Terms of Use by Scott Allan Morrison Published by Thomas & Mercer on January 1st 2016
Genres: Thriller
Pages: 355
Format: eBook, Kindle Book
Source: NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer
Circles is the most popular social network in the world: vast, ubiquitous, and constantly evolving. Days before expanding into China, Circles suffers a devastating cyberattack—and a key executive is brutally murdered.
As he fights to save the company he helped build, top engineer Sergio Mansour uncovers evidence of a massive conspiracy that turns the power of Circles against its users. But as Sergio investigates, someone is watching his every move—someone ruthless enough to brand him a criminal and set a vicious hit man on his trail.
Desperate to clear his name, Sergio turns to Malina Olson, a beautiful and headstrong doctor who has an agenda of her own. Now, he and Malina must survive long enough to expose the truth in a world without hiding places, where a single keystroke can shift the global balance of power.
**Special thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for supplying my copy of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.**
Terms of Use is the first novel for Scott Allan Morrison. I was lucky enough to have two copies. I purchased my copy through Kindle First, then I received an advanced copy from NetGalley. Well, Lucky me 🙂
In Terms of Use, Sergio Mansour is a high tech professional at Circles. Circles is a social network that is booming and goes way beyond Facebook. He was one of the first founders and dedicated a lifetime in circles. While getting ready to expand in China, Circles faces a very brutal attack that gets all its servers down and damages its reputation as a secured social network.
While working on getting Circles back to life, things get even worse and Sergio is forced to face his worst nightmare. In a fast paced thriller, we follow the plot to discover who can be behind this brutal attack and even worse, we discover more secrets that …., well enough spoilers!
I really enjoyed this thriller the most. To add to the thrilling experience, I ordered the audio narration. I spent my time switching between reading and listening so literally I had this book around me all the time. The book was very well written with a fast pace that got me on the edge of my seat. Being in the high tech field myself, I enjoyed Scott’s ability to use technical terms efficiently and eloquently. To me, it felt like a colleague describing those servers and security issues. There was no moment when I felt bored. The characters were so well written especially Sergio. I really loved Sergio. Who wouldn’t?!
The book also raises a very important issue. Are we really secured online? I have been reading about this issue a lot. I think we just have and enjoy the false relieving belief that we are secured.
Finally, this is a very interesting thriller. I will be waiting for more books by Scott Allan Morrison.
About Scott Allan Morrison
Scott Allan Morrison was a journalist for almost twenty years, covering politics, business, and technology in Mexico, Canada, and the United States. Morrison arrived in Silicon Valley as a reporter for the Financial Times during the darkest days of the dot-com crash. He later wrote about the Web 2.0 boom for Dow Jones Newswires and the Wall Street Journal. Over the course of a decade, Morrison covered most of the world’s top tech companies and chronicled many of Silicon Valley’s greatest stories, including the rise of Internet insecurity and the explosion of social media. Before setting his sights on journalism, he spent four years teaching English and traveling in Southeast Asia. He speaks fluent Spanish and very rusty Mandarin. He lives in Northern California with his wife and his hockey sticks.