YOU WILL KNOW VENGEANCE

An imprisoned hacker helps a rookie inmate while another new arrival proves a menace in this debut techno-thriller.

It’s 2010, and Tanto has been an unwilling resident of Hackers’ Haven for eight years. The government has dumped this hackers-exclusive prison somewhere in Texas. The inmates, who all go by their online handles, spend each day scouring for illegal acts on the internet; anyone scoring 500 “kills,” or captures, is up for parole. Double-H boasts countless rules that Tanto relays to Quidlee, the “rook” he mentors, who learns that even this prison has perks, like a healthy diet and medical attention. But another new inmate, Barca, complicates Tanto’s life. Barca is a legend among hackers (“The word hacking implies risk. Barca wants all the benefits of the hack, and none of the risk. He does virtually none of the work, but he has money to hire the best. With money comes power”). Inside Double-H, muscle-bound Barca threatens to upend Tanto’s relationship with Quidlee and knows way too much about the facility and its inner workings. But if Barca breaks rules, he’ll wind up in Guantánamo Bay, which Tanto can make sure happens. The only other option for getting rid of this bully is the most dangerous one—an escape plan. Pepper deftly amps up his engaging prison tale with perpetual threats. The sinister Warden Cyfib, for example, electrically shocks “hackvicts” via their implanted disciplinary chips. At the same time, Tanto delays completing his Cyfib-demanded software “monster”—its intent is to entice online users into illicit endeavors and then trap them. The author’s crisp writing smoothly clarifies technical jargon with no sign of condescension; this creates a protagonist/narrator who comes across as an endearing, sympathetic journeyman more than a highly skilled hacker. Nevertheless, Tanto’s adherence to the Japanese Bushido code isn’t entirely convincing, as he’s White and the origin of his “training” is unclear. But a sequel, which Pepper seems to be aiming for, may shed light on the hero’s largely mysterious background.

An absorbing, tech-smart tale that unfolds in a tense prison setting.