Brain Jack by Brian Falker

SPOILER ALERT~ This review contains details that could spoil the reading of this book.

Falker, Brian. 2010. Brain Jack. Random House. New York: New York.
ISBN: 9780375843662
Science Fiction
Grades 6 - 9

Through a series of major hacking events, Sam lands in jail, only to find that all of these incidents are actually tests to see if he qualifies to be on a special task force that prevents hacking attacks on international secure sites. He begins successfully but through the use of neuro-headsets, the world is becoming connected and in that connection there is a birth of an artificial intelligence, Ursula. Ursula is infantile in reactions when it comes to protecting itself. When Sam escapes from Ursual's control, she seeks to destroy Sam, as well as his friends Dodge and Vienna. Knowing that Sam is a threat to her existence, Ursula creates false memories in people of authority as they wear the headsets, memories that make them seek out Sam to arrest. More importantly, Dodge has created a virus that could nullify Ursula but first he must find a place to upload it that is free from Ursula’s influence – Cheyenne Mountain, Wyoming. Aided by Tyler, a special forces op leader, they are successful in reaching Wyoming but Ursula manages to negate the virus, leaving it up to Sam to enter into the mental fray with Ursula via a headset. Ultimately he meets her on her own grounds and begins healing the damage she has caused in the world.

The pacing of the book is outstanding! There is nonstop action once the story begins leaving little opportunities for the reader to stop and take a breath. All young adults secretly dream of being the best at something, at helping to overcome terribly odds and emerging as a hero. Sam, while a computer whiz, is also an average nerdy kid who helps young readers achieve vicariously the dream of being a hero.

The many parts all works together in eliciting questions from the reader through deft foreshadowing as well as maintaining threads of continuity from one event to the next- threads of rights, responsibilities, and more. Ultimately the reader will be left wondering if Sam had the right to do what he did in healing the international rifts and literally programming people to do what’s right through subconscious threats. This is an excellent book to begin discussions about individual rights and freedom of thought. This is a must have for any collection, one reason being that good Science Fiction can be hard to come by for this age group.