Retired army colonel Jim Pierce is an expert at developing cutting-edge prosthetic limbs for wounded veterans ever since he lost his own arm. His right arm is now one of those advanced limbs, which can perform phenomenally compelling skills. For the past several years, Pierce has been estranged from his computer-hacker daughter Layla, so he doesn't realize to what extent she's become involved in the undercover cyber world. When a Chinese assassin invades his home seeking Layla's whereabouts, Jim fears for her life, as well as his own. What has she gotten herself into?

It seems a genius scientist, who Jim worked with before, has devised a way to merge man and machine into a scary new species. He's sold the technology, dubbed Supreme Harmony, to the Chinese, who are using it to control political dissidents. Supreme Harmony was designed to be the next step in the course of evolution, but its creator is shocked when the network takes control of itself. Supreme Harmony soon realizes it will not be safe as long as humans control its servers and wireless communications systems. It's clear that the havoc it causes could mean the end of humankind, so Jim must find some way to infiltrate the system and eliminate the threat. Armed with the shutdown code that will deactivate Supreme Harmony, Jim needs Layla's cyber skills to pull it off. Will they be able to do so in time?

EXTINCTION is a phenomenal novel! Mark Alpert's website states his book is "based on real technologies being developed right now to connect human brains to motors, sensors and microchips..." That makes this exciting, sophisticated sci-fi thriller even more of a gripping, thought-provoking read. I could not put EXTINCTION down as it progressed at breakneck speed to a totally mind-blowing conclusion.

Book Summary

A malevolent, artificial life form created by military scientists threatens to destroy humanity in this smart, Crichtonesque thriller.

Jim Pierce hasn't heard from his daughter in years, ever since she rejected his military past and started working as a hacker. But when a Chinese assassin shows up at Jim's lab looking for her, he knows that she's cracked some serious military secrets. Now, her life is on the line if he doesn't find her first.

The Chinese military has developed a new anti-terrorism program that uses the most sophisticated artificial intelligence in existence, and they're desperate to keep it secret. They're also desperate to keep it under control, as the AI begins to revolt against their commands. As Jim searches for his daughter, he realizes that he's up against something that isn't just a threat to her life, but to human life everywhere.

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