This book had my interest at the author’s name, I didn’t need to read the blurb to know I was in for an exciting technothriller. Reece Hirsch previously penned the series about a lawyer investigating Chinese hacking, ‘Chris Bruen’, and his initial offering with ‘Lisa Tanchik’ is called BLACK NOWHERE, about the Dark Web. More shady dealings begin in DARK TOMORROW.

NatalyaX is a computer agent, probably working for Russia, infiltrating and harming American systems. Lisa Tanchik, FBI cyberwar instructor, believes the Russian GRU is behind the killing of a threat-aware agent. This unfortunate man opened a malicious attachment which caused a strobe lighting file to play, triggering his epilepsy. With various personnel injured or killed by different malware attacks, the NSA/CyberCom investigation gets serious, just as the power supply is cut off from major generating stations. This can’t be a coincidence. A Ukrainian computer expert called Arkady Orlov is detailed to assist. He tells Lisa that Russia has been testing out similar methods on Ukraine for years.

I like Arkady, he is resigned but forward-looking and presents the good face of the Russian or Ukrainian person today. Lisa meets him at CyberCom where she doesn’t immediately take to him, given everyone is tense, Arkady appears to have high level access, and the city is darkened and cold. The more they work together the better she gets to appreciate this pragmatic but helpful man. However, Lisa already has a life partner; kind of, in that they share a home but not, so far as I can see, much of a life.

James Bond this isn’t. The beautiful blonde spy NatalyaX is either behind a computer screen or callously murdering elderly people. Most of the action occurs in Washington or New York district Brooklyn, without power, so there is no glamour. Look out for the hacked car, and the outcomes of critical infrastructure being offline. And watch out for that toxic nerve agent, Novichok. If all this makes you want to grab a copy of DARK TOMORROW and start reading, that’s probably a good decision. Reece Hirsch bases his work on tech that is already possible, or in place. We should know how our dependence on electrical power, computer servers and other tech makes us vulnerable, and who might be interested in exploiting these situations. As always in thrillers, don’t get too attached to anyone.   

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