Description: 

A new team of cyber hunters has emerged.
Julie and Juan created the cyber assassin technology services (CATS) team to provide hands on support for clients all over the world. The CATS team mantra is to find and stop outrageous cyber-crimes. These specialists are grittier than regular keyboard jockeys with their ex-military, ex-CIA backgrounds, and ex- covert to hit the cyber thugs hard.

These elite experts work at ground zero to locate and terminate cyber warfare aimed at businesses and governments around the world. Their expertise is all about finding and stopping digital extortion by cyber thugs who think they are anonymous and untraceable.

Digital ransom demands by these cyber criminals prove these gamers are after about far more than points and wins for their Avatars.

George, Ty, Ernesto, Mercedes, Summit, and Brayson—travel to investigate their remote but similar assignments. Tragically, the organizations they support are unwilling to listen to the long-term risks—preferring to be victims and hostages of the escalating digital ransom demands. Is it cheaper to pay the ransom or more convenient?

The gaming monsters believe they can’t be caught or stopped. Julie and Juan’s talented, tenacious team of professionals are committed to finding and punishing evil achievers in every corner of the real and virtual worlds. The bad actors can attack from the Darknet but these criminals can NOT hide from the CATS team.

My Review:

This is the third book from this duo that I’ve read.  Since I’m a gamer at heart, I thought I’d give this story a spin.  I did not read it in order, however, it does work as a standalone.  Though, at the end, there was a reference to a prior incident that made me go, Hmmm? 

What I liked: Every time I read one of their books, I come away knowing how vulnerable we are with all our technical advancements.  There will ALWAYS be a bad actor just one step ahead to cause terror and panic.  I’m not sure if we currently have any cities, warehouses, or mining operations that are totally automated, but this story shows that total automation, though cost effective for the bottom line of a corporation, still needs some human involvement to keep things in check.  I felt this story bordered on sci-fi as well, as we don’t have AI supercomputers that can flirt, hold a normal conversation, or have supercomputer buddies. 

I also enjoyed the camaraderie of the R-Group.  Though the characters are still one-dimensional, I liked when they got together to brainstorm and became more like a family than a work force.

What I didn’t like: For all the books they’ve published so far, their writing hasn’t improved.  No character development, stilted dialogue and, in this book, so many proofreading errors.  There were times when I found two to three errors on one page.  I felt like they rushed the book to publication without a final edit. 

Like the other books in this series, it will not be for the average reader as it’s crammed full of techno jargon.  But, if you love the ones & zeros and like international thrillers, you might enjoy this series.