Riveting read of high tech crime and punishment.
Peter interviews for a high paying tech job in a prestigious consulting firm.
Surprised when he gets the job, he is immediately thrown right into an overseas assignment that
seems above his pay grade and expertise.
When a massive cyber hack threatens many of his firm's clients, Peter, along with all the other new
employees hired when he was, finds himself fired and being considered as the possible ransom hacker.
Suspense builds and non-stop action follows as the story plays on.
Excellent and well defined characters who jump.off the pages.
And the story itself could be headlines in any newspaper or newscast, any day, anywhere in the world.
Very topical and easily relatable in today's very high tech business world.
Unfortunately.
Great read if a bit too technical in jargon every now and again.

I really enjoyed System Lockout. It is a gripping and very current thriller about ambition, cybercrime and what happens when the life you thought you had built suddenly disappears.

Peter Beamish goes through a demanding interview process to secure what appears to be a brilliant opportunity with the prestigious consultancy firm Lex Savart. He has barely had time to settle into the role before he is sent on an important international assignment and drawn into a world that seems far beyond what he expected.

Then, without warning or explanation, everything ends.

Peter is dismissed, along with the other recent recruits, just as major infrastructure companies are being targeted by cybercriminals demanding huge ransoms. What first appears to be the sudden loss of a job quickly becomes something much more dangerous, as Peter begins to question why he was recruited, why he was removed and whether he is being positioned to take the blame.

For me, the strongest part of the book was Peter’s journey from excitement and disbelief at landing the role to fear, isolation and a determination to uncover the truth. The change in his circumstances happens so quickly that you immediately feel how little control he has over what is happening around him.

The story becomes a race to understand who is behind the attacks and why. As witnesses begin to disappear and the danger moves closer, Peter has to decide who he can trust while trying to stay one step ahead of people who appear willing to do anything to protect themselves.

The cybercrime element feels particularly relevant. The idea that essential services and major organisations could be brought to a standstill is believable and unsettling. There is some technical detail, but it helps create the sense that Peter has entered a complicated world where information can be just as dangerous as any weapon.

This is a fast moving and intelligent thriller with strong characters and a plot that could easily have come from today’s headlines. I enjoyed the way the mystery gradually unfolded and how Peter was forced to look back at every stage of his recruitment to understand what had really happened.

A very enjoyable and topical read that kept me interested from beginning to end.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

A very modern premise makes for a gripping and all too believable read. It is a reminder that when something seems too good to be true, it usually is. I really enjoyed the information about cyber crime and felt the layering of the human impacts was done extremely well.