Hacker

Seventeen-year-old Nyah Parks is a genius hacker who makes a living by cracking the firewalls of the world's largest corporations. But when the biggest job of her life goes wrong, she's plunged into a desperate situation with only one way out: one last hack that will either save her or kill her.

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LibraryThing member vintagebeckie

Ted Dekker is an author that will take you on a thrill ride and make you think along the way. In his newest book, Hacker (part of The Outlaw Chronicles) explores the concept of reality. Is there a reality that exists apart from the physical world? Can we reach it?

Nyah Parks is a prodigy. At

seventeen she has finished both college and graduate school and makes her living hacking into corporations and then building systems to keep their data safe. But Nyah’s family was torn apart by an car accident that left her father and brother dead and her mother severely injured. Needing $250,000 to enroll her mother in an experimental program, Nyah attempts the biggest hack of her life. But things go terribly wrong. On the run from ruthless corporate enforcers and the FBI, Nyah turns to her brilliant friend, Austin, for help. His self-experimentation may just be the cure for Nyah’s mom.

Hacker starts out like an adrenaline-pumping thriller but quickly takes a mind-bending turn that is classic Dekker. Austin is determined to hack into his own brain to access the reality he believes exists just beyond the physical world. He believes without observation nothing exists. Nyah’s fixation on her mother’s injury is shadowed by her belief in the randomness of life. Both are searching and when joined together in their hacking experiments come to see the source of reality and its definite plan, pattern and purpose.

Hacker is a tech-heavy science fiction novel. There are lots of concepts I didn’t really get; but that was okay. I was able to enjoy the ride without having to know just how everything was supposed to work. But I did get the spiritual concepts that Dekker expressed. His subtle introduction of God and His word is very effective for this very science-focused novel. The characters are very interesting and despite their genius IQs, are very relatable. I think Hacker will appeal primarily to the YA and New Adult demographic. At the end of the book, both main characters learn just what it means to surrender. And the action never really slows. I can really see Hacker being made into a movie.

A good bet for the young adults in your life and a good choice for a book discussion group, I recommend Hacker.

Recommended.

Great For Book Clubs.

(Thanks to Worthy Publishing and First Look for my review copy. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)

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LibraryThing member mrmapcase

You’ve probably heard of brain hacks, well this book takes the term literally. Dekker provides an endearing mix of the old and the new, with a young smart protagonist, and an overreacting villain, and tech that you may need a book to figure out.

Free review copy.

LibraryThing member Stardust_Fiddle

At age 17, Nyah Parks is a brilliant teenager who uses her intelligence and skills to hack into the firewalls of large corporations and earn an income by making them more secure. In an act of desperation linked to a car accident that occurred two years earlier, Nyah hacks into a

multi-million-dollar corporation, initiating a cataclysmic chain of events that disrupts everyone in its wake and raises intriguing questions about life and consciousness.

Once again Ted Dekker delivers with a unique and thoroughly thought-provoking novel. Book three in the “Outlaw Chronicles,” “Hacker” pushes deeper and provides a more stunning and startling experience than its predecessors. Dekker adeptly leads readers on a journey of adrenaline and heart that will invoke tears of both sorrow and joy. “Hacker” is a mixture of “The Fault in Our Stars” and the scientific extrapolations of James Rollins, and despite its rather small size, Dekker packs every page with action and intensity. Be prepared to read some pages multiple times to grasp the scientific concepts that are explored, especially early on in the story, but rest assured that the time investment will pay incredible interests!

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LibraryThing member JoyAnne

Typical Dekker novel...exciting, creepy, definitely stirs the imagination. I read the book in a day not giving a thought to the things I needed to be doing, Dekker's novels do that to me! :)

Nyah will make her way into your heart as you see just how much she loves her mother and what she will do to

help her get better. I liked her friend and thought the two were the perfect characters. Much braver than I will be ever be. I found the world of hacking extremely interesting...we have no idea how vulnerable we really are.

I love that he keeps the story going full speed making each page as interesting as the last. I finished the book and just sat there thinking "wow, what a great story and a great talent".

I received a copy of this book free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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