The Ghost Network is a new 3-book epic adventure series in which a group of teenage hackers get to work to save the world from disasters in the Dark Web as man takes on machine.

Age Level: 10-13 Grade Level: 4th and up

Despite coming from different ends of the world, John, Slack, Akane, and Salome, age 12, have plenty in common. They love computers, coding, hacking, gaming—it literally flows through their veins. One more thing: they are all technically dead. The group comes together at the Wolf’s Den in deepest Alaska, one of several top-secret schools for technological excellence around the globe. The place seems like a coder’s dream come true at first, but things take a dark turn when the group realizes they are not like the other kids there. They uncover that the center is working on a potentially dangerous, secret project known as Project 31. What’s worse, the guinea pigs are the kids themselves. The gang realizes that John’s father implanted artificial intelligence in their bloodstream, in order to protect them, before going missing under mysterious circumstances. They are not only wanted by those in power, but are now being hunted. There’s only one way out: to escape across the brutal Alaskan tundra where the truth will be revealed.

Out April 16, 2019

MY THOUGHTS:

I received this book in exchange for my honest review.

When I received this book, I had no idea what to expect.

The book took me one night to read, a couple of hours of my time and I flipped through each paid rapidly wanting more.

This is a strong character driven, well-plotted story involving young teens. I know some may think that the characters are too young for this type of story, but let’s face it, folks, teens today are not developing as slowly as say, ten years ago. With technology moving forward as quickly as it seems to be, it’s only a natural progression for teens today to move with it.

With that said, this group of teens is remarkably developed, well-fleshed out and very realistically flawed. The idea of a super-brain in a hormonal teenage body is a bit daunting but such is as it is.

I enjoyed the ride. I did like the world-building but would have loved seeing more once the setting switched to outside. The beginning moved slow, then quickly gained momentum as the middle loomed ahead. As more and more unfolded and tension continued to build, I was drawn into the backstory of each character and it’s there, that I found information lacking. It would have been nice to see more of the Antagonist and secondary characters developed and linked to the Antagonist laid out a bit more in detail. I suppose it’s a struggle not to give too much away in doing so, but there just was something not complete at this point.  It felt like there was a hole where there shouldn’t have been..

The premise is wild and fantastic. The pacing is done well and keeps the reader engaged. A couple of spots, I fell off the ride but managed to pick it up again without losing interest. Overall, I can see teens enjoying this book, and perhaps, wondering at the plausibility of the situations the book teens find themselves in. In my opinion, this is a fantasy/sci fi cross-over, something that is becoming more and more prevalent in both genres today.

I gave this book: