Wednesday, May 14, 2014

BLOG TOUR: Assured Destruction by Michael F. Stewart


Welcome to the Official Blog Tour for Assured Destruction, the first book of the Assured Destruction series, by Michael F. Stewart! I will be reviewing the series!

Book 1:
Genre:
Young Adult Mystery Thriller
Series:
Assured Destruction Series
Publish Date:
March 22, 2013
Publisher:
Non Sequitor Press

Synopsis:
You can learn a lot about someone looking through their hard drive...

Sixteen-year-old Jan Rose knows that nothing is every truly deleted. At least, not from the hard drives she scours to create the online identities she calls the Shadownet.

Hobby? Art form? Sad, pathetic plea to garner friendship, even virtually? Sure, Jan is guilty on all counts. Maybe she's even addicted to it. It's an exploration. Everyone has something to hide. The Shadownet's hard drives are Jan's secrets. They're stolen from her family's computer recycling business Assured Destruction. If the police found out, Jan's family would lose its livelihood.

When the real people behind Shadownet's hard drives endure vicious cyber attacks, Jan realizes she is responsible. She doesn't know who is targeting these people or why but as her life collapses, Jan must use all her tech savvy to bring the perpetrators to justice before she becomes the next victim.


   

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*My Thoughts*
A definite enjoyable and thrilling read! In today's technical world, anything can happen and that's what happened to Jan. Jan is extremely talented with computers and creates her own "world" with it. Assured Destruction does touch on an issue of "cyberbullying" that many teenagers suffer today. I loved that that Michael F. Stewart created a story with strong characters which made it encouraging that youths today can stand up against bullying. Although Jan and her mother has suffered hardships, Jan does not allow that to bring her down, but she gains strength because of it. She knows that she has a lot of responsibilities, especially since her mother is sickly. But a cyber attack on her challenges her to face the mistakes she's made and find out who and why she has been targeted.

An incredibly thrilling and suspenseful storyline that kept me guessing the "whodunit" question. With well developed characters and descriptive settings, Michael F. Stewart definitely kept me wondering who was behind these cyber attacks on herself and her friends...it could be anyone! What a mystery to solve...with a little suspense and danger!

My Rating

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Book 2:
Genre:
Young Adult Mystery Thriller
Series:
Assured Destruction Series
Publish Date:
August 31, 2013
Publisher:
Non Sequitor Press

Synopsis:
Jan Rose no longer steals data from the old computers she recycles. She doesn't need to. As the newest member of the police department’s High Tech Crime Unit, the laptop of a murderer has landed on her desk. Her job: to profile and expose a killer.

But that’s not all.

A creep lurks in the shadows, stalking a friend, and Jan must stop him before the hunt turns deadly. The clock counts down for Jan to save her friend, her job, her boyfriend--maybe even her life.


   

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*My Thoughts*
The beginning of Script Kiddie continues right after book one, Assured Destruction, Jan is given a chance to change and use her talents to help others. In the first few chapters also gives a brief recap of the events in the first book that led up to this second installment of the series. But, trouble seems to follow Jan no matter what she does. Although her heart is in the right place, trouble just seems to follow her.

I definitely enjoyed this second book in the series. With the well developed characters and descriptive setting, Michael F. Stewart brought Jan's story to life. And, again, Michael has brought in another intriguing mystery that even Jan is powerless to avoid. Jan's curiosity and compassion to help her friends and family just keeps getting her into trouble. Even with all the mystery and suspense, Jan tries to live a normal teenage life.

A definitely fun, thrilling and, I'd say, a coming of age book that keeps you guessing still.

My Rating

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Book 3:
  
Genre:
Young Adult Mystery Thriller
Series:
Assured Destruction Series
Publish Date:
March 31, 2014
Publisher:
Non Sequitor Press

Synopsis:
The final book in the Assured Destruction series!

Jan Rose may already be expunged from the police department's High Tech Crime Unit. Her mother's hospitalized, and Assured Destruction's on the cusp of bankruptcy. But Jan doesn't wait on anything, she seeks out the customers who used to keep the family business afloat. That's when everything starts to go wrong.

A computer virus--aka the Zombie Worm--threatens not only her school and Shadownet, but the entire city. A skull with a chain running through its socket links a powerful gang to her former customers, and holds the secrets to why her father left and the identity of her mother's boyfriend.

To save her family and the business, Jan must determine who is friend and who is foe. And decide what type of hacker she wishes to become: Gray, white, or black. Not only her life hangs in the balance.


   

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*My Thoughts*
Wow! Even with all the mystery and suspense, I was brought to tears with this final installment of this series. As we know from the first two books, Jan has gotten herself into multiple predicaments, which seems to always implicate her as the culprit. As Jan's troubles pile up, she tries to solve things herself, but she learns that she can't. This is definitely a mystery that kept me turning the page! I even got suspicious of these characters...haha! As Jan was getting closer and closer to getting the answers that she has been asking herself for some time since her father left, every thing that has happened to her became even more clearer as to how it was all connected.

This final installment was filled with suspense,action, and some humor as Jan revealed the truth behind all her troubles...personal and otherwise. I couldn't stop turning the pages...that's how I was completely engrossed into Jan's plight. I thoroughly loved it! I could even see this as a movie...that's how descriptive and well developed Michael F. Stewart's characters, setting and plot was. 

My Rating

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Assured Destruction: The Complete Series


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**About the Author**
After crewing shops in the Antarctic and the Baltic Sea and some fun in venture capital, Michael anchored himself (happily) to a marriage and a boatload of kids. Now he injects his adventurous spirit into his writing with brief respites for research into the jungles of Sumatra and Guatemala, the ruins of Egypt and Tik'al, paddling the Zambezi and diving whatever cave or ocean reef will have him. He is a member of the International Thriller Writers and SF Canade, and the author of the Assured Destruction series, 24 Bones, The Sand Dragon, Hurakan, Ruination and several award winning graphic novels for young adults. His most recent project, The Terminals, has been optioned for television by Sudden Storm Entertainment.

Michael lives in Ottawa, Canada with his wife and four daughters. He tries very hard to keep life an adventure both on and off the page.

Stay connected with Michael F. Stewart
  

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***The Giveaway***




Blog Tour Organized by

4 comments:

  1. SO awesome to have a reviewer read the three straight through, Jasmine! I'm really glad you enjoyed the series and thank you so much for helping spread the word. If you or anyone has any questions, I'll be around all week!

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    1. It is absolutely my pleasure to support and to spread the word about amazing books! I enjoyed the series AND I loved it! Definitely a could not put down series! Thanks for the opportunity to read it!

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  2. This sounds like such a fun and exciting series! Glad you liked it, Jasmine! Great reviews! :)

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    1. It definitely was a thrilling and fun read! Thanks Giselle for organizing it! Thanks!

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