The Exphoria Code
A Novel
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3.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $16.99
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
Award-winning and bestselling author Antony Johnston introduces a major new techno-thriller series featuring an MI6 cyber-espionage specialist.
Brigitte Sharp is a brilliant but haunted young MI6 hacker who has been deskbound and in therapy for three years after her first field mission in Syria went disastrously wrong. Despite her boss's encouragement, Bridge isn’t ready to go back in the field.
But now one of her best friends has been murdered, and Bridge believes his death is connected to strange “ASCII art” posts appearing on the internet that carry encrypted hidden messages. On decoding the messages, she discovers evidence of a mole inside a top-secret Anglo-French military drone project—an enemy who may also be her friend’s killer. Her MI6 bosses force her back into the field, sending her undercover in France to find and expose the mole. But the truth behind the Exphoria code is worse than anyone imagined, and soon Bridge is on the run, desperate and alone, as a terrorist plot unfolds and threatens everything she has left to live for.
Drawing on cutting edge technology and modern global threats, Brigitte Sharp is a highly credible female spy in a truly original and contemporary story.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
MI6 cyber-analyst Brigitte Sharp, the heroine of this intriguing if flawed series launch from comics author Johnston (The Coldest City), was a teenage hacker who avoided prison by going to work for the British government in the Cyber Threat Analytics unit. She has been a field agent, but lost that status in an incident that still haunts her. Sharp's boss in London wants her back in the field, but she balks, until she feels compelled to investigate the suspicious death of Tenebrae_Z, a friend and fellow hacker. She determines that Tenebrae_Z's death might have security implications. Later, she looks into a suspected breach of a secret project in France, where a mole appears to be stealing secrets. Sharp turns out to be quite resourceful, physically and mentally, and thrilling action scenes keep the pages turning, but readers should be prepared for too much exposition and paint-by-numbers characterizations. Johnston's obvious talent suggests he can do better in the sequel.
