Doomsday Virus

Doomsday Virus

Steven Barlow

Stone Arch, 2005

$22.60, LB

978-1598898712

February 4^th, 2012

Genre: Action, Thriller

Age: 8+

Description: A powerful computer virus will destroy the Internet and all computers in the world in two hours unless 14-year-old hacker, Tim Corder, can stop it. Will the government trust one of the world’s most wanted criminals in order to save the world?

Opinion: Young boys who aren’t so technically savvy or total computer geeks might enjoy this thriller. However, with how digitally smart kids are nowadays the thin plot might appear utterly stupid to some. First, Stone Arch needs to know what genres are. It labeled this book “science fiction”—I’m sorry but computer viruses are not science fiction material. So I was completely lead astray by the false genre label on the book when I actually picked the book up. Basically Tim is locked in a cell and has been for quite a while. Makepeace, from the CSA, and a doctor try to convince Tim to help them stop the virus in exchange for his freedom. Complex computer terms are used for a book aimed at younger readers but there is no glossary included to explain what those terms mean. A lot of effort is put into making the virus super hard to stop but Tim flies in and in mere seconds without even a minor blip fixes it. In the end, he is blackmailed—Makespeace wasn’t going to free him; however, while Tim was in the computer he did some hacking of his own and ends up escaping. Tim is a hard character to relate to or even sympathize with. He basically does what he wants and be damned the consequences. When he escapes no one is really rooting for him—he’s just a selfish young criminal despite the fact that he is in a maximum security jail cell for a crime that was essentially being a modern day Robin Hood—he stole money from a rich corporation and gave it to charity. These two facts don’t really match character wise—he really does seem to be a jerk of a teen that should be in jail for something actually bad. Also how the heck did he escape from a maximum security jail cell? I’m sorry but changing the codes on the door so he could get out but Makepeace couldn’t doesn’t mean he’s Scott-free—I would assume if he was so dangerous there would be a lot of people to stop him from reaching the front door of the building.