I have read and reviewed many British crime writers because they have that thrill even without much action, and generating that feeling of thrill & noir through their words is a skill of few. Christopher Brookmyre brings that thrills back to me in is latest book, The Last Hack which is part of continuing series about a reporter Jack Parlabane.

Before getting into details, let me brief you about the story this book revolves around. Do not worry, no spoilers here. This story is told through the perspectives of Jack and Sam. Two interesting characters with a very different background and set of actions. Sam Morpeth has had to grow up way too fast, left to fend for a younger sister with learning difficulties when their mother goes to prison and watching her dreams of university evaporate.

But Sam learns what it is to be truly powerless when a stranger begins to blackmail her online, drawing her into a trap she may not escape alive. Meanwhile, reporter Jack Parlabane has finally got his career back on track, working for a flashy online news start-up, but his success has left him indebted to a volatile source on the wrong side of the law. Now that debt is being called in, and it could cost him everything.

Thrilling, isn’t it? What more thrilling I find are the real-time details from cyber hacking world that author feeds the reader. First few chapters are so hooking and exciting for me personally, that I could easily imagine when Brookmyre decipher the process of hacks. In between, he has mentioned real-time hackers as the infamous Sabu and hacking communities such as Anonymous, and LulzSec. This clearly reflects how well researched Brookmyre is whether due to passion and interest or due to duty of stating facts which is another question and only he can answer that. The plot clearly make sense with these details and with the set of actions following the point of views (POV) of both main characters which is how the plot moves forward.

One character I could relate to: Samantha. She is an example of struggling identity of a modern human with complete disconnect between the online personality and reality. Fascinating and engaging at the same time. This is a fast paced book and in no time you will be in the middle of the plot. But wait. There’s is still a something left. Even near the ending when I thought it is all over, it isn’t. The plot will surprise you from chapter 1, till the end.

This work is not a complete standalone story as the author provides some references from Jack’s distant past. However, the number of these references are minimal. You will be able to enjoy it even without the knowledge of Jack’s past novels. One additional thing might happen is that these references might hook you up to read any of the other 7 books in Jack Parlabance series.

If you have a weekend to spare, go for it.

4 out of 5

Another absolute gem from the fantastic Christopher Brookmyre. Fast-paced, compelling and just so very likeable - a great addition to the Jack Parlabane series.

I find myself still reeling from the complexities of this plot! I was interested in the characters, their relationships and the unfolding stories of betrayal and pragmatic cooperation and Brookmyre certainly confirmed nothing on the Web is secret however hard you try to conceal it. However, the complexities of the hacking left me more confused than providing clarity and I have to admit to skim reading large chunks of it which accounts for the 3 star review.

This is the latest in the Jack Parlabane mystery series. A young, female hacker with a difficult upbringing and an older journalist who is trying to make up for past mistakes. Sound familiar? Less bloody than "The Girl . . . " books. Brookmyre does a great job of creating tension with cyber crimes, which -- let's face it -- is a difficult task. Also, bonus points for a central character who is a person of color. I couldn't put it down. Hope Brookmyre keeps 'em coming!

I read and recommended Christopher Brookmyre's Bred in the Bone: a Jasmine Sharp and Catherine McLeod Novel in 2014. Then...I failed to follow up on other books. When I saw The Last Hack as a NetGalley offering, I remembered that I wanted to read more from Brookmyre.

The Last Hack is the most recent in the Jack Parlabane series about about a Scottish investigative journalist who sometimes trips over legality to get his stories.

At first, I was a little unsure about whether I would be able to engage with this novel; I wasn't sure what was going on. But I'm glad I gave it a chance because once my mind had accepted the original ambiguity and got a grip on the characters and plot--it was full steam ahead.

Once the novel gets going, the pace is fast and compelling, as are the characters. Jack Parlabane is trying to get his career back on track when he gets a message from the hacker known as Buzzkill with a threat he can't ignore.

Samantha (Sam) Morpeth struggles to attend school, raise a younger sister with learning disabilities, visit her mother in prison, and find the money to support her sister and herself.

Parlabane and Sam each find themselves entangled in a blackmail plot and must cooperate, however unwillingly, to survive the threats that could ruin them both.

Now, I'm going to have to go back and pick up more of this series. :)

Read in Feb.; blog post scheduled for June 14

NetGalley/Grove Atlantic

Mystery/Suspense. July 4, 2017.

Great read! Looking forward to reading more by this author!

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

A hacker contact of Jack's, Buzzkill, embarrasses a major bank by taking over and rewriting part of its website. However, Buzzkill is then threatened with exposure by a fellow hacker if she does not steal the prototype of a new medical device. Buzzkill knows she cannot do this alone and in turn blackmails Jack into helping her.

Overall I though this story was excellent. The plot made sense (once I was past the slightly bewildering first few chapters) and was helpfully clarified by one of the characters every time I thought I might be getting lost. There was a good blend of dialogue, action and computer wizardry. I enjoyed all the descriptions of hacking methods and overriding security cameras etc (although I didn't really understand the finer details). I also enjoyed the less high tech disguises and ploys Jack and Samantha used to avoid being discovered.

Jack and Samantha were engaging characters, although I struggled with the complete disconnect between Samantha's online personality (and the courage and decisiveness she showed in her dealings with Jack) on the one hand and the bullied, defeated person she became around her mother, social services and the other girls from school on the other. It also seemed to me unlikely that Samantha would seek to meet up with Stonefish in view of what had been revealed about her modus operandi up until that point.

I have only read the Jack Parlabane novel immediately preceding this one and there were references here to Jack's more distant past, but these did not really prevent this working as a stand alone story.

Highly recommended.