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Assured Destruction #3
With Zombies
The final book in the Assured Destruction series!
Jan Rose may already be expunged from the police department's High Tech Crime Unit. Her mother's hospitalized, and Assured Destruction's on the cusp of bankruptcy. But Jan doesn't wait on anything, she seeks out the customers who used to keep the family business afloat. That's when everything starts to go wrong.
A computer virus--aka the Zombie Worm-threatens not only her school and Shadownet, but the entire city. A skull with a chain running through its socket links a powerful gang to her former customers, and holds the secrets to why her father left and the identity of her mother's boyfriend.
To save her family and the business, Jan must determine who is friend and who is foe. And decide what type of hacker she wishes to become: Gray, white, or black. Not only her life hangs in the balance.
Jan Rose may already be expunged from the police department's High Tech Crime Unit. Her mother's hospitalized, and Assured Destruction's on the cusp of bankruptcy. But Jan doesn't wait on anything, she seeks out the customers who used to keep the family business afloat. That's when everything starts to go wrong.
A computer virus--aka the Zombie Worm-threatens not only her school and Shadownet, but the entire city. A skull with a chain running through its socket links a powerful gang to her former customers, and holds the secrets to why her father left and the identity of her mother's boyfriend.
To save her family and the business, Jan must determine who is friend and who is foe. And decide what type of hacker she wishes to become: Gray, white, or black. Not only her life hangs in the balance.
- GenresYoung AdultMystery
Paperback
First published March 27, 2014
223 people want to read
About the author
Michael F. Stewart
18 books266 followersMichael F. Stewart has authored over two dozen books for kids and young adults. With works ranging from interactive digital epics and graphic novels to humorous middle grade and surreal young adult novels, Michael enjoys stretching the limits on his storytelling and working with other authors young and old to tell their stories. He has an MFA from the Vermont College of Fine Arts and lives in Ottawa with his partner, four daughters, a cat, and a dog.
To learn more about Michael and his next projects visit his website.
To learn more about Michael and his next projects visit his website.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
April 3, 2014
Assured destruction with zombies
By Michael F Stewart
After Script Kiddie I was very eager to find out what Janus was going to do and how she would house the 10 Chinese exchange students and manage Assured Destruction while taking care of her hospitalised mother. Mostly I was more than curious on how the whole Darkslinger angle would pan out and what was next for Janus.
Assured Destruction with zombies introduces us to a Janus recovering from her injuries from fighting a paedophile and also struggling to get her feelings right for the very sweet and compatible Jonny who seems like the only person perfect for Janus. We follow Janus through what seems like a bigger scheme that might do more harm than ever before. If you know Janus then you should know there is something bad waiting to happen for her and if you really know her you know she would in fact get out of it. The whole part of what bad thing happens to her and how she gets out of it is very engrossing and not to be missed or spoiled. There would be big revelations and this book seems like a kind of wrap up of the series but I pray hard that there are more books in this series because I love Janus and can’t imagine not following her life or Shadownet.
The thing I love most about the Assured Destruction series is that the readers get to learn about technical stuff in a clear non-confusing way and that makes it so much awesome. After reading the previous books everything kind of seems easily understandable and you just want more of it. The writing is perfect for a layman to be a part of the cyber world and not be freaked out or bored by it but marvel at the vast opportunities.
This book varies from the previous two in this series in that it has more to do with a solid plot than breaking boundaries in technology and exposing secret societies. Note though that it in no way reduces the awesomeness of this book or the series! It is just a way to show us the other side of Janus, the sentimental or emotional side of her and not just the genius coder/hacker/trying to stay alive version of her. It is a welcome change and makes this book very special.
Assured Destruction with zombies is as thrilling as the previous two books in the serious but maybe a few notches higher. I finished this one in a matter of few hours because the stuff was so juicy I couldn’t convince myself that anything was more important than finishing this book! It may not have as many technical details as the previous book in the series but the plot is most efficient and well panned out in this one. It feels like every little bit left out in the previous two books was there for a purpose and this one does a perfect job of covering it all while making sure it isn’t long, dragging or boring! I thank Mr. Michael F Stewart for generously offering me a copy of this book and for creating the Assured destruction series and I sincerely request him to put out more books in this series simply because it is golden and my life might become sad and bitter if there aren’t any more (It really might!!) As far as my review goes I give 5 thumbs up to this book and anyone who follows this series would eat it up just like I did and anyone who didn’t read previous books I would request to check them all out you will not be the least bit disappointed.
By Michael F Stewart
After Script Kiddie I was very eager to find out what Janus was going to do and how she would house the 10 Chinese exchange students and manage Assured Destruction while taking care of her hospitalised mother. Mostly I was more than curious on how the whole Darkslinger angle would pan out and what was next for Janus.
Assured Destruction with zombies introduces us to a Janus recovering from her injuries from fighting a paedophile and also struggling to get her feelings right for the very sweet and compatible Jonny who seems like the only person perfect for Janus. We follow Janus through what seems like a bigger scheme that might do more harm than ever before. If you know Janus then you should know there is something bad waiting to happen for her and if you really know her you know she would in fact get out of it. The whole part of what bad thing happens to her and how she gets out of it is very engrossing and not to be missed or spoiled. There would be big revelations and this book seems like a kind of wrap up of the series but I pray hard that there are more books in this series because I love Janus and can’t imagine not following her life or Shadownet.
The thing I love most about the Assured Destruction series is that the readers get to learn about technical stuff in a clear non-confusing way and that makes it so much awesome. After reading the previous books everything kind of seems easily understandable and you just want more of it. The writing is perfect for a layman to be a part of the cyber world and not be freaked out or bored by it but marvel at the vast opportunities.
This book varies from the previous two in this series in that it has more to do with a solid plot than breaking boundaries in technology and exposing secret societies. Note though that it in no way reduces the awesomeness of this book or the series! It is just a way to show us the other side of Janus, the sentimental or emotional side of her and not just the genius coder/hacker/trying to stay alive version of her. It is a welcome change and makes this book very special.
Assured Destruction with zombies is as thrilling as the previous two books in the serious but maybe a few notches higher. I finished this one in a matter of few hours because the stuff was so juicy I couldn’t convince myself that anything was more important than finishing this book! It may not have as many technical details as the previous book in the series but the plot is most efficient and well panned out in this one. It feels like every little bit left out in the previous two books was there for a purpose and this one does a perfect job of covering it all while making sure it isn’t long, dragging or boring! I thank Mr. Michael F Stewart for generously offering me a copy of this book and for creating the Assured destruction series and I sincerely request him to put out more books in this series simply because it is golden and my life might become sad and bitter if there aren’t any more (It really might!!) As far as my review goes I give 5 thumbs up to this book and anyone who follows this series would eat it up just like I did and anyone who didn’t read previous books I would request to check them all out you will not be the least bit disappointed.
December 6, 2014
This review was first posted on Northern Plunder, if you want to see more reviews please click here.
So here we go, third and final book of the Assured Destruction series. Did you see that? I started and finished a series in the same year, now to tackle all the others on my list ha.
With Zombies is a strong finale to the series, which only backs up the points I've made about the other books.
It continued to wrap up loose ends, develop characters that would have otherwise been in the shadows and provided a well told story even with Jan's unbalanced emotions.
And whilst I really enjoyed this series I do also believe it could have worked as one larger standalone. But having it as three doesn't diminish my love for it.
A lot happens within this last book and of course anything I talk about here on forth will be a spoiler for its predecessors.
With Zombies doesn't waste a moment and dives in where it left off, Jan back home, fuzzy on medicine, Mum in hospital and waiting on Jonny.
Something that I really liked about this was that things didn't just magically start getting better or easier for Janus, they got more difficult in fact and she ended up suffering rather badly for it - nothing that a few weeks in hospital couldn't solve.
But it was there. It was real. Showing how a real person in every day life would have reacted too all the pressure Jan had been under lately.
I really liked it. Something so simple but just so right.
Whilst dealing with her own and her mum's not-so-good health, she also has to become a seller for a cure for a current zombie virus, findi out the truth about her Dad leaving, find out the secrets her Mum's current interest may have, possibly infiltrate a hacker gang and well you know, on top of all this, attend school accordingly.
Oh and find out what to do now she lost her home.
So as I said a lot happens but the best thing is, everything is tied up.
There are sad moments and happy moments and over all a very pleasing end to the trilogy.
In my opinion, this series is definitely worth reading, especially seeing as though they're fairly short and are easy to dive in and out whilst schooling is coming to an end.
So here we go, third and final book of the Assured Destruction series. Did you see that? I started and finished a series in the same year, now to tackle all the others on my list ha.
With Zombies is a strong finale to the series, which only backs up the points I've made about the other books.
It continued to wrap up loose ends, develop characters that would have otherwise been in the shadows and provided a well told story even with Jan's unbalanced emotions.
And whilst I really enjoyed this series I do also believe it could have worked as one larger standalone. But having it as three doesn't diminish my love for it.
A lot happens within this last book and of course anything I talk about here on forth will be a spoiler for its predecessors.
With Zombies doesn't waste a moment and dives in where it left off, Jan back home, fuzzy on medicine, Mum in hospital and waiting on Jonny.
Something that I really liked about this was that things didn't just magically start getting better or easier for Janus, they got more difficult in fact and she ended up suffering rather badly for it - nothing that a few weeks in hospital couldn't solve.
But it was there. It was real. Showing how a real person in every day life would have reacted too all the pressure Jan had been under lately.
I really liked it. Something so simple but just so right.
Whilst dealing with her own and her mum's not-so-good health, she also has to become a seller for a cure for a current zombie virus, findi out the truth about her Dad leaving, find out the secrets her Mum's current interest may have, possibly infiltrate a hacker gang and well you know, on top of all this, attend school accordingly.
Oh and find out what to do now she lost her home.
So as I said a lot happens but the best thing is, everything is tied up.
There are sad moments and happy moments and over all a very pleasing end to the trilogy.
In my opinion, this series is definitely worth reading, especially seeing as though they're fairly short and are easy to dive in and out whilst schooling is coming to an end.
May 15, 2014
The author, Michael F Stewart, has done it again. He's brought the world of hacking, tweeting, etc to us fully wrapped in another perfect edition to the Assured Destruction series. What makes his novels work so well? This man has his finger right on the pulse of today's techno empire and knows just how to manipulate it to make a good story scream with genius.
With Zombies, thankfully, has nothing to do with the Dawn of the Dead zombies. It's more of a state of mind, and the use of the word in current slang terminology. When I first saw the word zombies, I admit there was some dread involved, because I was concerned that the world of Assured Destruction had been turned up on end and wouldn't be the same that I had grown to be quite fond of. It was turned on end, but not in a post-apocalyptic way, but with Jan focusing a bit more and starting to get the answers she's been working towards for awhile.
In this book, we get answers on the men in Jan's life; Peter and her father. We learn the identity of the infamous hacker Sw1ftM3rcy, and it's a doozy! We learn just how deep things have gone before and how deep they are still today. I found myself rooting for Janus even more than ever before and realizing just how much she's matured through the situations she's been in. She's finding her way in life, after a few more delays, and there's a light at the end of the tunnel for her.
This book is a YA techno thriller, but is perfect for any age and will have the computer geek in every reader singing to the Google lords. Readers will be wanting their own chop-chop to play with, I mean, who doesn't like to completely destroy something when it's supposed to be done like that? It's like putting a kid in a candy store and giving them the run of the place.
The series has come to an end, but it will always hold a special niche in my reading world. An enjoyable read that took the reader into a world that they have only heard about, into a knowledge bank of techno mumbo jumbo, but the author explains everything in such a way that you don't realize until after the fact, that he's done so and in a non-duh type of way.
With Zombies, thankfully, has nothing to do with the Dawn of the Dead zombies. It's more of a state of mind, and the use of the word in current slang terminology. When I first saw the word zombies, I admit there was some dread involved, because I was concerned that the world of Assured Destruction had been turned up on end and wouldn't be the same that I had grown to be quite fond of. It was turned on end, but not in a post-apocalyptic way, but with Jan focusing a bit more and starting to get the answers she's been working towards for awhile.
In this book, we get answers on the men in Jan's life; Peter and her father. We learn the identity of the infamous hacker Sw1ftM3rcy, and it's a doozy! We learn just how deep things have gone before and how deep they are still today. I found myself rooting for Janus even more than ever before and realizing just how much she's matured through the situations she's been in. She's finding her way in life, after a few more delays, and there's a light at the end of the tunnel for her.
This book is a YA techno thriller, but is perfect for any age and will have the computer geek in every reader singing to the Google lords. Readers will be wanting their own chop-chop to play with, I mean, who doesn't like to completely destroy something when it's supposed to be done like that? It's like putting a kid in a candy store and giving them the run of the place.
The series has come to an end, but it will always hold a special niche in my reading world. An enjoyable read that took the reader into a world that they have only heard about, into a knowledge bank of techno mumbo jumbo, but the author explains everything in such a way that you don't realize until after the fact, that he's done so and in a non-duh type of way.
May 1, 2014
With Zombies is the third and final book of the Assured Destruction series. It is also the best.
In book one, Assured Destruction introducies Jan, a teen Internet addict. She creates fictional Twitter accounts based in people in her life. She tweets hilarious stuff. She attends school. She even might have a potential boyfriend. All relatively normal. Until bad things start to happen to kids at school. From there it progressively turns into a mystery/thriller with a high school girl the main character. The other two books follow Jan as she tries to save her friends, keep out of trouble, and live.
Yes, Michael F. Stewart is light years ahead of what other YA authors are writing. It's brilliant. Internet addiction, hacking, coding, etc. - all of it is so strong and prevalent in this series. I highly recommend this to everyone.
In book one, Assured Destruction introducies Jan, a teen Internet addict. She creates fictional Twitter accounts based in people in her life. She tweets hilarious stuff. She attends school. She even might have a potential boyfriend. All relatively normal. Until bad things start to happen to kids at school. From there it progressively turns into a mystery/thriller with a high school girl the main character. The other two books follow Jan as she tries to save her friends, keep out of trouble, and live.
Yes, Michael F. Stewart is light years ahead of what other YA authors are writing. It's brilliant. Internet addiction, hacking, coding, etc. - all of it is so strong and prevalent in this series. I highly recommend this to everyone.
April 4, 2014
I loved this end to the Trilogy of Assured Destruction! Assured Destruction 1, 2 (Script Kids) and 3 (With Zombie) is an amazing series of books! I loved the intertwining elements of Twitter, Facebook, texting, iPhone technology with an original and engaging story! I loved the books as an adult, so I can only imagine how much teen readers who live fully immersed in this technology will respond to the story. The ebook has links to twitter feeds and the action sequences in the book are told in tweet format in the book as often as in traditional style. It is so engaging and fun to read! Beyond the fun of the book, the characters and action are fantastic! There's never a dull moment. The series heroine, Janus, is incredible! You love her, you root for her, you can't believe how many problems she is trying to handle at one time. Supporting characters and romantic lead are great, too. I strongly recommend this book to teens and all fans of original YA books! I cannot imagine that anyone with a sense of adventure would be disappointed. I know Jan reached resolution on many levels by the end of book three, but I would love to dive back into her adventures again.
May 12, 2022
I loved book #1 in this series (Assured Destruction) and so I went back for book #2 (Script Kiddie), which is very very rare. Even more rare, I had to have book #3 (this one, With Zombies), which almost never happens. I can count on one hand the number of series by Amazon writers which drew me in so hard that I had to read them all. And now I gotta say, I don't want this series to end. Really, Mr. Stewart? You couldn't contrive one more adventure for Janus and company, even if Peter is outed and Jonny seems like a solid fit and Hannah's got it together (did she keep the "armor"?) and… oh, shoot. Just write another one, okay? Five stars.
March 31, 2014
I really liked the book. It went very quick after I started it. Janus does it again this time with a little help from her friends.
March 5, 2020
Book 3 and Janus is truly on the path of Assured Destruction.
Everyone would have enough on their plate already, being 16, failing school because you have to take care of your ill mum and the business.
But she carries on, not giving up meanwhile sliding deeper into the world of hackers and crackers, darker than it is good for her.
I love that this final book brings everything together, mainly her dad and Peter's roles. Sadly, the technology reads quite outdated nowadays.
But I really love how Janus finally comes to grip with her life. Well deserved.
Quote: Over the last couple of months, everything that’s happened to me has been some mistake on my part. Not thinking things through. Assuming too much.
Everyone would have enough on their plate already, being 16, failing school because you have to take care of your ill mum and the business.
But she carries on, not giving up meanwhile sliding deeper into the world of hackers and crackers, darker than it is good for her.
I love that this final book brings everything together, mainly her dad and Peter's roles. Sadly, the technology reads quite outdated nowadays.
But I really love how Janus finally comes to grip with her life. Well deserved.
Quote: Over the last couple of months, everything that’s happened to me has been some mistake on my part. Not thinking things through. Assuming too much.
April 19, 2014
With Zombies by Michael F Stewart is the final volume in the Assured Destruction trilogy. If you haven't read the earlier books or my reviews of the earlier books, Assured Destruction and Script Kiddie, probably best to skip this. Unless you want to be spoiled, in which case, please do.
Oh my goodness, this book was awesome. I mean, I enjoyed the first two books but in this final volume everything really comes together. The previous two books had fairly stand-alone stories which dealt with a few events that wrapped up by the end of the book. In contrast, With Zombies builds on all the storylines that have gone before, including a few things that weren't obviously part of any over-arching story. And that was great, it was nice to see everything come together. But it wasn't the real strength of this concluding volume, or at least, not the only strength. The title, by the way, can be taken to mean a few different things, the most obvious being the zombie worm (virus) that's plaguing Ottawa.
The easiest thing to discuss is how this concluding volume raised the stakes and had more excitement in it and so forth. In many ways, this is also the least interesting thing to discuss — although I did enjoy the twists and somewhat shocking turns the story took. The best bits were the continuation of how the author dealt with Jan's mum's MS and the sensibly realistic consequences Jan suffers after the events of the first two books.
In my review of Script Kiddie, I said that the most pressing reason for me to read the third book was to find out what happened to Jan's mum (Tina) after her health took a turn for the worse. Tina's health is, indeed, a very big, looming issue in With Zombies. It's written almost as a background issue — since Jan is the main character, not her mum — but Jan is only 16–17 (she has a birthday somewhere during the book) and still needs parental supervision to guide her. On the other hand, being a teenager, she does thing she can be fairly independent. And like a fairly normal teenager, she's reluctant to rely on her mum's new (ish) boyfriend.
Trying to look after herself, keep the family business afloat, not miss any more days of school (so that she doesn't have to repeat the semester), visit her mum in hospital, make friends with and learn from hackers, and deal with a virus that has infected everyone's computers... Jan bites off more than she can chew. The fact that she's still having PTSD flashbacks to the traumatic events of the first two books (being kidnapped, fighting off and nearly shooting a paedophile) is a nice, realistic touch but doesn't help her state of mind. I really really liked the realistic portrayal of consequences.
The last main thing I want to talk about is Jan's character growth. In the first two books she makes a lot of suboptimal decisions (they weren't all that bad) and doesn't think everything through. Things work out, but only just. In the third book, she starts off doing the same — the third book picks up only an hour or so after the second book, so it would be strange if she didn't — but after things come to a head, she is forced to learn to accept help. And then, after realising that she really doesn't have to do everything alone, she even learns to plan more than two steps ahead. Yay, Jan.
I didn't realise until I got to the end and saw the acknowledgements, but apparently both book three and the omnibus edition (as a stretch goal) are the result of a Kickstarter campaign. Especially given the minor cliff-hanger at the end of book two, I was a bit surprised by this. Of course, I'm glad it was funded and glad I saw it on NetGalley and decided to read it. I've given each instalment a different number of stars but since I'm up to the last one, I feel like I can also give a rating to the omnibus as a whole. The whole series is greater than the average of its parts (see what I did there) and I'm giving the omnibus 4.5 / 5 stars.
I highly recommend this series to fans of geeky contemporary fiction, YA and cyberpunk — although there's nothing speculative or futuristic in it. I would also recommend it to anyone interested in reading good representations of disability, chronic illness and mental illness. I'm honestly having difficulty thinking of other books that treat mental illness without social stigma. I was pleasantly surprised by this series, and if I had any geeky teenagers in my life, I would be foisting it upon them all.
5 / 5 stars
Oh my goodness, this book was awesome. I mean, I enjoyed the first two books but in this final volume everything really comes together. The previous two books had fairly stand-alone stories which dealt with a few events that wrapped up by the end of the book. In contrast, With Zombies builds on all the storylines that have gone before, including a few things that weren't obviously part of any over-arching story. And that was great, it was nice to see everything come together. But it wasn't the real strength of this concluding volume, or at least, not the only strength. The title, by the way, can be taken to mean a few different things, the most obvious being the zombie worm (virus) that's plaguing Ottawa.
The easiest thing to discuss is how this concluding volume raised the stakes and had more excitement in it and so forth. In many ways, this is also the least interesting thing to discuss — although I did enjoy the twists and somewhat shocking turns the story took. The best bits were the continuation of how the author dealt with Jan's mum's MS and the sensibly realistic consequences Jan suffers after the events of the first two books.
In my review of Script Kiddie, I said that the most pressing reason for me to read the third book was to find out what happened to Jan's mum (Tina) after her health took a turn for the worse. Tina's health is, indeed, a very big, looming issue in With Zombies. It's written almost as a background issue — since Jan is the main character, not her mum — but Jan is only 16–17 (she has a birthday somewhere during the book) and still needs parental supervision to guide her. On the other hand, being a teenager, she does thing she can be fairly independent. And like a fairly normal teenager, she's reluctant to rely on her mum's new (ish) boyfriend.
Trying to look after herself, keep the family business afloat, not miss any more days of school (so that she doesn't have to repeat the semester), visit her mum in hospital, make friends with and learn from hackers, and deal with a virus that has infected everyone's computers... Jan bites off more than she can chew. The fact that she's still having PTSD flashbacks to the traumatic events of the first two books (being kidnapped, fighting off and nearly shooting a paedophile) is a nice, realistic touch but doesn't help her state of mind. I really really liked the realistic portrayal of consequences.
The last main thing I want to talk about is Jan's character growth. In the first two books she makes a lot of suboptimal decisions (they weren't all that bad) and doesn't think everything through. Things work out, but only just. In the third book, she starts off doing the same — the third book picks up only an hour or so after the second book, so it would be strange if she didn't — but after things come to a head, she is forced to learn to accept help. And then, after realising that she really doesn't have to do everything alone, she even learns to plan more than two steps ahead. Yay, Jan.
I didn't realise until I got to the end and saw the acknowledgements, but apparently both book three and the omnibus edition (as a stretch goal) are the result of a Kickstarter campaign. Especially given the minor cliff-hanger at the end of book two, I was a bit surprised by this. Of course, I'm glad it was funded and glad I saw it on NetGalley and decided to read it. I've given each instalment a different number of stars but since I'm up to the last one, I feel like I can also give a rating to the omnibus as a whole. The whole series is greater than the average of its parts (see what I did there) and I'm giving the omnibus 4.5 / 5 stars.
I highly recommend this series to fans of geeky contemporary fiction, YA and cyberpunk — although there's nothing speculative or futuristic in it. I would also recommend it to anyone interested in reading good representations of disability, chronic illness and mental illness. I'm honestly having difficulty thinking of other books that treat mental illness without social stigma. I was pleasantly surprised by this series, and if I had any geeky teenagers in my life, I would be foisting it upon them all.
5 / 5 stars
April 11, 2014
[I received a copy of this book through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.]
This third installment in the "Assured Destruction" series was a little different from the previous ones, in that it didn't follow their format; on the other hand, it tied a lot of things together, and I'd definitely advise reading all books close to each other, otherwise you may miss a few relevant details. In any case, I appreciated the care put into giving answers to several questions (what happened to Jan's father, who's actually Peter)... as well as to others I hadn't envisioned at first.
I enjoyed the trilogy as a whole, and I enjoyed this last novel, too. Once again, it managed to deal with technical and computer-related aspects in such a way that even a layman would easily understand what was going on. I know "techno-babble" can rebuke people, but here, even if internet and networks aren't their forte, as a reader, they won't be lost. Jan's uses of her favourite tools are always explained in a short, efficient manner. Don't know what a DDoS attack is? Now you'll know.
I admit I was slightly tempted to call a "too stupid to live" on Janus a couple of times, because some of her decisions were rash and not that well-informed. I would've done it if she had been any other teen, with a regular family life and not that many struggles. However, it was also clear that she was at the end of her rope, what with her mother being sicker, having to find more customers, juggling work and school with the spectre of failing her semester looming close, trying to find her father, trying to find money to pay for the mortgage, wondering about Peter's motives, not to mention the Zombie virus and the problems she got because of that... Since people in general aren't known for making the best decisions in such cases, her overall attitude was easily explained. (There was a specific turning point in the story, where her behaviour made me frown and wonder if maybe something fishy was going on; that, too, was explained later. Actually, it's a wonder it didn't happen sooner.)
Jan's friends were also wonderful, for sticking with her, devising the plan, and helping her the way they did at the end. Her being struggling so much, she probably wasn't there for them as much as one would expect—but everytime I thought that, I also found myself thinking, "Well, would I be a good friend if I had to tread in her shoes? Not so sure." (I guess this is one of the reasons why I like this character. In a lot of ways, she reminded me of who I am, with all my shortcomings, and this prompted me to question a few things as well.) Janus can be a really good friend, too—e.g. what she did for Hannah in book 2—but there's also so much you can do for others when you're overwhelmed. Can she be blamed for sometimes being oblivious? Perhaps, perhaps not.
One thing wasn't too clear for me, though, and that was Shadownet's role, especially at the end. Or is this my paranoid self talking? Because monitoring it would definitely have been on my list.
To conclude on this review (and this trilogy): really enjoyable—and, for once, with a female protagonist who is quite tech-savvy and doesn't spend her time pining after boys. (Did I say we share a few common points? Yes? Thought so.)
This third installment in the "Assured Destruction" series was a little different from the previous ones, in that it didn't follow their format; on the other hand, it tied a lot of things together, and I'd definitely advise reading all books close to each other, otherwise you may miss a few relevant details. In any case, I appreciated the care put into giving answers to several questions (what happened to Jan's father, who's actually Peter)... as well as to others I hadn't envisioned at first.
I enjoyed the trilogy as a whole, and I enjoyed this last novel, too. Once again, it managed to deal with technical and computer-related aspects in such a way that even a layman would easily understand what was going on. I know "techno-babble" can rebuke people, but here, even if internet and networks aren't their forte, as a reader, they won't be lost. Jan's uses of her favourite tools are always explained in a short, efficient manner. Don't know what a DDoS attack is? Now you'll know.
I admit I was slightly tempted to call a "too stupid to live" on Janus a couple of times, because some of her decisions were rash and not that well-informed. I would've done it if she had been any other teen, with a regular family life and not that many struggles. However, it was also clear that she was at the end of her rope, what with her mother being sicker, having to find more customers, juggling work and school with the spectre of failing her semester looming close, trying to find her father, trying to find money to pay for the mortgage, wondering about Peter's motives, not to mention the Zombie virus and the problems she got because of that... Since people in general aren't known for making the best decisions in such cases, her overall attitude was easily explained. (There was a specific turning point in the story, where her behaviour made me frown and wonder if maybe something fishy was going on; that, too, was explained later. Actually, it's a wonder it didn't happen sooner.)
Jan's friends were also wonderful, for sticking with her, devising the plan, and helping her the way they did at the end. Her being struggling so much, she probably wasn't there for them as much as one would expect—but everytime I thought that, I also found myself thinking, "Well, would I be a good friend if I had to tread in her shoes? Not so sure." (I guess this is one of the reasons why I like this character. In a lot of ways, she reminded me of who I am, with all my shortcomings, and this prompted me to question a few things as well.) Janus can be a really good friend, too—e.g. what she did for Hannah in book 2—but there's also so much you can do for others when you're overwhelmed. Can she be blamed for sometimes being oblivious? Perhaps, perhaps not.
One thing wasn't too clear for me, though, and that was Shadownet's role, especially at the end. Or is this my paranoid self talking? Because monitoring it would definitely have been on my list.
To conclude on this review (and this trilogy): really enjoyable—and, for once, with a female protagonist who is quite tech-savvy and doesn't spend her time pining after boys. (Did I say we share a few common points? Yes? Thought so.)
August 19, 2014
***This review can also be found on my blog Love at First Write***
Being a read-to-review blogger for Stewart in the past, I naturally helped fund his Kickstarter campaign for book three back in March. This landed me with a nice paperback collection of the trilogy in April that I was dying to start! The wait until now fed my excitement and I was not disappointed.
Michael F. Stewart has a knack for entrapping readers in his high tech-storytelling. I picked it up this morning around 10 and did not set it down until I finished at 2 (which says a lot considering it took me an hour to concentrate and read 20 pages of my psych book yesterday). I love getting immersed in Janus’s world of hacking and Shadownet. All of the funny pop culture references don’t hurt either (Star Wars is my favorite). It just really feels like he’s writing about and for the young adults of this new generation. The problems that Janus faces are a little extreme, but really they’re not so far off. They are problems that anyone could be going through and that’s part of what makes Stewart’s novels so interesting and relatable.
In this book everything really pieces together, plot-wise. Questions that were raised in Assured Destruction and Script Kiddie are finally answered, but in an exciting and dramatic way. Everything finally comes together! Some writers can drag out their books and get caught up in telling emotions that make their stories boring. This was NOT the case. The stakes were raised, the plots were twisted, and I was super excited! Sure, Janus has been through a lot, she needed to sort herself out and show her more emotional human side, but made her even more relatable. I was rooting for her the entire 225 pages no matter what she was up to, Michael wrote so much heart and spirit into this young woman that it would be hard not to love her.
One thing I especially liked about this book is that she relied on the people around her. With her family business still on the line, her mom being hospitalized, community service, not being able to miss school, and having to deal with a virus that has infected Ottawa, Janus has quite a lot on her plate. The first two books she tried to do things her own way, risking her life and getting severely injured each time. For this adventure Jonny is Janus’ rock, always being there for her and helping her to the best of his abilities. Honestly he’s a keeper and I really hope after everything they’ve been through that they stay together forever. On top of that, Jan calls in all of her friends to help her and their friendship was just the greatest thing to read. She never would have made it through without them! She can finally trust people and isn’t alone anymore.
This book, as well as it’s counterparts are perfect YA contemporary fiction novels. The technological geek side of me was eager to eat up the words as quickly as possible. This is a also a book I would recommend to people who seek diversity when they read. Jan’s mom as MS (Multiple Sclerosis) and I think this was represented well. The author deals with each character’s disabilities flawlessly with out making them seem like they’re not a whole person.
Being a read-to-review blogger for Stewart in the past, I naturally helped fund his Kickstarter campaign for book three back in March. This landed me with a nice paperback collection of the trilogy in April that I was dying to start! The wait until now fed my excitement and I was not disappointed.
Michael F. Stewart has a knack for entrapping readers in his high tech-storytelling. I picked it up this morning around 10 and did not set it down until I finished at 2 (which says a lot considering it took me an hour to concentrate and read 20 pages of my psych book yesterday). I love getting immersed in Janus’s world of hacking and Shadownet. All of the funny pop culture references don’t hurt either (Star Wars is my favorite). It just really feels like he’s writing about and for the young adults of this new generation. The problems that Janus faces are a little extreme, but really they’re not so far off. They are problems that anyone could be going through and that’s part of what makes Stewart’s novels so interesting and relatable.
In this book everything really pieces together, plot-wise. Questions that were raised in Assured Destruction and Script Kiddie are finally answered, but in an exciting and dramatic way. Everything finally comes together! Some writers can drag out their books and get caught up in telling emotions that make their stories boring. This was NOT the case. The stakes were raised, the plots were twisted, and I was super excited! Sure, Janus has been through a lot, she needed to sort herself out and show her more emotional human side, but made her even more relatable. I was rooting for her the entire 225 pages no matter what she was up to, Michael wrote so much heart and spirit into this young woman that it would be hard not to love her.
One thing I especially liked about this book is that she relied on the people around her. With her family business still on the line, her mom being hospitalized, community service, not being able to miss school, and having to deal with a virus that has infected Ottawa, Janus has quite a lot on her plate. The first two books she tried to do things her own way, risking her life and getting severely injured each time. For this adventure Jonny is Janus’ rock, always being there for her and helping her to the best of his abilities. Honestly he’s a keeper and I really hope after everything they’ve been through that they stay together forever. On top of that, Jan calls in all of her friends to help her and their friendship was just the greatest thing to read. She never would have made it through without them! She can finally trust people and isn’t alone anymore.
This book, as well as it’s counterparts are perfect YA contemporary fiction novels. The technological geek side of me was eager to eat up the words as quickly as possible. This is a also a book I would recommend to people who seek diversity when they read. Jan’s mom as MS (Multiple Sclerosis) and I think this was represented well. The author deals with each character’s disabilities flawlessly with out making them seem like they’re not a whole person.
July 23, 2014
Assured Destruction With Zombies is a fairly satisfactory conclusion to the Assured Destruction trilogy. All the lingering questions from the first two books in the series are finally answered, and Janus demonstrates more growth and a greater understanding of her impact on the world around her than she has in the previous books.
Despite her growth, though, Janus remained a frustrating character for me -- realistic, but frustrating. She continued to make poor, often illegal, decisions, and her trust in others wasn't always well-placed, sometimes trusting those who hadn't demonstrated they could be trusted, while not trusting those who were more worthy of her trust. The people around Janus remained frustrating as well, in some ways helping her above and beyond what would be expected, but at the same time failing her in other ways.
Overall, though, Stewart does a good job in the Assured Destruction series of illustrating for teens the digital world's connections to the real world, the ramifications of poor decisions, and the difficulties of growing up in such a digitalized time. I definitely recommend reading the trilogy straight-through (or, better yet, in the soon-to-be-published omnibus edition) because it is only with the conclusion that the full picture is presented. It's too easy with books #1 and #2 to ignore some of the possible consequences, as Janus herself does, but with book #3 Janus and the reader gain greater perspective. (Although I still think Janus--and co., actually--gets off a bit too easily considering the many offenses she commits.)
Note: I received a digital galley of this book through NetGalley.
Despite her growth, though, Janus remained a frustrating character for me -- realistic, but frustrating. She continued to make poor, often illegal, decisions, and her trust in others wasn't always well-placed, sometimes trusting those who hadn't demonstrated they could be trusted, while not trusting those who were more worthy of her trust. The people around Janus remained frustrating as well, in some ways helping her above and beyond what would be expected, but at the same time failing her in other ways.
Overall, though, Stewart does a good job in the Assured Destruction series of illustrating for teens the digital world's connections to the real world, the ramifications of poor decisions, and the difficulties of growing up in such a digitalized time. I definitely recommend reading the trilogy straight-through (or, better yet, in the soon-to-be-published omnibus edition) because it is only with the conclusion that the full picture is presented. It's too easy with books #1 and #2 to ignore some of the possible consequences, as Janus herself does, but with book #3 Janus and the reader gain greater perspective. (Although I still think Janus--and co., actually--gets off a bit too easily considering the many offenses she commits.)
Note: I received a digital galley of this book through NetGalley.
May 14, 2014
***I received a free copy for an honest review***
Wow! Even with all the mystery and suspense, I was brought to tears with this final installment of this series. As we know from the first two books, Jan has gotten herself into multiple predicaments, which seems to always implicate her as the culprit. As Jan's troubles pile up, she tries to solve things herself, but she learns that she can't. This is definitely a mystery that kept me turning the page! I even got suspicious of these characters...haha! As Jan was getting closer and closer to getting the answers that she has been asking herself for some time since her father left, every thing that has happened to her became even more clearer as to how it was all connected.
This final installment was filled with suspense,action, and some humor as Jan revealed the truth behind all her troubles...personal and otherwise. I couldn't stop turning the pages...that's how I was completely engrossed into Jan's plight. I thoroughly loved it! I could even see this as a movie...that's how descriptive and well developed Michael F. Stewart's characters, setting and plot was.
Wow! Even with all the mystery and suspense, I was brought to tears with this final installment of this series. As we know from the first two books, Jan has gotten herself into multiple predicaments, which seems to always implicate her as the culprit. As Jan's troubles pile up, she tries to solve things herself, but she learns that she can't. This is definitely a mystery that kept me turning the page! I even got suspicious of these characters...haha! As Jan was getting closer and closer to getting the answers that she has been asking herself for some time since her father left, every thing that has happened to her became even more clearer as to how it was all connected.
This final installment was filled with suspense,action, and some humor as Jan revealed the truth behind all her troubles...personal and otherwise. I couldn't stop turning the pages...that's how I was completely engrossed into Jan's plight. I thoroughly loved it! I could even see this as a movie...that's how descriptive and well developed Michael F. Stewart's characters, setting and plot was.
April 1, 2017
Kindle Unlimited for the entire series together, can be bought as series or singular of course, actually received a free copy of the #1 then the trilogy. Funny, as in not really funny, my kindle for pc wouldn't load, so had to come and get it so could use the Cloud kindle on ku. Cute without being cutesy, would let my grandkids read it but don't think they're quite old enough, but when they are older.
Assured Destruction: The Complete Series
Assured Destruction 1 - Script Kiddie 2 - With Zombies 3
Check amazon for other books by writer.
Merged review:
Kindle Unlimited for the entire series together, can be bought as series or singular of course, actually received a free copy of the #1 then the trilogy. Funny, as in not really funny, my kindle for pc wouldn't load, so had to come and get it so could use the Cloud kindle on ku. Cute without being cutesy, would let my grandkids read it but don't think they're quite old enough, but when they are older.
Assured Destruction: The Complete Series
Assured Destruction 1 - Script Kiddie 2 - With Zombies 3
Check amazon for other books by writer.
Assured Destruction: The Complete Series
Assured Destruction 1 - Script Kiddie 2 - With Zombies 3
Check amazon for other books by writer.
Merged review:
Kindle Unlimited for the entire series together, can be bought as series or singular of course, actually received a free copy of the #1 then the trilogy. Funny, as in not really funny, my kindle for pc wouldn't load, so had to come and get it so could use the Cloud kindle on ku. Cute without being cutesy, would let my grandkids read it but don't think they're quite old enough, but when they are older.
Assured Destruction: The Complete Series
Assured Destruction 1 - Script Kiddie 2 - With Zombies 3
Check amazon for other books by writer.
April 4, 2014
This, Michael F. Stewart's 3rd book in his Assured Destruction series, was an excellent closer to this series. I think Stewart did his best work here. Janus' character is allowed to begin a maturing process which moves her out of her comfort zone. We see her embrace the need for help from others, that no person is self sufficient, to think before acting, to face the fears in life and not let them define her. Writing this kind of material in a thriller targeted for YA audience can be tricky but Stewart clearly mastered this art.
We saw more character development in this book and were given missing puzzle pieces to Peter and to Janus' dad. I thought the romance between Janus and Jonny was so typical for this age.
It has been a delight to become familiar with Stewart's work.Excellent fiction for older teens.
Note: I was given this e-book in exchange for an honest review.
We saw more character development in this book and were given missing puzzle pieces to Peter and to Janus' dad. I thought the romance between Janus and Jonny was so typical for this age.
It has been a delight to become familiar with Stewart's work.Excellent fiction for older teens.
Note: I was given this e-book in exchange for an honest review.
April 3, 2014
This was such a great end to a trilogy that had been building up each book. I wish it would have gone on longer seeing how short each book was. But on the plus side of that there was no long drawn out parts just to adds pages to the count. I enjoyed how all the things from each book were tied into the bigger picture and wrapped up in this along with so much more. Had a good mix of geek and computer culture mixed into it very well and accurate.
Definitely worth reading, first one is free on kindle right now. Luckily all three are out now so no waiting like I had to between each book.
Definitely worth reading, first one is free on kindle right now. Luckily all three are out now so no waiting like I had to between each book.
May 26, 2014
Janus and friends are back delving into her past, fighting crime, and finding mayhem. This time there's no telling how far it will go.
As with other adventures, a heartfelt narrative provides a baseline for the story and helps drive our characters as they search for answers in multiple mysteries. Some of the mysteries are overarching throughout all three of the tales.
Characters are authentic, caring, and dynamic.
Overall, an exciting read.
As with other adventures, a heartfelt narrative provides a baseline for the story and helps drive our characters as they search for answers in multiple mysteries. Some of the mysteries are overarching throughout all three of the tales.
Characters are authentic, caring, and dynamic.
Overall, an exciting read.
January 17, 2015
A fantastic end to a highly entertaining series. I loved all three books and am sorry to be at the end of the story. With Zombies was ridiculously hard to put down but well worth the loss of sleep.
April 22, 2014
A good end to the series
For a full review, please go to http://www.examiner.com/review/assure... and follow me on Twitter @josenher
For a full review, please go to http://www.examiner.com/review/assure... and follow me on Twitter @josenher
December 16, 2015
So glad I bought this third one, because everything happens here. I think the series could have used with another book, as a lot of things got cramped, but still loved the crap out of it.
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