Hacked

by Geri Hosier

Liv Paxton, whipcrack smart chief of London’s biggest murder squad, is hunting the men who slaughtered the reporter at the very heart of the celebrity hacking scandal. As the killers claim another victim, Liv discovers the reporter had been tortured by professional interrogators before he died. What secret story was so dangerous that it cost him his life?

Liv quickly finds herself of up against powerful and implacable enemies - on both sides of the law. Enlisting the help of her best friend, newspaper boss Louise Brighouse, Liv enters the world of a mysterious Tartar oligarch and crosses swords with a psychotic underworld kingpin who vows vengeance on her. Her own life is on the line as she peels back layers of deceit and treachery to unveil the most terrifying criminal conspiracy London has ever seen.

260 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Seasoned Fleet Street reporter and editor, author, London-lover.
Hacked is the first in the series of Liv Paxton crime novels.

i got recommended on the CrimeFictionLover.com book review site in their November top ten of New Talent to try for Hacked.
http://www.crimefictionlover.com/2013...

See reviews for Hacked on Amazon at
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hacked-The-Li...
and
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00G4EZQGE

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Geri-H...

Reviews

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hacked draws on the phone hacking scandal involving Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation and in the 2011 London riots.
The novel is the first in a proposed series featuring Liz Paxton, head of a London Murder Squad, Hacked follows Liz in her attempts to find the murderer of a reporter who had been in the middle of the phone hacking scandal.

His illegally acquired information had led even the reporter, accustomed to being in possession of dangerous information implicating the rich and powerful in crime or scandal, to be fearful of his life.


Characters: the redoubtable Liz, her best friend Lou; a newspaper powerhouse; a war hero; a scary psychopath; a villainous Russion Oligarch (is villainous redundant in regard to Russian Oligarchs?), and some incompetent or corrupt officials.

I'm afraid I had reservations about the friendship of Liz and Lou--police and press, you know. It also bothers me when people fall in love withing a 2-3 day time span. Lust, maybe, but really deep-seated emotions? I find that trope questionable, annoying, and over-used.

All in all, fast-paced, but not tremendously satisfying.

NetGalley/IBPA

Mystery/Crime. 2013. Print length: 256 pages.

[AJourneyWithoutMap · Rating 4 out of 5]

A seasoned national journalist and editor Geri Hosier turns her hand to crime novel with Hacked, which is a tight and fast-paced novel. Geri Hosier as a journalist of repute knows inside-out her subject, which has beautifully translated into a fine and enjoyable read. Hacked is about a hacking scandal and drug-trafficking, with all the ingredients that go along with such activities. The story has some super characters like Liv Paxton and Lou Brighouse. Hacked is also about their friendship.

Hacked by Geri Hosier is exciting, witty and full of intrigue and danger. It is an absorbing debut novel.

[Penny Wyndham · Rating 5 out of 5]

HACKED is a taut, fast-moving, novel written by a national journalist who knows the inside track when it comes to what`s really going on, in this case with the hacking scandal and drug running. But it`s also about the friendship between super cop, Liv Paxton, and her glamorous journo friend Lou Brighouse; between them, they`re dynamite – nobody gets past them. I loved the acerbic wit, the office politics, the danger and the intimacies, not just between Liv and Lou, but between Liv and her new man too. Is he what he seems? Well, to say more would be to give away too much when you`ll want to keep the pages turning fast yourself. This is one cracking read.

[Nigel · Rating 2 out of 5]

The idea for this thriller in the wake of the press hacking scandals was a good one and it appealed to me. Some of the characters were good, particularly the villains, and the pace of the book was very good. In practice the story had a little too much of the "chic lit" approach in some aspects of it for example what people are wearing when they go out and the "love interest" of characters is not really what I'm after in an edgy thriller. I guess it goes with the territory however I found some of the characters in the police and press for example a little too stereotypical.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher for review

[Ilene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recevied a free copy for a honest review.

From the very first page I was hooked. I love strong, smart female detectives. This was a very good thriller/detective roller-coaster novel. I hope to read more from Geri Hosier and of Liv Paxton. If you enjoy a good page-turner you need to read this book. It won't let you down.

[Kristin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure what to say about this book. I guess I just couldn't understand it. I found it hard to follow since the narrator jumped from person to person with no rhyme or reason. There were also numerous punctuation, grammar, and other mistakes like omitted words that left me plugging in random words to try to make sense of the sentence. The plot was okay, but with everything else going on with it, it was a fairly difficult read for me. It seemed some character stories were just thrown into the story without adding a thing to the overall plot. I could see this being a good story, but it really needs to be re-edited and the story more developed to make more sense. Maybe since this is the first in a series, things will become more clear in future books.

[Annette Witheridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stand aside Linda la Plant. Geri Hosier's novel Hacked is a brilliant, page-turning crime thriller. I simply could not put this book down. Detective Superintendent Liv Paxton is hunting the men who murdered a reporter at the heart of the phone hacking scandal and as the plot twists and turns we meet a rich cast of characters including a greasy government spin-doctor, a Downtown Abbey-watching oligarch, a glamorous newspaper boss, drug dealers and a private eye on the run . I hope Hacked is the first of many Liv Paxton novels -- and I could easily see this as a future TV series.

[Margaret Murray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very filmic novel, could see this on t.v., loved the fast pace and the friendship between the two strong female characters.This story took me to places I am very unfamiliar with but I liked that.Great to see London in starring role as the action swings from upmarket Chelsea to sink estates in South London and everything in between.Also like the sound of Liv's team and some very well drawn villains.Looking forward to reading more of Liv's adventures.

[Fiona · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set in the world of journalism against a backdrop of the London riots and the hunt for the murderer of a notorious reporter embroiled in the hacking scandal, involving a deadly Russian oligarch and one of London’s top crime bosses. Hacked is a fast paced book with super smart characters and lots of tension, twists and turns along the way!

[Mike Ryder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hacked by Geri Hosier

I just love crime thrillers, and it's always great to find a new writer. This is full of fast and furious action with a whole cast of well-drawn characters on the murder squad headed up by a new cop on the block, Liv Paxton. There's plenty of wit and romance too, so I'm looking forward to Liv's next case.....Mike R

[Melanie Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phone hacking, a grisly death, London Riots, a handsome British Army hero... you can't get more topical than that, which is why I really got swept along by Hacked. I am a big crime thriller fan and Geri Hosier is a great new writer to watch!

[Tania Godwin-evans · Rating 2 out of 5]

What I did enjoy about this book was that it was written by an English author, set in London and had an English accent, a real treat after reading numerous American murder mystery novels (which is by far my favourite genre).

But I think that is where the fabulous end, this novel is inspired by a recent high profile newspaper hacking story that rocked the UK. The heroine is a foul mouthed ranking officer in the police force. She is the ubiquitous female rocking her work but having an abysmal track record with men and is wary of starting a new relationship. This begs two questions (1) why does she fall in love with this unknown entity in such a short space of time; and (2) why would such an intelligent police officer have a newspaper deputy editor for her best friend?

This is a reasonably fast paced novel which although interesting to read is not totally satisfying. In this type of thriller, do we really want the politics and intrigue damped down by details of what these people wear when they go out or what they are feeling about Mr X or Mrs Y?

This book had ‘great potential’ (as Thor said in Stargate SG1) but fell short. The plot was shallow and some of the dialogue was unrealistic and did we need quite so many swear words. The descriptive parts interrupted the flow of the narrative too frequently. Although this is an ARC, there should still be some quality in the work presented, however, in this instance the numerous typesetting, grammatical and punctuation errors were so off-putting. This included introducing a new helicopter manufacturer.

Due to these issues it was difficult to follow dialogue as it was unclear who was speaking when. Another problem was the various and varied points of view which was also unsettling as, once again, the reader is not clear as to which point of view we are on at any particular moment in time. Had the novel been more interesting these issues would not be so glaringly obvious.

Therefore, due to all these issues I cannot recommend this novel. Next time please publisher’s make sure that the proof is more read worthy.

Full Disclosure: ARC received from Netgalley for an honest review.

[Kate Anders · Rating 3 out of 5]

To read this review and others like it check out my site at www.homelovebooks.com

I have been on a romance kick lately, but I like to switch things up every now and again just to keep things interesting. I have always been a fan of mystery/thriller books, and I really like the whole idea behind investigative reporting, so I figured this would be the perfect book to kind of switch things up for me.

So obviously this book is kind of a play on the whole play on the phone hacking scandal from a while back, so I thought this would be an interesting take on real life scandal turning into a book plot. But I had a couple of issues with the book that I want to address first. I thought that the jumping between POVs made it really difficult to really get into the book. It's not that I don't like multiple POVs, I appreciated getting a fuller picture of what was going on, but it happened I think with too much frequency to really get into a rhythm with any one person and it made it all the more difficult for me to have an emotional connection with the characters. I did also think the book went on to long to support the story line.

There is a romantic element in this book, but it happened to quickly. It was one of those wham bam we love each other and that's it. I have a hard time believing in relationships that happen quick enough to give you whiplash.

That being said I did find some elements of the book enjoyable. I thought that the pace was pretty consistent throughout the book, and that there was more than enough going on to keep my attention on the plot throughout the book. I liked that Liz, the main character, is in a male dominated field, but also holds her own. Some of the plot twists were a little bit predictable, but that didn't mean that they weren't enjoyable to read.

I think if you are looking for a thriller/mystery and you also have an interest in current events and journalism then this could be the book you are looking for.

[Matt Hutka · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got an ARC from Netgalley for a review.

Hacked builds from the big news hacking scandal in London from a few years back. Being across the pond I honestly never really paid a whole lot of attention to the scandal, maybe ignorance on my part, but I at least knew that it occurred.

The novel starts off with the murder of the guy right at the center of the hacking scandal, the big enchilada. This brings in the big guns in London, head of the London murder squad Liz Paxton.

Liz is the black sheep of the police squad and has made her way up the chain of command of the male dominated world stepping on a few toes on her way up. She is in charge of finding out exactly what secret the hacker of everyone's secret discovered that wound up getting him killed.

The story itself is quite intriguing and moves at a moderate pace where you try to track, identify, and find who is responsible for this hideous crime and race against the clock to preserve lives and bring sense to the whole situation.

While the book tries to bring sense to the situation and does a great job moving forward and introduces quite a few unique and interesting characters, I always feel disappointed when these type of books try to throw in an underlying romance plot and fit it in somewhere inside the book even if it doesn't work, which of course happens here.

Overall I found the book to be a long read even though it is quite short because I kept stumbling through the books, and while I wanted the story to heat up and wrap up, I was never really committed to it.

[Gee-Gee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hacked is the debut novel of Geri Hosier. I felt I was on a literary roller coaster for the first 20% of the book. The protagonist was a lady and all of a sudden turned into a potty mouth. She was a self-assured, strong woman, a cop, and became all batting lashes around the object of her affections. But then it seemed to take off and I couldn't put it down.
Liz Paxton is the head of London's largest murder squad, and her best friend is the publisher of a leading London paper. So there is plenty of glamour. What initially appears to be a revenge killing becomes ever more complicated. Enter one Afghan war hero, a Russian underworld boss, a very nasty bad man, and international intrigue ensues.
There was more brutal behavior than I tend to want spelled out, but that's just my preference. The story was a bit formulaic: beautiful cop; mysterious, handsome war hero; super bad, bad guy. It was a little too obvious that the war hero was more than he claimed to be.
This book is advertised as the beginning of the series. I thoroughly enjoyed the writing as the story progressed, and will definitely check out the next installment.

[Deborah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hacked was one of the most poorly written police procedurals I have ever read. The characters were flat; the dialogue was ridiculous; and the Kindle version was riddled with typographical and formatting errors. Hosier was particularly fond of hackneyed cliches such as "shrewd cookie" and "getting on like a house on fire." Many sentences were missing their ending punctuation, which made it difficult to determine which character was speaking.

Nothing about the plot was interesting, and the major plot "twist" was obvious from almost the first appearance of the character involved.

I received a free copy of Hacked through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Mary Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plotline was a good idea and the main villain extremely frightening but overall the book was a disappointment.

The heroine was not believable. The main characters were straight out of a 'designer plot' complete with the archetype Alpha male about whom the reader knew more of his wardrobe than his personality. The heroine was Superintendant Prada with no depth of character and an uncertain taste in men.

I have given a 3 Star for the plot but I didn't LIKE What little I knew of the significant 'good guys' to care if they died or not.

Will not read this book a second time but could be tempted to give the author one last chance.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read the best crime novel that I have read this year,kept me riveted from page one, cannot wait for the next one.

[Kat DM · Rating 4 out of 5]

All in all, fast-read, but not that satisfying.

Netgalley

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't finish reading this book, way too much going on and no clear direction.