Overall rating and opinion of "Cynthia and Dan: Cyber War" by Dorothy May Mercer

[BrittaniDJ]

Just trying to read the first chapter was brutally boring. There was no depth to the characters. The dialogue seemed unrealistic. It was hard to follow what was happening and why. Very unimpressed with this book of the month choice. I don't at all see how this could take a whole month to discuss.

[BrittaniDJ]

I agree with all these posts. How this book can be discussed with any depth or enjoyment for a whole month is beyond me.

[DC Brown]

My overall opinion is very poor, I felt the flow of the book was choppy at best with two competing plot lines. I enjoyed the cyber war part of the book and found it interesting, but hard to follow. Cynthia's love life was poorly written and thrown in I think to give it more of an appeal, which it lacked.

The development of the characters were another issue for me as they were thoughtless. Sky was unbelievable at best, as he was supposed to be a major in the armed forces but reduced to nothing more than a stalker, and love sick schoolboy. These characteristics truly turned me off from the character. Dan was only introduced in a negative and stalking light with no clear ending which disturbed me as well. The author attempted to make Cynthia this independent woman, but at the same time ditzy and clueless.

If it weren't for the adult themes I would possibly recommend this for a teenager, but I would not recommend it to another adult.

I thought the character development was haphazard as well. Made me wonder if the book actually has two authors.

[Carmensto]

I can't help but agree with the negative reactions to the "love story" in this book. Sooo many questions just hanging around. Who is Sky? Did he stalk Cynthia before conveniently being there the day the drone was discovered? How does Cynthia, as chief of security for a government official, not sense something weird about their meeting? Also, why did she blindly follow him when he clearly led her where he wanted her to be? Also, why have sex with a random stranger who basically stole your car and kidnapped you? None of it makes sense!! Also, why does Glenn think to himself that he will keep his secrets only to include another in the fold of his mission? The timeline is super confusing! How long was Cynthia with Skyler at their first meeting? Seems like 24 some odd hours, but she later mentions 3 days in his presence. Also, why was Sky so obsessed with the possibility of her pregnancy? I get the morning after pill, but why the extra stuff?? Why buy pregnancy tests the day after you have sex? Does he think shes too dumb to buy her own? Also, I did not like the pills he gave her to induce miscarriage. This did nothing but speak of how horrible a person he is. He was basically encouraging abortion with a one night stand. Also, how can he declare affection for her when he doesn't know her at all?! It screams stalker, even though I'm sure it wasn't the author's intention.
On a positive note, the cyber war aspect was interesting and surprisingly believable. I plan to read next in series to find out more about this part of the story. I'm probably going to skip the garbage about Sky and Cynthia simply because it was too weird...

[danielleamy]

From what I have read of this, I did not like it at all. I was immediately put off from Cynthia's character after the first few chapters. I didn't warm to her as she started off the book by cheating on her boyfriend. She met a stranger who took her for dinner, then back to his apartment. He seemed quite creepy to me. This behaviour from an adult seems dangerous and slightly unrealistic. I didn't want to find out more about her life, or about Sky's. I struggled to read any more as I was too disinterested

[DC Brown]

With all the negative replies I'm reading, I wonder if the discussion will last a month! I did not enjoy this book, and could not recommend it to adults because it was too juvenile, and could not recommend it to juvenile readers because it had that 'R' rated section and the tedious discussion on day-after options.

[Aan Granados]

After reading the sample, I found the Romance part cheesy and unrealistic and forced. I would have wanted to read about the cyber war part but it seemed that the dialogue is a little rushed too. This doesn't seem like a serious type of book. To me, it's like a low budget movie!

[Brenda Creech]

I was not impressed with this book. I felt both Cynthia's and Sky's characters were lacking the luster they needed to make the story interesting. I didn't feel that Cynthia's character matched her job status! Someone in security should definitely have better judgment than to immediately trust a stranger and go to his apartment as Cynthia did at the beginning of the book. Sky was just weird! The Cyber War part was ok but not ok enough to make up for the rest of the story! Not one of my more interesting reads!

[TRACYTIF]

It's amazing this was picked for book of the month. Could give BOD a bad name. The beginning was ok but then veered totally off topic to a sloppy, unrealistic romance. Who really jumps into bed with someone they have just met in the street? In DC, no less. And not knowing his last name. Sky is disgustingly patronizing. There are really two separate stories here, and the author should drop one of them down the toilet.

[Verna Coy]

I didn't like this book very much either. It was great as a spy novel, not so great as a romance. I felt that Sky's character wasn't developed enough before the 'romance' was dropped on the reader.
I didn't like the way Sky showed up 'not recommending' abortion/miscarriage, but at the same time, procuring all the drugs necessary to cause it.
The cover, although it was appropriate considering the 'cloud' aspect of the digital age, lacked personality enough to draw a reader at first glance.
Also: Can anyone tell me how my review of this book got posted as a topic (which cannot be replied to) on the review forum, while it still has not been published yet? I didn't post it, so I'm curious. Great discussion everyone! I appreciate your opinions and input!

[HRichards]

The technical aspects of writing a spy novel were done pretty well with this book, but the characterization was very awkward and clunky. Sky came across as downright creepy

[Dikay127]

I personally loved this book. I thought all the aspects, both romance and cyber, were entertaining. I think the book flowed well and I thought the cyber aspect of it was really interesting. The only thing I didnt like was how ditzy Cynthia seemed at times when her character is clearly supposed to be this intelligent and capable woman.

[Soonerchick656]

I started reading this book

[Soonerchick656]

I started reading the book but just couldn't get into the storyline. Many books I want to finish just to have closure, but this book just didn't do that for me. I believe the author did a terrific job writing the book, it just wasn't for me. The cover, in my opinion, was very lacking. It provided nothing for the idea of a book. It just needed "more".

[MirageParul]

I couldn't even finish reading the sample, I disliked the book so much. I'm not the right person to give a rating, but based on the first few pages I definitely won't recommend this to anyone.
The title did not do justice to the anti-terrorist aspect of the book. Also, the multiple subplots mentioned in the official review (pregnancy, abortion, adultery) were off-putting to me.