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Hacking Timbuktu
Danny is a freelance IT specialist–that is, a hacker. He and his pal Omar are both skilled at parkour, or freerunning, a discipline designed to enable practitioners to travel between any two points regardless of obstacles. This is fortunate, because they're off on an adventure that's filled with obstacles, from locked doors to gangs of hostile pursuers. Together they follow a cryptic clue, find a missing map, figure out how to get to Timbuktu without buying a plane ticket, and join the life-and-death treasure hunt, exchanging wisecracks and solving the puzzle one step at a time.An exotic setting and gripping suspense, as well as an absorbing introduction to parkour, make this thriller a genuine page-turner.
264 pages, Hardcover
First published October 19, 2009
7 people are currently reading
133 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Davies
10 books17 followersStephen Davies is the author of more than thirty children's books, with a particular interest in Ancient Egypt. Stephen's bestseller THE ANCIENT EGYPT SLEEPOVER is widely used as a whole-class read in Key Stage 2, while the Comic Book Myths books are perfect for reluctant readers.
Stephen loves visiting schools in the UK and overseas, helping young people with their own creative writing.
Agent: Julia Churchill
Events: Authors Abroad
Stephen loves visiting schools in the UK and overseas, helping young people with their own creative writing.
Agent: Julia Churchill
Events: Authors Abroad
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
July 31, 2010
My biggest complaint about this book was that there was no explanation of the parkour moves (the author does link to a website at the end of the book, but a little more information would have been nice), and there's nothing really about the Dogon tribe or what a Nommo is. While I usually get annoyed with too much time spent on explanations or exposition, in the case of books that are set in real, but unusual settings, it's needed!
Having griped a little, let me now say that the book will really appeal to boy readers. The suspense level is a little low (it becomes obvious that Danny and Omar will 1. be trapped in each "environment" and 2. will figure out an escape route), but the way in which they meet each obstacle will surprise readers. The combination of parkour and hacking will appeal to readers because it's unusual; it wouldn't be a surprise to see parkour picking up here in the US.
This book really deserved a 4.5, but I'm giving it a rare 5 because my complaints are really more in the arena of wanting additional information rather than plot or character related.
ARC provided by publisher.
Having griped a little, let me now say that the book will really appeal to boy readers. The suspense level is a little low (it becomes obvious that Danny and Omar will 1. be trapped in each "environment" and 2. will figure out an escape route), but the way in which they meet each obstacle will surprise readers. The combination of parkour and hacking will appeal to readers because it's unusual; it wouldn't be a surprise to see parkour picking up here in the US.
This book really deserved a 4.5, but I'm giving it a rare 5 because my complaints are really more in the arena of wanting additional information rather than plot or character related.
ARC provided by publisher.
February 2, 2011
The first time Danny Temple, teenage hacker extraordinaire learns the story of Akino Dolo’s gold heist (back in 14th century Timbuktu) is after he is accosted by a member of the Facebook treasure hunting group: Knights of Akonio Dolo. Dolo tunneled into the underground vault, slowly removing the gold one brick at a time, and hiding it where only another Dogon (his people/ethnic group) could find it. The only clue he left as to its whereabouts was indecipherable. For centuries no one understood what Dolo meant, until two men working on a special preservation project to scan old manuscripts and documents discovered Dolo’s old math book. On a page of the text, next to a magical square, was Dolo’s drawing of the Nommo (an alien-like figure) – a figure only another Dogon would recognize. This was the key to finding the gold – an actual treasure map. Moktar killed his coworker to keep the map secret, and deleted the scanned image of the page from his computer. Now the Knights of Akonio Dolo needs someone to pull up the deleted file, and they’re sure Danny can do it.
The question for Danny, isn’t really if he can do it, it’s how. And then once he’s done it, it’s who can translate the page, which is in Arabic. Then he’s got to focus his own mind on solving the puzzle presented by the map (it’s not straightforward). Meanwhile, his life is in danger – the Knights of Akonio Dolo (their numbers are growing exponentially) know what he’s got and are determined to take it from him. Plus there’s Moktar, who has already killed several times. London isn’t safe for Danny Temple anymore. With the help of his best friend Omar Dupont, the teens make their way to Timbuktu to track down the gold.
Part technological thriller, part mystery, part high-stakes parkour adventure, part historical fiction, this is an action-packed page-turner. I’ve never seen parkour incorporated into a novel before, and in Davies’ hands it works really well. There are just enough hacking details to whet the appetite and make it believable (though, Davies admits that his programmer/hacking friends were kind enough to point out the errors in his code). In case you’re wondering just how much of this is true, you’ll want to check out the author’s note, which gives some insight into how Davies wove truth and fiction together. Like!
Stephen Davies sounds like a fascinating person, and his experiences abroad (as well as his own interests) have given him a lot to draw on in the creation of this novel. Here’s an excerpt from his author biography (back inside flap): “Stephen Davies, a missionary, lives in Burkina Faso, West Africa, among Fulani herders. He speaks Fulfulde (the local language) and eats millet. As West Africa director for the charity World Horizons International, he oversees primary schools, craft enterprises, and a community radio initiative…”
The question for Danny, isn’t really if he can do it, it’s how. And then once he’s done it, it’s who can translate the page, which is in Arabic. Then he’s got to focus his own mind on solving the puzzle presented by the map (it’s not straightforward). Meanwhile, his life is in danger – the Knights of Akonio Dolo (their numbers are growing exponentially) know what he’s got and are determined to take it from him. Plus there’s Moktar, who has already killed several times. London isn’t safe for Danny Temple anymore. With the help of his best friend Omar Dupont, the teens make their way to Timbuktu to track down the gold.
Part technological thriller, part mystery, part high-stakes parkour adventure, part historical fiction, this is an action-packed page-turner. I’ve never seen parkour incorporated into a novel before, and in Davies’ hands it works really well. There are just enough hacking details to whet the appetite and make it believable (though, Davies admits that his programmer/hacking friends were kind enough to point out the errors in his code). In case you’re wondering just how much of this is true, you’ll want to check out the author’s note, which gives some insight into how Davies wove truth and fiction together. Like!
Stephen Davies sounds like a fascinating person, and his experiences abroad (as well as his own interests) have given him a lot to draw on in the creation of this novel. Here’s an excerpt from his author biography (back inside flap): “Stephen Davies, a missionary, lives in Burkina Faso, West Africa, among Fulani herders. He speaks Fulfulde (the local language) and eats millet. As West Africa director for the charity World Horizons International, he oversees primary schools, craft enterprises, and a community radio initiative…”
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 30, 2010
I was really enjoying this book for the first few chapters- actually, maybe the first third of it. It had a fast pace, a cool mystery, some exotic locales...
and then it went downhill fast.
This book can be summarized as follows:
DANNY TEMPLE IS COOL, YO. AND STEPHEN DAVIES WILL DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO MAKE SURE YOU KNOW IT.
Let's see. At the ripe old age of 16, Danny is...
...living in his own apartment; his parents are in Australia.
...working as a freelance hacker.
...LEGENDARY as a freelance hacker.
...trained in parkour
...and damn good at it.
(I just ran him through the Mary Sue Litmus Test, guessing at some of the answers that require the author's perspective, and he scored a 24. Not whopping, but that does make him a borderline-Sue.)
Danny is basically an adult in a young body (which just makes him better at parkour), and that's frustrating. We know that he's not in school, and while I'm not too educated about the British school system, I'm betting he had to complete some level of general education to reach that level- and that means that he wouldn't have had hours upon hours a day to practice parkour and hacking. Adding to this, we know that he didn't start parkour nearly as early as his friend Omar did. I'm not versed in that particular art, but I find it bizarre that someone like Danny who started years later would be even close to the level of someone who had been doing this since childhood. Yes, we do see several situations in which Omar is able to perform moves that Danny can't, but the gap in abilities wasn't nearly as wide as I would expect.
Let's talk personality for a moment, too. You can have unsympathetic main characters who are, nevertheless, FANTASTIC characters.
You can't have someone like Danny, who (among other things) steals a kid's laptop and uses it to illegally alter the records of an airline in order to purchase tickets in his quest for gold, and give him hints of an unpleasant family life and expect him to be either sympathetic or fantastic.
Danny and Omar are both flip-floppers. Danny, once 'strictly white-hat', breaks all his personal rules on the way to the gold; Omar, who objects to some of Danny's crazy schemes, suddenly goes along with them sans complaint- and sans explanation. He never tries to talk his friend out of this insanity- or rather, never tries as hard as he really ought to. At no point does he walk off and leave Danny to try and navigate Mali without him, which would have been a nice reality check for Crazy Boy.
And in the end- after all these crazy escapades, after all the reprehensible things they've done- Danny tells Omar that it was just for the thrill of it.
WTF, man?
and then it went downhill fast.
This book can be summarized as follows:
DANNY TEMPLE IS COOL, YO. AND STEPHEN DAVIES WILL DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO MAKE SURE YOU KNOW IT.
Let's see. At the ripe old age of 16, Danny is...
...living in his own apartment; his parents are in Australia.
...working as a freelance hacker.
...LEGENDARY as a freelance hacker.
...trained in parkour
...and damn good at it.
(I just ran him through the Mary Sue Litmus Test, guessing at some of the answers that require the author's perspective, and he scored a 24. Not whopping, but that does make him a borderline-Sue.)
Danny is basically an adult in a young body (which just makes him better at parkour), and that's frustrating. We know that he's not in school, and while I'm not too educated about the British school system, I'm betting he had to complete some level of general education to reach that level- and that means that he wouldn't have had hours upon hours a day to practice parkour and hacking. Adding to this, we know that he didn't start parkour nearly as early as his friend Omar did. I'm not versed in that particular art, but I find it bizarre that someone like Danny who started years later would be even close to the level of someone who had been doing this since childhood. Yes, we do see several situations in which Omar is able to perform moves that Danny can't, but the gap in abilities wasn't nearly as wide as I would expect.
Let's talk personality for a moment, too. You can have unsympathetic main characters who are, nevertheless, FANTASTIC characters.
You can't have someone like Danny, who (among other things) steals a kid's laptop and uses it to illegally alter the records of an airline in order to purchase tickets in his quest for gold, and give him hints of an unpleasant family life and expect him to be either sympathetic or fantastic.
Danny and Omar are both flip-floppers. Danny, once 'strictly white-hat', breaks all his personal rules on the way to the gold; Omar, who objects to some of Danny's crazy schemes, suddenly goes along with them sans complaint- and sans explanation. He never tries to talk his friend out of this insanity- or rather, never tries as hard as he really ought to. At no point does he walk off and leave Danny to try and navigate Mali without him, which would have been a nice reality check for Crazy Boy.
And in the end- after all these crazy escapades, after all the reprehensible things they've done- Danny tells Omar that it was just for the thrill of it.
WTF, man?
October 28, 2011
Some of the reviews of this book said that the parkour terms used throughout bogged down the text. And though I do agree that a (preferably illustrated) glossary would have been helpful, I felt that the unfamiliar terms contributed a poetic rhythm to the text. As someone who learned most of her vocabulary through intuiting definition by context, this didn't bother me at all, once I shifted into a certain mindset.
It is impressive to include so many unfamiliar elements in one book. It is yet more impressive to weave them together in a manner that is not only enticing, but high-action. And for me, this book succeeded. I learned about parkour, hacking, living in London, and Mali.*
The language here rocks back and forth, like the gears on a roller coaster. I imagine that the author (who lives in Burkina Faso) has learned a nonRomance language, and thus has gained the rhythmic separation from the English language that many do when they learn a a language from another family. I feel myself rushing forward as I read, using the same familiar consonants and vowels over and over again (I particularly noticed this in chapter 17).
I really enjoyed the nontraditional plot. Not quite Indiana Jones, not quite a sports book, not quite a spy flick. Some kind of combo of all of those. And, for me, it worked.
*Incidentally, this is the third book featuring Mali I've read in the very recent past (including Where I Belong by Gillian Cross, and To Timbuktu: Nine Countries Two People One True Story). No, not on purpose.
It is impressive to include so many unfamiliar elements in one book. It is yet more impressive to weave them together in a manner that is not only enticing, but high-action. And for me, this book succeeded. I learned about parkour, hacking, living in London, and Mali.*
The language here rocks back and forth, like the gears on a roller coaster. I imagine that the author (who lives in Burkina Faso) has learned a nonRomance language, and thus has gained the rhythmic separation from the English language that many do when they learn a a language from another family. I feel myself rushing forward as I read, using the same familiar consonants and vowels over and over again (I particularly noticed this in chapter 17).
I really enjoyed the nontraditional plot. Not quite Indiana Jones, not quite a sports book, not quite a spy flick. Some kind of combo of all of those. And, for me, it worked.
*Incidentally, this is the third book featuring Mali I've read in the very recent past (including Where I Belong by Gillian Cross, and To Timbuktu: Nine Countries Two People One True Story). No, not on purpose.
March 31, 2011
Author: Stephen Davies
Genre: YA, Adventure, Mystery
Release Date: November, 2010
Source: Netgalley
Rating: 3.5/5
Description: Long ago in the ancient city of Timbuktu a student pulled off the most daring heist in African history, the theft of 100 million pounds worth of gold. The stolen treasure has remained hidden until now, when teenage hacker Danny Temple discovers a cryptic Arabic manuscript. It's a good job that Danny is a keen traceur (free runner) because he has to run across rooftops and leap from buildings to stay one step ahead of his pursuers. His nightmarish and adrenalin-charged quest leads him all the way to sub-Saharan Africa, and the mysterious cliffs of Bandiagara.
Review:
What I Didn't Like:
- My main issue is the fact that the main character, Danny, is 16 and lives alone (parents are in Australia, I believe). Also it's kind of....far-fetched that a 16 year-old kid could find what the pros haven't been able to in seven centuries. I don't know. It seemed a little far fetched to me. With that being said...
What I Did Like:
- The book was action-packed and fast-paced...especially towards the end. I could so see this as an action thriller.
- It introduced my to the phenomena of parkour. According to Parkour Visions website, parkour is "the art of moving through your environment as swiftly and effectively as possible using only the human body." In Hacking Timbuktu, Danny and his best friend, Omar, use parkour to get away from the ones after them.
Hacking Timbuktu shows what 100 million pounds of gold can do to your morals (like, uh, forget them). This book is definitely "boy" book, especially with the action and parkour tricks. I mean, being able to jump from building to building without having to be a superhero? Awesome.
Genre: YA, Adventure, Mystery
Release Date: November, 2010
Source: Netgalley
Rating: 3.5/5
Description: Long ago in the ancient city of Timbuktu a student pulled off the most daring heist in African history, the theft of 100 million pounds worth of gold. The stolen treasure has remained hidden until now, when teenage hacker Danny Temple discovers a cryptic Arabic manuscript. It's a good job that Danny is a keen traceur (free runner) because he has to run across rooftops and leap from buildings to stay one step ahead of his pursuers. His nightmarish and adrenalin-charged quest leads him all the way to sub-Saharan Africa, and the mysterious cliffs of Bandiagara.
Review:
What I Didn't Like:
- My main issue is the fact that the main character, Danny, is 16 and lives alone (parents are in Australia, I believe). Also it's kind of....far-fetched that a 16 year-old kid could find what the pros haven't been able to in seven centuries. I don't know. It seemed a little far fetched to me. With that being said...
What I Did Like:
- The book was action-packed and fast-paced...especially towards the end. I could so see this as an action thriller.
- It introduced my to the phenomena of parkour. According to Parkour Visions website, parkour is "the art of moving through your environment as swiftly and effectively as possible using only the human body." In Hacking Timbuktu, Danny and his best friend, Omar, use parkour to get away from the ones after them.
Hacking Timbuktu shows what 100 million pounds of gold can do to your morals (like, uh, forget them). This book is definitely "boy" book, especially with the action and parkour tricks. I mean, being able to jump from building to building without having to be a superhero? Awesome.
March 26, 2013
Hacking Timbuktu requires the readers to sprint through parkour and computer hacking basics in the pursuit of protagonists who are trying to solve the mystery of a hidden treasure -- in Mali, of all places. The short chapter burst and punchy dialogue helps boost the page-turning speed. I sat down to this at breakfast, and I was a third of the way through and highly involved with the plot before my coffee had gone cold in the mug.
All of that said, I would rate this just below a 5 for some craft issues. Danny the hacker has an unresolved conflict with his absentee parents in Australia. This is brought up in a way that makes it sound like it might become more of an issue later on, but is never fully developed (although there is an attempt to bring it to resolution). He also suffers from nightmares throughout his trip to Mali with his friend Omar, and he hints that these dreams seem vaguely familiar to things in his past, but then the dreams aren't fully explained. Lastly, there was a little too much repetition in characters' thoughts about major themes in the novel, such as the mental preparation Danny goes through to really flow in his parkour routines.
What I loved most about this book was that ten pages in (during the prologue), I am introduced to a kid in 14th century Timbuktu skipping the call to prayer at his mosque to loot buried gold as a nose-thumbing stunt towards his elders. This could be enough displacement of space and time to grab me, but then Davies throws in a twist: the boy is caught, a treasure map in the form of a mathematical puzzle is discovered, and a fish on legs turns out to be the key to it all. After that, I cannot resist to keep turning the page.
All of that said, I would rate this just below a 5 for some craft issues. Danny the hacker has an unresolved conflict with his absentee parents in Australia. This is brought up in a way that makes it sound like it might become more of an issue later on, but is never fully developed (although there is an attempt to bring it to resolution). He also suffers from nightmares throughout his trip to Mali with his friend Omar, and he hints that these dreams seem vaguely familiar to things in his past, but then the dreams aren't fully explained. Lastly, there was a little too much repetition in characters' thoughts about major themes in the novel, such as the mental preparation Danny goes through to really flow in his parkour routines.
What I loved most about this book was that ten pages in (during the prologue), I am introduced to a kid in 14th century Timbuktu skipping the call to prayer at his mosque to loot buried gold as a nose-thumbing stunt towards his elders. This could be enough displacement of space and time to grab me, but then Davies throws in a twist: the boy is caught, a treasure map in the form of a mathematical puzzle is discovered, and a fish on legs turns out to be the key to it all. After that, I cannot resist to keep turning the page.
November 20, 2014
There may not be a huge number of fans of parkour, computer hacking, and West Africa, but that's OK. This is still a fun, fast thriller with lots of action and humor and appealing characters. Also a nice depiction of male friendship. I was worried when I saw "hacking" in the title because computer hacking is not actually a very exciting thing to read about (or watch in movies) but that part is relatively minimal. There's tons of parkour, which is way more fun to watch than to read about--and may eventually become enough of a thing of the past to make this book dated--but it fuels a lot of the action scenes and is well incorporated into the character development. The West Africa part is both contemporary travelogue and ancient folklore--I really liked seeing a part of the world I knew virtually nothing about through the eyes of the two main characters. It was clear the author knows the place well enough to show the real thing, not just the touristy version. I'm not sure exactly who I'd suggest this book to, but I'd definitely put it on any adventure reading list.
February 28, 2011
Fun, fast, read about computer geeks with a non-geeky recreational outlet, and a little cultural/current history thrown into the mix.
Why I liked it: learning about parkour, something not easily done, or seen, in my small, rural hometown, added a totally new element to this book. The way the action of characters is described made me feel like I was doing the moves myself. Danny, the computer savvy main character, who gets caught in a web of treasure hunting maniacs, and Omar, his best friend, who seems to be just along for the ride, feel like teenagers I have met and taught in class.
Who I’d recommend it to: Fans of Daemon, the adult computer conspriacy book by Daniel Suarez and some of the skater boys at my high school. I’m buying it for Thomas and Brady because they will both get it.
Daemon
format from Unshelved.
Why I liked it: learning about parkour, something not easily done, or seen, in my small, rural hometown, added a totally new element to this book. The way the action of characters is described made me feel like I was doing the moves myself. Danny, the computer savvy main character, who gets caught in a web of treasure hunting maniacs, and Omar, his best friend, who seems to be just along for the ride, feel like teenagers I have met and taught in class.
Who I’d recommend it to: Fans of Daemon, the adult computer conspriacy book by Daniel Suarez and some of the skater boys at my high school. I’m buying it for Thomas and Brady because they will both get it.
Daemon
format from Unshelved.
November 20, 2010
Hacking Timbuktu by Stephen Davies starts out in modern day England. Danny is a hacker and a traceur, although his IT skills outstrips his parkour. One day after a long day at a hacker conference, Danny finds himself drug into a 700+ year old treasure hunt for 2 million bars of gold when a stranger breaks into his flat and tries to force him to hack a computer in Timbuktu to get the treasure map. He gets away, then finds the map himself. Greed, loyalty and cunning all play roles in his dash to Timbuktu with his friend, an expert traceur at his side, chased by other treasure hunters, some of which are willing to kill to get the gold.
May 12, 2011
Danny and his friend Omar hack into a computer to find a clue to lead them to a long lost treasure in Mali, Africa. They have a lot of treasure hunters after them, trying to stop them and get their hands on the treasure first. It's a good read, but it talks a lot about parkour which I'm not really into. Learning about Dogon country was great. The magic square was my favorite part- how they found the clue to the treasure embedded in it. The end of Chapter 27 reminds me a little of Sherlock Holmes.
May 4, 2011
Meh. Fact is, I will recommend it wildly to anyone interested in parkour, but otherwise it was just ok. I am still giggling over a hacker that does parkour. I mean, it is a fabulous combination of skills, but I doubt I will ever meet someone with that specific skill set. A good action book if you are able to overlook many of the unlikely situations.
December 27, 2011
Although this was not the best written book I've ever read, I could definitely see its appeal to a teen audience, especially anyone who likes spy stories, computer hacking, intrigue, or adventure. I told one of my students that it involved parkour and he snatched it right up! Entertaining as long as you don't mind a fairly contrived storyline.
August 24, 2010
I wasn't pleased when Danny crossed the line into black-hat. (so I didn't give it 5 stars.) I really liked all the bits about parkour. I'd never actually heard of that before, but I looked a lot of it up. Fascinating stuff.
January 9, 2011
A book with lots of action for those teen boys who like more chase scenes than plot. The English twist and references to parkour may lead some to explore the sport while it may just not click with others.
April 5, 2011
Outstanding adventure novel, lots of great action and really believable charters with abilities that help them get though things without luck.
January 3, 2011
Very exciting and I learned a lot about parkour, Timbuktu, and the Dogon.
January 4, 2015
This was a great book. It had me sucked in from the first page. It is fast paced, full of excitement and totally gripping. I know a few boys I will definitely give this one to.
June 30, 2011
I learned a lot about parkour and I think the kids will love this one!
October 7, 2011
Ha! Excellent wordplay, smart protagonists, and much free-running wonderfulness. This is a great, easy read for those who are into hacking or parkour.
January 29, 2012
A clean, fun story. I think teenage males would especially like it.
October 2, 2012
This is one of the most amazing books i have ever read (6 times today) i love it. Its the perfect book for any 10-15 year old and makes you want to learn parkour
February 21, 2014
Good book, full of action and excitement for those on-the-edge readers.
February 27, 2014
Really liked it.
February 12, 2016
A cautionary tale about greed. Well written, great pace. Had me hooked from the beginning. A real boys book.
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June 6, 2016Find it at JMRL: http://aries.jmrl.org/record=b1263624~S9
July 5, 2016
Great book
January 23, 2012
A lot of techno computer info, but overall a quick, easy, and fun adventure story.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews