(6.00)321 pages.
These are the Navy veterans who crowdfunded their first two novels, and this is their first book with a major publisher.
Rafiq Roshed, a dangerous Middle Eastern terrorist, has found sanctuary in North Korea. From an unused and remote missile base, he commands a team of North Koreans – financed by Russian arms dealers – developing software with the purpose of causing chaos in the Pacific.
However, Roshed has not told his allies the truth about what his virus can do. In the initial stages, he believes his virus will give Roshed operational military command over Chinese, Japanese and U.S. military forces. And in the final stages, the virus becomes autonomous!
Meanwhile, Captain Brendan McHugh, CIA and ex-special forces, is searching for Roshed.
And McHugh's former protegee, Don Riley at US Cyber Command, has discovered three midshipmen at the Naval Academy with uncanny coding skills. Against organizational resistance, he is championing his young team to defeat the latest cyberattacks.
Roshed first works to plant his virus into Chinese, Japanese and U.S. systems, then begins to play games with what the militaries think they see in the Pacific. Soon the missiles are flying, and ships are sinking…
Can the midshipmen defeat the virus before it gains autonomy and access to nuclear weapons, and prevent World War III?
The novel is easy reading and moves at a fast pace, starting as a techno-thriller and bridging into military action. The authors depict naval warfare and special-forces actions realistically. The bad guy is suitably villainous.
One problem I had is that, as the authors included more and more characters to depict the widening chaos, the main characters get somewhat lost, which reduces the impact of the ending. Another problem is that, while most authors handle software as if it's magic, and this book was better than most, the idea of a virus using machine-learning to become autonomous seems unlikely to me.
Due to the subject matter, the novel includes occasional sexuality, violence, torture, and mature language.
I liked this novel, found it very readable, but got a bit lost with the huge cast of incidental characters.
Reviewed by 
Editor in Chief Bill 
.