Hero O'Reilly and The Phantom Hacker by K. G. White

What do you get when you mix a grumpy programmer who looks a lot like a turtle, a hacker who is attempting to get into your computer network and a very large dog named Emma with an enthusiastic tail? Well, if you are Hero O’Reilly, you just stir gently and add an established Cyber X-Man for help, a dozen or so boxes of Peeps for comfort, some advice with from your best friend and a sexy Very Special FBI Agent. The result? A fast, fun trip through the emerging world of computer crime. Hero (yes, that is really her name, she was named for a character in a Shakespearean play by her English Lit Professor Mom) discovers that a hacker is busy spreading malevolent cyber bread crumbs all over her little piece of a big national bank’s network. Clues that are strange and mixed up and don’t really fall into any prevailing hacking methods. It is a problem that attracts the notice of one of the major network security gurus as well as the Feds. Not only that, but things start getting really ugly when strictly non-cyber techniques, such as bombs and kidnapping, start being used by the bad guy. Definitely not just for teckies, Hero’s story is a total confection rather than a bitter pill. An interesting, entertaining and engaging read. Hero is fun to know and even more fun to have adventure’s with.