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Freelancer #2
The Unseen
In this sequel to Freelancer, Kari Tahe returns in her role of freelance hacker in a world where 3D printers, drones, and computers connect directly to the brain. With the Civil War still raging and the leaders of the warring factions assassinated, Kari must use her programming skills and devout sense of justice to protect her family. Recruited into the underground world of the Unseen, Kari hopes to help end the violence, but even this hidden hacker community is not immune from treachery.
247 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 29, 2015
26 people are currently reading
43 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
June 1, 2017
The Unseen (Freelancer #2) by Jake Lingwall is a Kindle scout book and is book 2. I didn't read book one but I didn't get lost at all. This book is a geek book fantasy! Lots of fun sci-fi, techie stuff, adventure, intrigue, and suspense. A good wild ride, will have to read book one.
December 20, 2015
A powerhouse of a dystopian tale!
Intrepid hacker Kari Tahe makes a break from prison using her special skills. Alas, something goes terribly wrong. On the verge of capture, she’s rescued and delivered to a secret hacker hideaway run by a guy named Oedipus. The plush retreat is nothing short of fabulous, and like-minded people are always inviting Kari to join their hacking games.
But she misses her friends David and Audrey. She wishes the war would end so life would get back to normal. While Kari admires the Eden-like sanctuary and the talent around her, she’s getting mixed signals from people, especially Oedipus. She’s idolized his feats for years, so her hero worship of him blinds her to his nature.
As the war escalates, a fellow hacker warns her to trust no one. Already on edge, Kari decides to stop taking things on face value, and trouble like she’s never seen before rains down on her. Can she survive in this strange new world?
Another winning Kindle Scout book. I loved Freelancer, the first book of this dystopian series, and The Unseen met my high expectations and more. Author Jake Lingwall wove a powerful tale of intrigue and high tech wizardry that had me reading at darn near warp speeds. Nicely done!
Maggie Toussaint and Rigel Carson for Muddy Rose Reviews
Intrepid hacker Kari Tahe makes a break from prison using her special skills. Alas, something goes terribly wrong. On the verge of capture, she’s rescued and delivered to a secret hacker hideaway run by a guy named Oedipus. The plush retreat is nothing short of fabulous, and like-minded people are always inviting Kari to join their hacking games.
But she misses her friends David and Audrey. She wishes the war would end so life would get back to normal. While Kari admires the Eden-like sanctuary and the talent around her, she’s getting mixed signals from people, especially Oedipus. She’s idolized his feats for years, so her hero worship of him blinds her to his nature.
As the war escalates, a fellow hacker warns her to trust no one. Already on edge, Kari decides to stop taking things on face value, and trouble like she’s never seen before rains down on her. Can she survive in this strange new world?
Another winning Kindle Scout book. I loved Freelancer, the first book of this dystopian series, and The Unseen met my high expectations and more. Author Jake Lingwall wove a powerful tale of intrigue and high tech wizardry that had me reading at darn near warp speeds. Nicely done!
Maggie Toussaint and Rigel Carson for Muddy Rose Reviews
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March 6, 2016I'm usually afraid of sequels, particularly the dreaded middle child in a trilogy (if this is going to be a trilogy). For every Empire Strikes Back there are legions of Highlander IIs, so it was with great trepidation I opened Jake Lingwall's second dystopian YA novel, The Unseen.
... And then I couldn't put it down, stayed up way too late and devoured the whole darn thing like a starving linebacker at a Chinese Superbuffet. The Unseen follows Kari, a bright, thoughtful, teenage hacker that never falls into the stereotypical geek-girl tropes. While there are a few adorkable moments to remind you that she is indeed fresh out of high school, they don't distract from the overall mystery as she digs deeper into the lunacy that is an American Second Civil War.
Yes, I saw the twist coming a mile away, but that is more because it was logical rather than stupidly obvious. The character are relatable, consistent and predictable in the best possible ways. In fact, my only complaint is my own jealousy as a writer because Mr. Lingwall is churning out some impressive, fun and enjoyable prose, and I'm fairly sure he's much younger than me.
... And then I couldn't put it down, stayed up way too late and devoured the whole darn thing like a starving linebacker at a Chinese Superbuffet. The Unseen follows Kari, a bright, thoughtful, teenage hacker that never falls into the stereotypical geek-girl tropes. While there are a few adorkable moments to remind you that she is indeed fresh out of high school, they don't distract from the overall mystery as she digs deeper into the lunacy that is an American Second Civil War.
Yes, I saw the twist coming a mile away, but that is more because it was logical rather than stupidly obvious. The character are relatable, consistent and predictable in the best possible ways. In fact, my only complaint is my own jealousy as a writer because Mr. Lingwall is churning out some impressive, fun and enjoyable prose, and I'm fairly sure he's much younger than me.
March 20, 2016
The first book was good, and at first, I wasn't so sure about the second one. The main character has even more enemies this time, and I have to say, I kind of see what happened coming, so I was a little disapointed at first.
In the first book she escapes from the guy that wanted to use her to build him weapons, and in the second book we start with everything going so well that we just know that something is going to happen, and it does. I immediately knew that she was jumping out of the frying pan into the fire, if it looks to good to be true, then...
At first I started getting frustrated with her, but then, I had to recognize, she makes a lot of mistakes, but then she kicks ass.
Again I loved the world she lives in, the reality, the posibilites, and I highly recomend it.
In the first book she escapes from the guy that wanted to use her to build him weapons, and in the second book we start with everything going so well that we just know that something is going to happen, and it does. I immediately knew that she was jumping out of the frying pan into the fire, if it looks to good to be true, then...
At first I started getting frustrated with her, but then, I had to recognize, she makes a lot of mistakes, but then she kicks ass.
Again I loved the world she lives in, the reality, the posibilites, and I highly recomend it.
January 3, 2016
Wow, this really took off. I like how Lingwall manages to insert great nods to politics and despotic militants into the story without coming down on any side in the war, that's pretty clever, and the technology continues to impress. I'm very quickly becoming a fan of this girl and want to read more about her!
January 11, 2019
Character flaws are things to be fixed, not justified or glossed over. That's the biggest reason that I cannot give this second book in the Freelancer series anything higher than 2 stars.
This review is a spoiler. I don't have any more time to spend on a 2-star trying to keep it from being one. Read ahead at your own risk.
After escaping the clutches of a power hungry manipulative egomaniac (who happens to work for the government) and almost being killed along with the boy she didn't even know she liked (but apparently everyone else did?) in the first book, Kari the super-hacker, aka Freelancer, tries to settle down to a normal life of self-indulgence. Unfortunately, she manages to fall into the clutches of a power hungry manipulative egomaniac (who happens to want to overthrow the governments...both of them as we are now in a civil war).
So, you can see my problem here. She learned nothing from her first mind-scaring life-trauma event and simply fell into the next one. For a person who is super-smart and can solve so many problems, she is beyond naive. It's so bad that it completely ruined my suspension of disbelief. I know who the bad guy was the instant he was introduced. The whole YA teen-relationship thing just added a level of obnoxious to the whole thing.
And that's why it gets two stars and no more of my time. I'm skipping book 3 because I fear it will be just more of the same.
This review is a spoiler. I don't have any more time to spend on a 2-star trying to keep it from being one. Read ahead at your own risk.
After escaping the clutches of a power hungry manipulative egomaniac (who happens to work for the government) and almost being killed along with the boy she didn't even know she liked (but apparently everyone else did?) in the first book, Kari the super-hacker, aka Freelancer, tries to settle down to a normal life of self-indulgence. Unfortunately, she manages to fall into the clutches of a power hungry manipulative egomaniac (who happens to want to overthrow the governments...both of them as we are now in a civil war).
So, you can see my problem here. She learned nothing from her first mind-scaring life-trauma event and simply fell into the next one. For a person who is super-smart and can solve so many problems, she is beyond naive. It's so bad that it completely ruined my suspension of disbelief. I know who the bad guy was the instant he was introduced. The whole YA teen-relationship thing just added a level of obnoxious to the whole thing.
And that's why it gets two stars and no more of my time. I'm skipping book 3 because I fear it will be just more of the same.
July 10, 2017
Who could blame people (technical ones or otherwise) who want to get rid of politicians who mess around with our lives? Keri has to struggle with whether one evil is better than another. It's mostly fast-paced, with lots of interesting technology (written in a way that's easy enough for technophobes to understand).
Sequels sometimes fall flat, but I enjoyed The Unseen even more than Freelancer, the first book. This book is complete within itself, with enough backstory to fill you in on important events of the first book, and end with leaving you wondering what's going to happen next.
Sequels sometimes fall flat, but I enjoyed The Unseen even more than Freelancer, the first book. This book is complete within itself, with enough backstory to fill you in on important events of the first book, and end with leaving you wondering what's going to happen next.
May 14, 2018
Just finished liked better than the first in series
This was a a good quick read really enjoyed liked the ending that starts what appears y of be something new- off to Amazon to kindle unlimited to see if it's there yet.
This was a a good quick read really enjoyed liked the ending that starts what appears y of be something new- off to Amazon to kindle unlimited to see if it's there yet.
May 29, 2023
Maybe I'm old or just read too many books.. this one has little to surprise me.. and it dragged on with all the deception that was so obvious - I didn't read past the racing bikes outside scene - maybe it got interesting?
June 11, 2017
Nice
A Black kid as the love interest, cyber genius, boss and businessman, HNC, evil villian and sympathetic psycho? Nice. Kept my interest
A Black kid as the love interest, cyber genius, boss and businessman, HNC, evil villian and sympathetic psycho? Nice. Kept my interest
August 12, 2017
Ah, I really loved this one too. It's so interesting to see her come to terms with her hacker skills and how everyone keeps wanting it for their personal gain.
October 4, 2017
Loved it
Loved the plot and characters. Can't wait to read the next book in the series. Definitely gonna recommend to friends.
Loved the plot and characters. Can't wait to read the next book in the series. Definitely gonna recommend to friends.
October 17, 2017
Tech rules
I wondered about nanobots, but now I wonder how Kari is going to beat them, overrule them, and generally hack them into her own. Go Kari!
I wondered about nanobots, but now I wonder how Kari is going to beat them, overrule them, and generally hack them into her own. Go Kari!
September 12, 2019
The Unseen review
The Unseen is the second fast paced Y. A. sci-fi book in the Freelancer series written by author Jake Lingwall.
The Unseen is the second fast paced Y. A. sci-fi book in the Freelancer series written by author Jake Lingwall.
October 30, 2019
Fun read
Great action story with an interesting premise. The characters are fun, the plot twist is well set up, and the protagonist wins without sacrificing her values.
Great action story with an interesting premise. The characters are fun, the plot twist is well set up, and the protagonist wins without sacrificing her values.
November 27, 2020
Love this story sooo much!
I wish this book could become a movie. It's so realistic. I love Freelancer and David and all the friends along for the journey.
I wish this book could become a movie. It's so realistic. I love Freelancer and David and all the friends along for the journey.
February 14, 2016
OK. I'll say it. Jake Lingwall is a time traveler. He's been there, played Johnny B. Goode and wacked out his descendants. His second book in the Freelancer series, "The Unseen," upends the first. There's no messing around with weird disturbing future high schools where curriculum has become so politically correct it has no value. There's just straight up story. And better than that, he's got an angle on what direction computing could (note I said could) take. The Unseen refers to a group of hackers led by a sweet (turns out too sweet) guy who wows our hero Kari, the reformed former military coder. In the first book, the government, or what's left of it in the great United States co-opts Kari for her brain and its potential brawn. They want to use her to further weaponize their military in a fight with the less progressive Middle States. Kari escapes. Barely. But all is not perfect. Kari's in hiding, somewhat. And she's sick of making flying drones that can kill. But her protector, a general in the Middle States, mysteriously dies and this new government is out to get her. She gets a warning from the Unseen right before black op troops blast into her home. She does protect her little dog. And she gets away with the help of the Unseen. What unfolds later is a pretty cerebral discussion of technology and its influence and potential. At times, it does appear Lingwall is somewhat influenced by Ian Flemming. His baddy bears striking resemblance to the single-mindedness of one out for supreme power. But, hey, it works. And he's good at keeping the story moving in a constantly interesting direction while throwing out ideas he's likely pondered for some time. He's an inventive author and storyteller. I'll definitely be one of the first to consume his next work.
April 15, 2016
I thought it was just as good as Book 1, Freelancer. The Unseen continued right where Freelancer ended. Really enjoyed relationship that David and Aubrey have with Kari, they are all real friends. It was exciting how Kari and the world's best hackers were all living together and the master hacker, Oepidus created that environment, but of course it was too good to be true. Love that Kari is a strong heroine and one smart girl and I can't wait to see what happens next. Hopefully its 4 years later after David graduates from college to see what happens between him and Kari and how their relationship progresses and if peace between the states/government is found. Will the new school exist and where and how does Kari and Motorcad make a life on the run. Does Motorcad and Aubrey meet, hmmm!
February 3, 2016
I really enjoyed Freelancer, so I had high expectations going into this one, and often second books fail to compare to the first. But this was fantastic. Epic. I was totally enthralled from the beginning, and not just because of the action packed story line, but because of the amazing technology showcased in the book. The drones, the nanotechnology, cheetahs... A lot of it seems as though it could be possible in the near future, which is scary. I'm also a sucker for hidden societies and conspiracy theories, so this was right in my sweet spot. The united states amidst a civil war is a great backdrop for the book and gives Keri good reason to rise up as a hero. She is strong and intelligent and a wonderful female character to see in a YA book. This should totally be a movie.
April 14, 2017
Even better!
What I said in my first review, only more! The characters are growing, and are people I would really like to meet. The plot twists and turns are sustain able, and I'm so glad there's at least 1 more book in the series!
What I said in my first review, only more! The characters are growing, and are people I would really like to meet. The plot twists and turns are sustain able, and I'm so glad there's at least 1 more book in the series!
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews