Srepska by Lucas Sterling

Srepska is an international political and financial thriller written by Lucas Sterling.

After a cyber-attack that paralyzes the payment system in Kenya, Fredric Ulrich of Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), the German intelligence agency, is sent to Budapest to investigate. Besides getting nearly killed, Fredric discovers a plot of Srepska, a criminal cabal, to launch a massive cyber-attack to destabilize the economy of the United States.

Not knowing whom to trust, Ulrich acts warily but chooses to stay in the US to watch everything unfold.

Meanwhile, Lars Christopherson receives an offer too lucrative to refuse. As he works on the job, he comes across with Ulrich and they, themselves, become targets of a powerful cabal wreaking havoc in the mightiest country in the world.   

Told in the third person perspective, this is an exciting political and financial thriller with a great and timely plot. Subjects include cybercrime, blackmail, kidnapping and unexpected partnership and friendship. The book is, all in all, an easy read and given the realistic description of the panic caused by payment system failure a very interesting reading material.

What I like most about the book is the likelihood that something like this would happen anytime in any country. It displays how dependent we have become to online transactions and the paralyzing effect it would have on our daily lives. It sends various messages for readers to contemplate on.

However, though it is for the most part fast-paced and thrilling, some parts are somehow dragging. Moreover, I find the characters less developed than I hoped. It seems like the author focused more on the protagonists’ professional skills and abilities, military training and law degree but less on personal life. That makes it somehow difficult to connect with the characters. Finally, given the action-filled and suspenseful chapters, I find the ending less climactic than I expected.

Still, I enjoyed this book immensely. I find it a little scary which I think is part of the author’s objective in writing the novel. I recommend it to fans of political thrillers and cybercrime novels.

Congratulations to Lucas Sterling on such an exciting book!   

Srepska was an OnlineBookClub.org Book of the Day on January 2^nd . You may check it out at Online Book Club.