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Dr Tori Swyft #1
The Trusted
How far would you go to save the planet? ...Would you destroy it?
Imagine a global depression caused, not by greed or stupidity, but by a secret band of brilliant and radical environmentalists, 9S, using cyber-terror to slash the world’s population and smash its resource-hungry economy. Members of 9S have spent ten years secretly infiltrating industry and government, working themselves into the most trusted jobs in the world...sleepers ready to act.
When the first global catastrophe erupts, the finger points at Australian-born Dr Tori Swyft, a former 9S member recently forced out of the CIA. Can the dark 9S conspiracy be stopped before it’s too late?
They are the most trusted… until they betray their trust.
Imagine a global depression caused, not by greed or stupidity, but by a secret band of brilliant and radical environmentalists, 9S, using cyber-terror to slash the world’s population and smash its resource-hungry economy. Members of 9S have spent ten years secretly infiltrating industry and government, working themselves into the most trusted jobs in the world...sleepers ready to act.
When the first global catastrophe erupts, the finger points at Australian-born Dr Tori Swyft, a former 9S member recently forced out of the CIA. Can the dark 9S conspiracy be stopped before it’s too late?
They are the most trusted… until they betray their trust.
390 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2013
11 people are currently reading
87 people want to read
About the author
John M. Green
15 books29 followersWhen it dawned on John that what got him up in the morning was writing, not his day job, he quit the job. That was after 30 years in executive life. He was then an executive director in a leading investment bank. Earlier, he’d been a partner in 2 major law firms, and a director of a publishing house. ABC Radio says John's thriller-writing has "the sophistication of John le Carré and the pace of Jeffrey Archer."
His novels are: Nowhere Man, a financial thriller with a futuristic twist.
Born to Run, a political thriller about a US presidential election that gets derailed by murder, terror & treason.
The Trusted, an eco-cyber-thriller: When saving the planet means destroying it!
John's also a well-known business writer and commentator. His pieces have appeared in a variety of Australian and overseas publications including: ABC Drum Online, Company Director, Business Spectator, The Australian, The Australian Financial Review, The Age, The Bulletin, and the UK’s Financial Times.
As well as writing, John's on the governing council of the National Library of Australia, is a board member of two stock-exchange-listed corporations and not-for-profits, as well as a co-founder of Pantera Press. He lives in Sydney with his wife, a sculptor.
John is currently working on his next thriller, due for release in 2016.
His novels are: Nowhere Man, a financial thriller with a futuristic twist.
Born to Run, a political thriller about a US presidential election that gets derailed by murder, terror & treason.
The Trusted, an eco-cyber-thriller: When saving the planet means destroying it!
John's also a well-known business writer and commentator. His pieces have appeared in a variety of Australian and overseas publications including: ABC Drum Online, Company Director, Business Spectator, The Australian, The Australian Financial Review, The Age, The Bulletin, and the UK’s Financial Times.
As well as writing, John's on the governing council of the National Library of Australia, is a board member of two stock-exchange-listed corporations and not-for-profits, as well as a co-founder of Pantera Press. He lives in Sydney with his wife, a sculptor.
John is currently working on his next thriller, due for release in 2016.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
March 28, 2013
Interesting premise this. Take a devastating hit, albeit targeted, in the name of radical environmentalism to engineer a change for the good of the planet. Use sleeper agents who have worked their way into positions of influence and power over many years. Make it even more devastating by having the strikes occur in quick succession, stretching authorities to the limit. Make the targets as varied and unpredictable as possible.
Because of the huge range of incidents the authorities are scrambling just to deal with the fallout, the connections aren't that easy to see to start off with. At the centre of it all is Dr Tori Swyft, ex-CIA member, Australian surfer girl, who, at university, briefly belonged to the group of sleeper agents - 9S. Lead by a most unexpected character, the group has spread out across all sorts of industries, cultures and backgrounds. These committed individuals, once inculcated to the cause, never contact each other again. It's really only Swyft that can work out the connections as the attacks build. Very fast train pileups, a code change in management software for nuclear reactors (okay so I had a bit of trouble swallowing the open source / nobody noticed bit of this one), a financial crisis instigated by within a bank (not so hard to picture), biohazards, and potential shipping disasters.
Swyft, now working for another secretive organisation involved in engineering major corporate outcomes for its clients, was in the middle of a major political / corporate coup when she is forced to walk away to discover where the trojan in her nuclear reactor code came from. This organisation and it's eccentric leader provide her with the resources, tools, and support she needs to find the connections, to go head to head with the sleeper agents, and stop the threat.
So we're obviously talking a very big threat scenario, with a lot of action happening all at once. There's also a big corporate feel to the anti-sleeper effort with private planes, fabulous yachts, high-tech gadgetry and much charging about in helicopters. A lot of the analysis, identification and outcomes that Swyft pulls off rely very heavily on the use of some very high-tech gadgetry. It's a testament to the pacing of the story that at no stage do you feel any desire to scratch a few estimates on the back of an envelope and do a spot of cost accounting - it's all very wild and cutting edge stuff yet it's compelling.
For something quite this "out there", there is a sneaking sense of possibility, which is always a very good thing in a thriller of this kind. After all, sleeper spy agents are absolutely nothing new in the world of espionage. It's not that hard to imagine that the most trusted in corporate, financial and government circles could be a plant. With an agenda that's set by convictions deeply held. Fortunately THE TRUSTED is probably fiction. At least you'd hope so.
http://www.austcrimefiction.org/revie...
Because of the huge range of incidents the authorities are scrambling just to deal with the fallout, the connections aren't that easy to see to start off with. At the centre of it all is Dr Tori Swyft, ex-CIA member, Australian surfer girl, who, at university, briefly belonged to the group of sleeper agents - 9S. Lead by a most unexpected character, the group has spread out across all sorts of industries, cultures and backgrounds. These committed individuals, once inculcated to the cause, never contact each other again. It's really only Swyft that can work out the connections as the attacks build. Very fast train pileups, a code change in management software for nuclear reactors (okay so I had a bit of trouble swallowing the open source / nobody noticed bit of this one), a financial crisis instigated by within a bank (not so hard to picture), biohazards, and potential shipping disasters.
Swyft, now working for another secretive organisation involved in engineering major corporate outcomes for its clients, was in the middle of a major political / corporate coup when she is forced to walk away to discover where the trojan in her nuclear reactor code came from. This organisation and it's eccentric leader provide her with the resources, tools, and support she needs to find the connections, to go head to head with the sleeper agents, and stop the threat.
So we're obviously talking a very big threat scenario, with a lot of action happening all at once. There's also a big corporate feel to the anti-sleeper effort with private planes, fabulous yachts, high-tech gadgetry and much charging about in helicopters. A lot of the analysis, identification and outcomes that Swyft pulls off rely very heavily on the use of some very high-tech gadgetry. It's a testament to the pacing of the story that at no stage do you feel any desire to scratch a few estimates on the back of an envelope and do a spot of cost accounting - it's all very wild and cutting edge stuff yet it's compelling.
For something quite this "out there", there is a sneaking sense of possibility, which is always a very good thing in a thriller of this kind. After all, sleeper spy agents are absolutely nothing new in the world of espionage. It's not that hard to imagine that the most trusted in corporate, financial and government circles could be a plant. With an agenda that's set by convictions deeply held. Fortunately THE TRUSTED is probably fiction. At least you'd hope so.
http://www.austcrimefiction.org/revie...
June 4, 2013
‘Let justice be done, though the heavens fall.’
Imagine: a group of brilliant sleeper agents who have spent ten years rising to trusted positions within key industry and government organisations. Imagine: a group convinced that extensive collateral damage is justified when engineering a change for the good of the planet. Imagine.
‘I must be cruel to be kind. Thus bad begins and worse remains behind.’
Dr Tori Swyft, accomplished surfer and with an engineering doctorate under her belt by age 20, is our main character. Ex CIA, she’s found another line of work which looks to be quite rewarding. Briefly in the past she belonged to a shadowy group of idealists called 9S (Nine Sisters) convened by Professor Mellor, but that’s behind her. Until, that is, the model developed in her thesis (which has enabled a breakthrough in nuclear plant control systems) is implicated as the cause of a problem. Yes, it’s a big problem but it’s just the first of many. While authorities struggle to deal with the size and magnitude of the problems, it’s difficult for them to recognise the connections. Once they start to see the patterns, it’s a race against time to try to save the world from the combined effects of multi-system failures.
‘She’ll have a good explanation, I’m sure, like it’s part of some shadow security test.’
Okay, I was turning pages at a rapid rate to see what would happen next and to try to work out whether the all of the 9S members could be identified and stopped. And I was suitably convinced of the plausibility of many of the threats: computer systems are not infallible, nor immune from targeted disruption. But, there were a few too many coincidences for me and one or two characters who ripped me out of my fear and made the scenario less plausible. Oh, the irony of a chain-smoking environmentalist lost in dementia as his life’s work is played out. And the less said about a certain Greek character the better.
This was quite literally a rainy day read for me, and it filled in a couple of hours nicely. The scenario is quite scary, and if this novel didn’t quite live up to my expectations, it didn’t really disappoint either. As long as it stays fiction.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Imagine: a group of brilliant sleeper agents who have spent ten years rising to trusted positions within key industry and government organisations. Imagine: a group convinced that extensive collateral damage is justified when engineering a change for the good of the planet. Imagine.
‘I must be cruel to be kind. Thus bad begins and worse remains behind.’
Dr Tori Swyft, accomplished surfer and with an engineering doctorate under her belt by age 20, is our main character. Ex CIA, she’s found another line of work which looks to be quite rewarding. Briefly in the past she belonged to a shadowy group of idealists called 9S (Nine Sisters) convened by Professor Mellor, but that’s behind her. Until, that is, the model developed in her thesis (which has enabled a breakthrough in nuclear plant control systems) is implicated as the cause of a problem. Yes, it’s a big problem but it’s just the first of many. While authorities struggle to deal with the size and magnitude of the problems, it’s difficult for them to recognise the connections. Once they start to see the patterns, it’s a race against time to try to save the world from the combined effects of multi-system failures.
‘She’ll have a good explanation, I’m sure, like it’s part of some shadow security test.’
Okay, I was turning pages at a rapid rate to see what would happen next and to try to work out whether the all of the 9S members could be identified and stopped. And I was suitably convinced of the plausibility of many of the threats: computer systems are not infallible, nor immune from targeted disruption. But, there were a few too many coincidences for me and one or two characters who ripped me out of my fear and made the scenario less plausible. Oh, the irony of a chain-smoking environmentalist lost in dementia as his life’s work is played out. And the less said about a certain Greek character the better.
This was quite literally a rainy day read for me, and it filled in a couple of hours nicely. The scenario is quite scary, and if this novel didn’t quite live up to my expectations, it didn’t really disappoint either. As long as it stays fiction.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
April 29, 2013
Written by successful Australian author John M. Green (Nowhere Man, Born To Run) The Trusted is a stand-alone novel introducing new character Dr. Tori Swyft. Tori is Australian, a surfer, and child prodigy earning a PhD at a young age, and is now ex-CIA. She ends up being recruited by an Organisation called SIS whose concept will blow your mind.
The 'trusted' of the title are members of a group who have climbed the corporate ladders within their own unique fields of industry and specialty, and earned great positions of trust. In an attempt to save the environment and the planet from overpopulation, these radicals will abuse their positions of trust in the most unexpected of ways, causing untold damage to the financial markets, security services, and much more.
Reading the plans of some of the members actually gave me chills; what if someone could actually pull this off, it would cause a global crisis! Green has conjured some terrifying scenarios here, that are real and worrying enough to keep you turning the pages into the night to find out if and how it can all be stopped.
I found the plot very convincing and not once did I need to suspend belief, which is what sometimes happens when reading a Matthew Reilly of similar scale.
Green also employed a clever writing tactic of redacting (blacking out) a few details in the book which made me smile at first (how clever) but then made me frown as I spent way too much time trying to make out the words and beat the author at his own game. This technique definitely added to my enjoyment and is something - as a reader - I don't remember having come across before.
Feel free to judge for yourself, and read a free extract from The Trusted from a link at the full review here: http://www.carpelibrum.net/2013/04/re...
The 'trusted' of the title are members of a group who have climbed the corporate ladders within their own unique fields of industry and specialty, and earned great positions of trust. In an attempt to save the environment and the planet from overpopulation, these radicals will abuse their positions of trust in the most unexpected of ways, causing untold damage to the financial markets, security services, and much more.
Reading the plans of some of the members actually gave me chills; what if someone could actually pull this off, it would cause a global crisis! Green has conjured some terrifying scenarios here, that are real and worrying enough to keep you turning the pages into the night to find out if and how it can all be stopped.
I found the plot very convincing and not once did I need to suspend belief, which is what sometimes happens when reading a Matthew Reilly of similar scale.
Green also employed a clever writing tactic of redacting (blacking out) a few details in the book which made me smile at first (how clever) but then made me frown as I spent way too much time trying to make out the words and beat the author at his own game. This technique definitely added to my enjoyment and is something - as a reader - I don't remember having come across before.
Feel free to judge for yourself, and read a free extract from The Trusted from a link at the full review here: http://www.carpelibrum.net/2013/04/re...
March 5, 2013
Actually this is more a 3.5 but GoodReads doesn't have the half point ranking system I wish it had. This new book is the perfect airport read - by that I mean pick it up at the airport, read it in the lounge, read it on the plane, read it when you get to your hotel. A night or two later, you've finished and it's been quite the ride. You read the final chapters much quicker as the fictional world around you descends into a race against time. Will the planet be saved or destroyed? I found it hard to keep up in some parts, other explanations were too narrow, others too extensive, and sometimes the narrative was a little all over the place but that's because I normally don't read this genre. It's fast paced and exciting at times, and by God you want to find out what's going to happen - so it is one of those books you can't really put down! Is there going to be another twist. What about our protagonist - is she one of the trusted or not. If you love action thrillers then pick this one up. I think we are going to be seeing a lot more of Tori Swyft and I for one don't mind that at all!
August 12, 2014
This book is so much better than the blurb! This is not a story about radical greenies chaining themselves to trees or stopping whaling ship. It's a thriller about well-educated, very patient and highly-placed individuals who intend to help the environment by wreaking havoc, on a global scale, to economies, transport systems and many other areas. Welcome to protesting in the digital age, you don't even need to leave your office to make your presence felt.
February 21, 2013
An ingenious, enlightening and thrilling read.
September 22, 2013
Interesting premise and a ripping good yarn
September 14, 2015
Just finished reading it. Amazingly good! Equal to thrillers written by Ludlum, Patterson, Grisham & others. Eagerly awaiting The Sequel.
September 30, 2021
I liked the characters of Tori and Frank( Axel not so much), but it all seemed too many coincidences for my liking.What an incredibly successful group of PhD students to come out of one University at one time!
March 28, 2022
Lots of fun - a page turner in an audio, so to speak, even when it’s annoying that people think nuclear energy is 'clean'!
May 5, 2023
I couldn’t put this one down. It’s a complex story with so many facets but I loved every page.
July 11, 2025
great new author & protagonist. Initially wasn't sure I would cope with hope 'perfect' Tories is, but the unfolding story drew me in.
good fun read
good fun read
did-not-finish
August 25, 2023Just not a style of writing that appeals to me. Only listened to 15 mins of the audiobook.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews