Zeroes: A Novel

Five hackers from across America are coerced into meeting with a government agent and given the choice between serving as an elite hacking unit for the government or going to Federal prison. Which would you choose? But when the hackers arrive at The Lodge and begin their assignments, they discover there’s something insidious lurking behind the scenes. Something called Typhon that connects disparate threads across the globe, and these hackers—the Zeroes—might be the only ones who can uncover the secret before catastrophe strikes.

Zeroes covers a *lot* of ground in four hundred pages. It makes hacking accessible, spawns several government conspiracies, deftly marries action-adventure with techno-thriller, offers a few unexpected punches to the gut, and delivers a half-dozen believable, richly drawn characters to boot. And even when things get dire, it never stops being a fun, unexpected treat.

The only hitch is the framing device which opens and closes the novel, making the ending feel like a pause button has been pressed instead of a conclusion landing solidly. But, that gives me hope for a sequel, since I’d thoroughly enjoy spending time with some of the Zeroes again.