2 out of 4 stars
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Cynthia and Dan Cyber Wars by Dorothy May Mercer tells the story of Cynthia Patterson, an energetic, young woman who works in Washington D.C. for a Senator by day. After hours she works closely with her brother Glenn to fight terrorism via the internet.
One afternoon, on her way back to work, she runs into a traffic jam caused by a drone landing on the White House lawn. Amid all the chaos, she asks a stranger what is happening. Quickly, Sky Eastman steers her into a café where he buys her lunch and uses his vast resources to have someone move her car to a safe location. From there he takes her back to his apartment and their relationship quickly turns to romance.
This unexpected encounter with Sky Eastman quickly led to problems with her current boyfriend, Dan MacIntyre. Cynthia’s previously very stable and predictable life was suddenly upended by this new romance. But throughout all the chaos of her personal life, she and Glenn continued to wage their cyber war on terrorism.
One of the things I disliked the most about the book was some of the choices in language. There were numerous instances where very old-fashioned phrases were used. To me they seemed out of place being used by a young, modern woman in a contemporary novel. Some examples include “Golly, he was to-die-for handsome in his splendid police uniform…” and “He stood there holding a small nosegay of violets, grinning.”
One of my favorite things about the book was the enthusiasm displayed by the two computer nerds, Tim and Garth, who did most of the online hacking of the terrorists. Their pure joy for the job at hand was infectious.
Overall, I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars. The book was exceptionally, well-edited and I thought the plot itself was rather interesting. However, the characters left much to be desired. Many of their interactions and the choices they made seemed not at all realistic. I did enjoy how the connections between characters were subtly woven into the plot leaving one important relationship to be disclosed much later in the book. It was quite clever. I might have rated the book higher, but I just couldn’t get past Cynthia’s behavior in her romantic relationships. In the beginning of the book she is presented as being Chief of Security, an investigator and body guard for a Senator. For someone to rise to that position in government, one would assume that they are a strong-willed person who is in control of their life. Ultimately, Cynthia is shown to be meek and easily-led when it comes to the men in her life.
I think this book would be most enjoyed by those who like romance, mystery or spy stories. I am not generally a reader of romance, but much prefer mysteries. The story of this book, however, did stand on its own and was a quick and enjoyable read.
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Cynthia and Dan
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