A real rollercoaster of a book, this will have you gripped immediately. Hackers dealing with lots of relevant issues like cybercrime and terrorism, with a likeable lead character, and not unlike the feeling you get from I Am Pilgrim. Can definitely recommend!

I found that despite not being totally au fait with the latest cyber technology world, I really became enthralled with this book from the outset. It paints a scary picture of our world while telling a great story. Thoroughly enjoyable.

A really good international conspiracy 'technothriller' centred around the dark web and cybercrime, terrorism and pulling in a few Neo-Nazis for good measure. But it all starts in the back shed of a very ordinary ‘nice feller’, Azi, who is a hacker extraordinaire whose private ambition is to poke those Neo-Nazis and anyone else perpetrating cybercrimes against humanity in the eye. As he works through the Dark Web to coax these people to trust his alter ego, generated for this sole purpose, he is contacted by a fellow hacker that he trusts more than most, who calls herself Munira. Munira begs for his help, saying she is in extreme danger as she has been found out by terrorists who are after her.

Azi’s quiet lone existence is over as he becomes involved in the very violent real world that takes him and Munira to Berlin and elsewhere. In his attempts to uncover a terrorist plot and halt a major tragedy, he no longer knows who he can trust – even Munira perhaps may not be what she seems – and the plot surges forward with brilliant suspense towards the deadline of the threatened terrorist action with only Azi and possibly an old friend from his youth that can stop it.

Fantastic suspense and excellent story. My only reservation is that there was heaps of technical information both about the dark web and hacking, and about computing and computers in general, and this was way over my head and really not very interesting to a pleb like me, so I found myself skimming quite a bit of all that. I did feel there was a little more than was really necessary for the story, but of course there are plenty of readers that will love all that stuff.

A likeable hero and a fast-paced thriller. Great stuff.

(Just a note for international readers - while this is called 'This is Gomorrah' in the UK, if you're trying to find the book on Good Reads or other American website, it has a different title, 'The Gomorrah Gambit'.)

Wow! Just wow . I was so sure I'd worked out who was playing AZ but turned out to be wrong. Fantastic book lots of twists and turns don t want to give the plot away so can't say too much, but it really is worth the read. Not normally my sort of book but would read another like this.
Thank you net galley for letting me read this in exchange for an honest review.

Really good, quite unputdownable. Shame that life got in the way.

Absorbing and accessible for us non-techies, this is a technology led look at modern day life. What do people stand for? Are they everything that they seem? Who can you trust?

With echoes of I Am Pilgrim, this book will have broad appeal to spy 🕵️‍♀️ fiends, thrill seekers, techno-geeks and lovers of a good old fast-paced story!

The techie aspects were explained in context when necessary and didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the story. I wonder how much went over my head - whilst I’m cyber aware, I’m no techie/expert.

4.5* A really good read, action-packed and engaging.

Control the Internet, Control the World.

If you know what you're doing, you can find anything on the internet. Drugs, guns, porn, ideologies, elections, even lives and deaths are all up for sale . . . and everything must go.
Elite hacker Azi Bello lives his life in the technological underbelly of the 21st century. A loner, charmer, and lover of grey areas, he works for himself and answers to no one - until his online existence crashes violently into the real world.

The secretive but intriguing Munira has reached out to Azi for help, and her story has sparked his interest: Munira's cousin has been recruited by terrorists and, in her attempts to find out more, she has attracted the attention of some very dangerous people.

Now forced to go on the run, Azi and Munira are drawn into a conspiracy, at the heart of which is Gomorrah: an exclusive online marketplace where anything can be acquired, and where the world's worst individuals lurk. As he throws himself into uncovering Gomorrah's dark secrets, it isn't long before Azi realises that the stakes are high and the risks even higher when you're no longer behind a screen.

Review:

This is the first book that I’ve read in a while that’s had me hooked from the very start to the last page.

An intriguing plot with book told through the eyes of an innocent hacker who gets caught in a world of terrorism, the black web and cyber crime which take him in a journey across Europe and then to Silicon Valley in the states.

The book is well written, loved the different characters, and there were many twists and turns and it was hard at times to think who was the good and bad guys.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good thriller and despite there being a lot of references to the IT world I still found it easy enough to follow, despite me not being an expert in this area. I really hope the author writes a follow up book with the main characters from this book.


Link to good reads review below.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2788262983

Probably 3.5 stars but rounding up as it actually showed so much promise. A cracking concept (cyber crime, dark net, a few Islamic fundamentalists and new nazis thrown in) with an easy, wry tone to the narrative. I’m not sure if my frustration came because the author didn’t have enough information to make the tech stuff really authoritative, or in fact is such an expert he held back too much to avoid drowning the reader. But I felt it was all a bit too hazy in the details for me to really believe. And the way the story unfolded was neither cryptic enough to really tantalise, or smooth enough to really absorb. In truth, this reads like a tv series/ film script that the author adapted to book form in order to sell the project. It’s a good book, but will make a cracking adaptation. Can’t wait to watch it

Really enjoyed this book a real page turner, would recommend this book to anyone looking for an adventure. Looking forward to more from this author.

Complex read this one. Apt really as the world of the dark net is a very dark and complex world. It’s where you can buy, be and meet anyone, do anything and where criminals hang out without the fear of being caught. The darkest part of the web they call Gormorrah and this is only accessed through extreme vetting. There’s a high price to pay however as you end up giving up your life and freedom to these people who from that point on, ‘own’ you and have access to you life.

The story in itself is hard to summarise - Azi is a computer hacker and is looking into a group of neo-nazis with plans to enter and disrupt the German political scene. Then there’s Sigma who is sending him information about ISIS and their plans to plant 50 or so terrorists into Europe. Sigma is on the run and needs Azi’s help.

That’s just the start as the novel then follows these two people and their role in breaking free of the dark net and trying to answer the many questions they had. But the more theywork, the more questions they have. This is the dark net and bad people are planning bad things. If they find out that you’re watching them…

Their journey now will keep them in the shadows as they have to infiltrate Gomorrah and find out just what is going on. They have contacts, instructions, plans but it becomes a deadly game of cat and mouse for who can they trust if anyone?

Keep up! There’s terrorism, drugs, ISIS, political turmoil, dark forces, hacking and the illegal trade in everything you can think of, even people. There’s a lot of computer speak too but if you are familiar with that, it’s sure to ramp up the excitement. I kept up with it, but only just.


Exciting and it would make a good film, but the book lost me on more than one occasion.

Azi is a hacker and a master of the web, even in its darkest forms, so when tasked with a challenge from another underground master he cannot really resist. But can we really trust anybody online to be who they say they are, or to even be real?

This book feels so current, and frighteningly so in many ways. I liked the detail and tense and gritty prose. Looking forward to the next book!

I am lost for words to describe just how spectacular this book is right from the first few pages the story grips you and then you are a rollercoaster of a ride till the end. Although a techno thriller chock full of information about hacking, cyber crime, terrorism, the dark web and more the book just flows page after page flying by and yes you need to keep your wits about you to follow what’s going on but it's not a difficult read but just a brilliant story that I couldn’t put down and when I did I found myself thinking about it. The writing is superb with plenty of humour and I particularly loved the character AZ/ Azi an innocent hacker drawn into something far beyond his control as he tries to help a friend, the book travels from country to country at break neck speed leading to a hell of a thrilling finish and I loved every page !! I have seen this the first of a series of books set around the dark web and I wait with bated breath and impatience for the next, so I highly recommend this as a must read and suspect it’s going to be a big hit and would make a wonderful movie also, it’s a big 5 star read and many thanks to Tom Chatfield for a book to remember.
My thanks also to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I personally found this book quite confusing in that I’m not sure what audience it’s targeted at? Some of it reads as a YA book and some of it doesn’t. I think as other reviewers have said it would make a good film but for me it was confusing as a novel.

Definitely a move in the making, I raced through this tense thriller with plenty of humour and engaging characters. The twists aren't too obviously sign-posted and I found myself quite charmed by the hapless hero, though some of the luck he experienced requires a pinch of suspension of disbelief. I can definitely see a sequel on the horizon and would happily read it.

This is a fast-paced cyber thriller. I really enjoyed it. Some of the elements were tricky to follow, but that didn't matter. At it's heart it's really a story about betrayal and about how passion crosses into fanaticism so I didn't need to understand every bit of computer-speak.

My thanks to NetGalley and publisher Hodder & Stoughton for the ARC.
This is a bit of a complex read through the realms of false identities, computer hacking, terrorism, not least of all the world of the darknets - where bad things can be bought and sold by very bad people, and covert intelligence agencies. The darkest of the darkweb is Gomorrah. Access is only granted after thorough vetting, but the price to be paid is that Gomorrah will have access to, and own, your life.

Azi Bello (AZ) is a gifted computer hacker. His paid work, when he has time for it, is testing computer security systems for organisations. However, his 'hobby' is infiltrating, (presently) a group of neo-nazis headed by Tomi in Germany, called Defiance, with a view to compromising their groundswell of support to enter German politics. To them he is a white supremacist called Jim - this persona carefully backed up with a completely fictitious on-line life-story. He's gradually been proving his bona fides with the hierarchy as a worthy senior member of their organisation.

A fellow-hacker called Sigma, whom is suspects is a woman, sends AZ documents which suggest the Islamic Republic has somehow afforded to plant 50 terrorists in Europe, but he is doubtful that IS could have done this alone. Sigma believes the backer must be Gomorrah and, through AZ's Defiance contacts, they could access that information. Sigma's on the run and asks AZ to help her.

Enter Anna, who frightens the life out of Azi. From some clandestine organisation, Anna convinces Azi to meet with Sigma - who is actually a Munira Khan, and a person of some interest to them.

The story is told concurrently between Azi and Nabir who is one of Munira's cousins having been recruited to IS. He is in Syria and works with the media propaganda machine for IS. However, he's disillusioned and plans to escape through the trafficking routes into Turkey, armed with compromising information..

Azi & Munira 'escape' to Germany where Odi organises an apartment and equipment for them to begin their access into Gomorrah - everything directed by Anna and her organisation.
Azi's travels to avoid detection take us from Germany to Athens, to California.
Who has the resources and expertise to organise Gomorrah? Who is actually working for them? How can they be stopped?

This is a real page-turner because you really have to keep up! I personally had no idea what some of the computer-speak meant, but nevertheless the story was well-told and I feel would make a rather exciting film.