IDENTIFIED: A hacker thriller ripped from the headlines of today's newspapers

by John Wilander

West Wilder is released on parole with a promise to never hack computers again. He just wants to recoup his young adulthood.

But the world he knew has changed. The days of the NSA as a privacy-invading boogeyman seem almost quaint. Now a global security agency called G20S has its digital tentacles everywhere. Ordinary people are treated as threats just because they use the internet.

Someone within G20S is not happy with West’s regained freedom, and puts their thumb on him and his family. They always get you in the end.

Unless West’s old hacker accomplice Melissa can help …

This hacker thriller, ripped from the headlines of today's newspapers, envisions a chilling future where citizen hackers are pitted against unaccountable global actors. Everyone who stands up against oppression has to ask themselves – is freedom worth it?

467 pages, ebook

Published December 26, 2021

About the author

John Wilander writes about struggles against powerful adversaries where hackers are the heroes. He has a PhD in computer science and over ten years of industry experience in security and privacy engineering, currently in Silicon Valley, California.

Reviews

[Daniel Stinson-Diess · Rating 5 out of 5]

By far the most realistic hacking book that I’ve read which made it so much fun to be able to follow a plausible plot while detaching from our crazy reality for a bit. The tones of “big brother”++ surveillance, underground hacking culture, political motivations of liberation made this book really great and you can pause to brainstorm the attacks before they happen keeping it interactive as you read on. Excited for what comes next.

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Premise: hacker-focused heist in an uber-surveillance world.

Honestly, this book should 100% appeal to me. I love a great rag-tag rebellious skills-based comeuppance against corporate and nationalist Big Brother.

What is really surprising, and at least initially wonderful, was the sheer page-count of actual hacking, with actual hacking problems/knowledge. I can APPRECIATE the neat woo-woo of so many technical challenges and visualizations of the problems while also thinking, quite often, that it DESTROYS the natural flow of the novel.

So, it's a caveat. This is a fun techno-thriller that forces you to study and follow complicated grids of numbers with no easy way to just hand-wave the challenges away--unless you just skip them.

For those who do want a challenging book, by all means, pick this up and challenge yourselves. The story, characters, plot, are just fine. I'm not saying the whole book is impenetrable. It's also not a Greg Egan.

Brass tacks: is it fun? Yep. Does it challenge your T in your MBTI? Yep.

If I were to synesthesia this review, I'd say I'd be smelling ozone the entire time I read it. Specifically, dust getting burnt in ozone, the smell of a case getting cracked while the fan is still running, the heat of a machine in a cold room. My nose still feels cold in memory.


Personal note:
If anyone reading my reviews might be interested in reading my own SF, I'm going to be open to DM requests. I think it's about time I get some eyes on them.

Arctunn.com

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[Erik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great debut book in a new interesting genre!

“Identified” tells an exciting story with intrigue, action and realistic hacking. The basis for the story, the GPI, and the privacy implications of it is very relevant in today’s society.

I really enjoyed this book, but it’s possible it’s not for everyone. I found some of the book’s more technical description of different hacking scenarios to be interesting and approachable. However I have a technical background so some of these things are familiar to me.

I still think most of these details were presented in a way to allow readers with all backgrounds to enjoy the book. The problem-solving-by-hacking parts gave me a similar vibe to Andy Weir’s The Martian and Project Hail Mary, both of which I enjoyed a lot.

I recommend giving this a shot if the synopsis sounds interesting or if you’re just interested in trying out a different genre.

[Pontus Svard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This dystopian plot is scaringly plausible. A good read for anyone looking for nail biting suspense, but a great book if you are at all concerned about how your digital fingerprints might be used by foreign and domestic authorities or if you are fascinated by hackers and how they do it. What I particularly liked about this book was how the various problems facing the characters of the book are presented in a way that kick starts your own thought process for finding a solution. Just when you think it cannot be done, the obstacle is cleverly overcome by one of the hackers finding yet another genius workaround.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a man of two minds about this book. On one side I found myself struggling a bit to work through it. It just wasn't hooking me. That doesn't mean it wasn't well written, or that others won't enjoy it. Despite not devouring it, I did respect the accuracy of the story. A lot of authors write about hacking and technology, and absolutely fumble it. That's not the case here. As a professional with over a decade in cybersecurity, I was impressed by the accuracy of the technical components. That's rare in fiction today.

[Alyssa Berman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am clearly in the minority here. I did not like this book. It took me like 10-12 business days to read. It was dry and complicated and boring. Usually something as interesting as hacking would totally pique my interest. I found myself crawling thru these chapters and I didn’t connect to a single character.

Thanks for the eARC NetGalley, just a miss for me.

2 ⭐️

[Joseph Pecoraro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Realistic hacker fiction. This book is loaded with fun heists, clever problem solving, team building, social engineering, and computer hacking without hand waving. It also strikes a nerve on the topic of data privacy in a technological future that feels all too real.

[Sebastian Åkerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A plausible, near future, hacker thriller that is both engaging and provocative on the topical issue of personal integrity.

[Per Wedsmark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Outstanding thriller, it scared me a lot, I do recommend the book to everone