Marigold Pfeifer is the fairy princess of online deceit. She can slip her computer viruses into a system at the blink of an eye and steal personal information in a twinkly flash. And that’s exactly what she does when screen name ‘GoldieLocks’ slides into her instant messenger. What’d he expect? A gift card?
But when the naïve hacker rides the train uptown to check out mysterious Covington Heights, she’s approached by the leader of the crew and forced to think fast on her feet. A hate-filled rivalry sparks between her and Rafael—and with it a deviously sinful attraction.
Will real-life criminals and the danger they breed be enough to wise up the goth-pixie with zero street smarts when she must navigate dark waters—or will her flawed instincts burn all she’s worked for to the ground?
This is book two in the Covington Heights series, to read my review of book one, please check here: Escape by: Deana Birch.
All right folks, strap yourself in because this is a bumpy ride.
It’s been fairly well documented in practically every review I’ve ever written that I have an extra soft spot in my heart for broken characters. I have an extra special soft spot in my heart for brokenness in general and have this whole Mother Theresa complex going on, but I digress. Because this will, for once, not be about my love and adoration for the broken souls expertly crafted into fabulous stories, but instead a love I’ve yet to confess.
I am shamelessly a HUGE nerd fan. Seriously, I might not understand one flippin’ thing you might be saying, but if you start talking to me about computer coding, Star Wars canon, or, most importantly, discussing your favorite Doctor and companion? I might just permanently attach myself to you.
Hack, as the name implies, has computer hackers as both the leading man and woman in this story. Rafe (aka Goldielocks for his ability to turn everything he touches into gold for his gang leader) has both the brains and the brawn needed to work for one of the most successful criminal gangs in the city. His skills at hacking and siphoning funds bankroll the Covington Heights crew more than the drugs they sell and manage to keep a little blood off their hands.
Meanwhile Marigold, better known to her online groupies as M, is the hacker no one would expect. The child of hippie parents with a headful of rainbow hair and a heart full of “get me the heck away from my parents,” M embarks on a perilous journey that ends with her making a deal with an inner city devil, to work for the Covington Heights crew as a hacker alongside Rafe. The man who had an online crush on her before even finding out that her real life self held a much stronger pull.
Hack fits perfectly into the Covington Heights series with all the gritty drama Ms. Birch has created in her fictional gangland. One thing I really loved about this story was that it featured an underrepresented criminal position, but one that has the power to literally cripple giant corporations and even nations: hackers. Not only do we see the nerdy bad boys represented, but having M be just a slightly more adept hacker than Rafe was the icing on the cake.
The best news? Hack is only the second in a four book series and there is much more that this crew has in store with some of the best dark book boyfriends romance has to offer.
Amelia Foster 