Conspiracy Theories | By Hook Or By Book

Tags

Computer Hackers, Conspiracy Theories, Contemporary Fiction, Politics, Social Media, Teenagers, Thrillers, YA Fiction

This review is for an ebook provided by NetGalley and Adaptive Books in exchange for an honest review.

“WHAT IS THE SILENCE OF SIX, AND WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?”

These are the final words of Max Stein’s best friend Evan as he hacks into a live stream of a Presidential debate taking place at their high school. Shortly after, he tragically kills himself. Armed only with some cryptic information Evan has sent him, and not knowing who he can trust, Max now finds himself on the run, a victim of a conspiracy that has far reaching implications. Will he be able to uncover the plot in time to save not only himself but the two people who are trying to help him? This is an exciting and timely conspiracy thriller set in the time of Julian Assange and Eric Snowden and the ever growing world of social media. I zoomed through it in two sittings. Even though it’s got a lot of hacker and technical computer terminology, I had absolutely no problem following the plot, which for a technically-deficient person like me is really saying something! The characters are interesting, if a little too good to be true. For example, seventeen year old Max is immediately able to successfully evade capture using his neglected hacker skills, outwitting some extremely powerful people, with only two teen sisters to help him. Also, I felt the dialogue was a little bit stilted in places. Overall though the pros far outweigh the cons. I recommend reading the ebook version as it provides links to click on which take you to the news blog of Courtney Garcia, Max’s girlfriend, at http://fullcortpress.tumblr.com and a conspiracy theorist blog Fawkes Rising at http://www.fawkesrising.com This just adds to the fun and uniqueness of this book. I think teens and adults will enjoy this fast-paced novel especially if they’re into computers. If you want to check out the book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Diptk5Q9ziM

And finally, if you want to get an idea of what this is all about, check out “SOS” the prequel to The Silence of Six on Wattpad at http://www.wattpad.com/story/25238632-sos-a-prequel-to-silence-of-six