Fault Line-Barry Eisler

Fault Line
Barry Eisler
Ballantine, Apr 27 2010, $7.99
ISBN: 9780345505095

The inventor of Obsidian encryption security software Richard Hilzoy is euphoric that he is on his way to the top of Silicon Valley as he heads over to see his attorney Alex Treven. That is his last thought as someone fires a bullet into his brain. Alex had arranged financing and worked with the Patent Office as he understood what Richard created. When Alex learns Richard and the Patent Office analyst were murdered, he did not need his PH.D in computer science to conclude he is near the top if not next on a methodical hit list related to knowledge of Obsidian.

Alex needs help so he calls his estranged brother Ben, an undercover field agent. He quickly rushes to San Francisco where Alex explains the other knowledgeable person is Iranian-American law associate Sarah Hosseini. As the siblings continue their bickering started when tragedy struck their family as teens, but now with Sarah in the middle, they are in danger from unknown adversaries who want Obsidian under their control.

Over the top of Nob Hill and Stanford, Fault Line is an action-packed cyberthriller that grips the reader with the opening it and never slows down as the battling brothers better band together if they are to survive. Both are attracted to Sarah, but Ben distrusts her as he believes she is the enemy leak. Although It Never Rains in California, the siblings know it pours.

Harriet Klausner