The Black Box

The Cassandra Virus #3

by K.V. Johansen

Something is cutting off Spohrville's communication with the outside world. The phones don't work. There's no radio, no TV -- no internet. Are eco-terrorists trying to shut down the Mars Relay satellite? That's what the government says, but Jordan and Helen and the sentient virtual supercomputer Cassandra don't believe a word of it. The town is overrun with "birdwatchers" who can't tell a hawk from a heron. Jordan's old enemy, Harvey Number Two of the spy agency Bureau 6, is sneaking around pretending to be a cop on holiday. And archaeologist Uncle William has dug up a very strange black rock while excavating an Acadian settlement. With no land-lines to the site of the dig and wireless communication impossible, Jordan and Helen have no back-up from Cassandra. They've taken on corrupt government agents and industrial spies before, but they've always had Cassandra behind them. It's the twenty-first century. The bad guys have night-vision goggles and interference triangulators. How did Jordan and Helen get stuck with a bunch of musket-toting historical re-enactors as their only allies?

220 pages, Paperback

First published February 28, 2011

About the author

Mostly, I write secondary world fantasy about people on the edges, with shapeshifters, demons, gods, and occasionally dragons. These days, I largely write for adults, though I've written many children's and YA fantasy novels and some children's science fiction, as well as picture books, plus I've been known to perpetrate literary criticism. I also write as Kris Jamison -- a contemporary lit book, Love/Rock/Compost.

My main scholarly interests are ancient and medieval history and languages, and the history of children's fantasy literature. What else can I say? My life is unexciting. I'm acquiring more guitars as I get older; music is very important to me even though I'm no good at it. I'm also, occasionally, an artist.

Here on Goodreads, I'm only rating/reviewing books I've really liked a lot. Sometimes I rate with stars, sometimes I don't, but a book is only on my Goodreads shelves if I liked it. For serious critical analysis from me, you'll have to turn to Quests and Kingdoms or Beyond Window-Dressing.