Jake Bendel Thrillers

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Civil Terror: Gridlock (Jake Bendel Thrillers Book 1)
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"A riveting story raising questions about artificial intelligence and security." - Independent Book Review

"Reminded me of...characters in intense thrillers like Tom Clancy's Patriot Games...and James Grady's Six Days of the Condor" - The Detroit News

"A story that will seize your attention and spike your anxiety. Take a deep breath and buckle in for a non-stop ride in J. Luke Bennecke's ultra-fast-paced thriller, Civil Terror: Gridlock." - Indies Today

"A terrifying glimpse into the near future. Completely recommend this debut novel." - AR Shaw, USA Today Bestselling Author

"Fans of smart, fast-paced thrillers, like those by Clive Cussler and Tom Clancy, will gravitate towards Civil Terror: Gridlock." - Auto Newsblaster

From the Author

Every year, traffic congestion in the United States causes $160 billion is in lost economic productivity. In addition to this, between 30,000 and 40,000 people lose their lives in traffic-related fatal accidents. Self-driving cars are here and a network to control them is coming. The benefits will be substantial, but we need to be careful how much control we give to the computers. This is a cautionary tale, one potential unfolding of a future where the self-driving network is already in place, but the evil-doers of this world figure out a way to weaponize the system.I tried to write this story with a fast pace, tons of action and emotional drama, while sprinkling in engineering and economic facts here and there to help educate you, the reader, of the inner-workings of what it would actually take to roll out a real-life self-driving network.I sincerely hope you enjoy the story. Please feel free to let me know what you liked, didn't like, and any suggestions on what we, as a society, can do to help ensure a terrorist attack like this is prevented in the future.Best regards,J. Luke Bennecke

From the Inside Flap

Civil engineer Jake Bendel worked with the federal government to develop a national self-driving freeway network, saving thousands of lives and adding billions of dollars to the economy. But a terrorist group weaponizes the system, killing thousands on I-405 in Los Angeles, California. Jake partners with a rogue FBI agent to stop the terrorists before their next attack.

From the Back Cover

A civil engineer. A terrorist. A game of chess.

Meet Jake Bendel, a civil engineer in the state of California. Tired of slogging through the infamous LA traffic to get to and from work, he and a team of experts design a roadway system which involves self-driving cars, negating thousands of traffic-related deaths each year and drastically reducing commute times.

All runs smoothly until a terrorist weaponizes the system and devises a scheme to kill off thousands of Americans in one day, simply by subverting the computer codes. A brilliant sociopath, Viktor distinctly hears voices in his head that influence his every move. While he and his brothers ruthlessly annihilate Americans, Viktor manages to plant evidence and sway the media and the public into convicting Jake of these horrendous crimes against humanity.

One rogue FBI agent believes in Jake's innocence. Realizing there's a mole in their midst, the two must go off the grid to prove to America that Jake is, indeed, not the terrorist and not guilty of murder.

A gripping tale from the first page to the last, Civil Terror: Gridlock will have you on the edge of your seat, blood pressure skyrocketing as the story twists and turns its way to the finish line.

About the Author

J. Luke Bennecke is a native Californian and veteran civil engineer who has spent his career helping people by improving Southern California roadways. Bennecke has now written several novels and screenplays (this was one of his first!), a creative process he thoroughly enjoys. Waterborne, another Jake Bendel thriller, was published by Black Rose Writing in 2021.

He has a BS in civil engineering, an MBA, a private pilot's certificate, and is a partner in an engineering firm. In his role as philanthropist, he awards scholarships annually to high school seniors.

Bennecke resides in Southern California with his wife of 30 years and three spunky cats. In his leisure time he spends his hours traveling, flying, learning about innovative tech, golfing, and catching up with his grown daughters.

Bennecke is a member of International Thriller Writers and looks forward to attending ThrillerFest every year in New York.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07B8LK9XG
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Jaytech Publishing; 1st edition (March 5, 2018)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 5, 2018
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1110 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 494 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #807,114 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #1,373 in Technothrillers (Kindle Store)
- #1,672 in Political Thrillers & Suspense
- #1,874 in Conspiracy Thrillers (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
106 ratings

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J. Luke Bennecke

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J. Luke Bennecke is a veteran civil engineer who has spent his career helping people by improving Southern California roadways. In addition to his first book, Civil Terror: Gridlock, which became an Amazon Bestseller, Bennecke has written several novels and screenplays, a creative process he thoroughly enjoys. His second Jake Bendel thriller, Waterborne, was published by Black Rose Writing in 2021.

Bennecke received several awards for Waterborne, including 2nd place for Mystery/Thriller/Suspense in the 2023 Feathered Quill Awards, Best Medical Thriller in the 2022 BestThrillers.com Book Awards, 3rd place in Technothrillers in the 2022 BookFest Awards, and was a finalist in the 2022 American Fiction Awards.

Bennecke has a BS in civil engineering, an MBA, a private pilot's certificate, and is a partner in an engineering firm. As a philanthropist, he awards scholarships annually to high school seniors.

The author resides in Southern California with his wife of over 30 years and three spunky cats. He spends his leisure time traveling, flying, learning about innovative tech, golfing, and catching up with his grown daughters.

Bennecke is a member of International Thriller Writers and looks forward to attending ThrillerFest each year in New York.

For more information or to subscribe to his newsletter, please visit Bennecke's website at: www.jlukebennecke.com

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5

106 global ratings

5 star		60%
4 star		23%
3 star		12%
2 star		4%
1 star		2%

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Top reviews from the United States

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A good concept isn’t enough for a good book

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 4, 2022

Verified Purchase

‘Civil Terror: Gridlock’ had the potential to be a good book. It features a civil engineer as the protagonist which could have made it interesting since it is an unusual occupation for a hero.

It also uses a futuristic concept of speedy automatic highways as a terrorist target which could have been a thrilling plot. Unfortunately, it takes more than good ideas to make a book entertaining.

The poorly developed characters combine with the cliched dialogue to make this a book a tedious read. If there is any situation commonplace to a terrorist thriller that the author missed, it surely was by accident.

Needless to say, I won’t be reading another book by this author and I’m sorry that I wasted time on this one.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

K. Alongi

Great book. A page turner.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 5, 2021

Verified Purchase

This book is full of suspense and gripped me to where I stayed up late at night not wanting to put it down. I enjoyed it immensely and can't wait to read the sequels.

4 people found this helpful

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Marge

Audible version highly recommended

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 10, 2018

Verified Purchase

Very enjoyable thriller! Bendel, a civil engineer, and Cavanaugh, with the FBI, make a great team, which develops throughout the book. Bendel is a believable guy who has strong ethics and a sharp intellect. I couldn’t stop listening to this book. The audible version is gripping, capturing the hopes and fears of each character. I highly recommend this book, and can’t wait for the next one in the series!

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Richard Kamiyama

Great book! I couldn't put it down

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 16, 2018

Verified Purchase

Great book! I couldn't put it down! Jake Bendel is a believable character and someone you root for. This book was action packed from start to finish and smartly laid out. It's a concept that has made me really think about our current freeway systems and how to improve them. Loved it!!

6 people found this helpful

Helpful

Sid Little

The book was an interesting read

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 10, 2018

Verified Purchase

The story was a little far out for my liking but it did give some good insights as to what is in store for the future when our cars and interstates become highly automated.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 22, 2018

Verified Purchase

This book was one of the most exciting, thrilling books I have ever read. Keeps you wandering what is next! Excellent writing!

2 people found this helpful

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Judith E.P.J

Imagine

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 7, 2018

Verified Purchase

It could happen, we need birth control mandatory for people on state wale fare... This could happen. Watch, be careful.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Amazon Customer

Great fast paced read

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 30, 2018

Verified Purchase

The characters are relatable and endearing. I wanted to read it in one sitting. It was hard to put down.

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