D.E.M.: Deus Ex Machina
By Lee Ness
4.5/5
()
About this ebook
The email pinged again. The attachment was a picture of the door to her flat. She reeled. Clasping her hand to her mouth as she retched again.
“It was never about the money, Rachel. It was always about you. I could use someone with your skills. I’ll be in touch. I know where you live. D.E.M.”
No good turn goes unpunished!
When Rachel is spurred to use her computing skills to find an abducted boy, she has no idea that it will bring her to the attention of an anonymous vigilante. Is the vigilante what he seems and what does he want with Rachel?
Rachel is coerced by the mysterious D.E.M. to carry out hacking on seemingly innocuous companies, helped by her friends Deborah, Cam and Cam’s ill-tempered boss, Dave.
As she gets drawn deeper into their world, she tries to find out more, only to put herself and her friends in grave danger.
When she finally realises that the mysterious D.E.M. isn’t a vigilante at all, Rachel is in a race against time to save her friends and prevent an escalation in the war between Israel and Palestine.
Lee Ness
Lee Ness writes both fiction and non-fiction books and non-fiction articles. His first book The Sports Motivation Master Plan passes on the experience of many years coaching athletes in multiple sports. His second book, Growth: Using the Mindset Model for Sporting Success, is a mini-book aimed at parents, coaches and athletes but is now included in the 3rd Edition of the Masterplan. Lee's articles appear in Athletics Weekly, on speedendurance.com and on stack.com. Lee is Chairman at City of Salisbury Athletics and Running Club. He has written two historical novels set in Ancient Greece and three espionage thrillers.
Read more from Lee Ness
Growth: Using the Mindset Model for Sporting Success Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Sports Motivation Master Plan Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsD.E.M.: Quid Pro Quo Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHoplite: Olympian Book 1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCadet: Olympian Book 2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSon of a Gun Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to D.E.M.
Related ebooks
A Shot of Horror Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVengeance is Mine Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMidnight Abduction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Seeing Things Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5His Hacker: A Geeky Forbidden Romance Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Written in Blood: Keller County Cops, #5 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Killing Death Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBreathe Me: A Bad Boy Romance: Shattered, #3 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsExpired Secrets: Last Chance County, #2 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Deadly Holidays: Double Down, #4 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Covert Exposure Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSweet Silence Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLancelot: Abby Chilton Novels, #3 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHis Infatuation: An Older Brother's Best Friend Romance Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Cursed To Love: Doctors in Love Series, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLoving Gia to Death Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStanding on the Wings of Eagles: Leaving a Legacy from Generation to Generations Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCash Burn Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Africa Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSweet Revenge: Hip Pocket Romances, #3 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCursed Smile: contos, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Mother's Love Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFool Me Twice Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLethal Corruption Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRansom X Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All Hallows Reunion Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRatline: Hamelin's Child, #5 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Harvest the Light: A young man's enlightenment and reactions Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMahogany Letters: A Short Stories Collection Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhen Rain Falls Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Thrillers For You
The Paris Apartment: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Perfect Marriage: A Completely Gripping Psychological Suspense Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Girl Who Was Taken: A Gripping Psychological Thriller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sympathizer: A Novel (Pulitzer Prize for Fiction) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fairy Tale Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Housemaid Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rock Paper Scissors: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Kind Worth Killing: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Finn Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hidden Pictures: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Flight: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Golden Spoon: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rose Code: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Pretty Girls: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Animal Farm Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Institute: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Billy Summers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Terminal List: A Thriller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Huntress: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Needful Things Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Family Upstairs: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Long Walk Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Only Good Indians Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shantaram: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Eyes of the Dragon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Maidens: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I'm Thinking of Ending Things: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for D.E.M.
5 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5D.E.M. - Deus Ex Machina is Lee Ness's contemporary thriller on computer hacking and its consequences, both intentional as unintentional. Rachel by impulse reacts to a mysterious email in a desire to justify a recent aduction. Buying a top notch door for her appartment, she forgets basic warnings. Key holders are the weakest links in physical entrance solutions. The same applies for her new Vortex computer. Smart guy and helping hand Cam, and Deb, her so-called innocent neighbour are part of a complot that intrigues Rachel further and further. Emails containing hacking assignments, larger rewards. What starts small ends up in breaking in defense systems providers, impacting allied nations. Geek boy Cam's out for more than computer help, but the flirting offsets Rachel for a long time. It's humorous for the reader to see this play alongside the hacking story line.Several twists keep the pace at high level, building up to a kind of perfect crime completely getting out of hand. You wonder what Ness invents as near escape and happy end. The author really keeps you engaged until the very last page, thanks to the unpredictable course of events. Nothing proves what it seemed to be. Thee main 4 characters are developed and change relationships throughout the book. Great work.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rachel wants to do the right thing. She tries to help locate an abducted child through her computer skills and ends up finding herself in over her head. Not only is she involved when she hears from a vigilante with other jobs, but she seeks out the help of her friend Cam and drags him into the middle of all of this. Each job she and Cam completes leads them deeper until they’re not sure if they’re working for the good guys or the bad guys. This book is like riding a rollercoaster. You think you know where you’re going in the story then you’re brought over the top on your way to another twist in the story. If you’re not real computer knowledgeable don’t worry, the author has written it in a manner that those of us who know nothing about hacking, etc. can follow along just fine. As you travel this path with them you realize that the money they receive can’t be a good thing because if they don’t do what D.E.M. wants they could be killed. This is one of those books where you know the main character’s initial intentions were good, but saw they were making poor choices that would set it up to take you on a twisting turning thrill ride. Lee Ness did an excellent job of keeping the tension throughout the story.I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sometimes an impulse decision can start a whole chain reaction of events. This was the case with Rachel when she decided to use her computer skills to help find an abducted child. Her efforts bring her to the attention of an anonymous vigilante who keeps contacting her through email. The vigilante keeps emailing missions for Rachel to complete and each one gets more difficult.Rachel finds that she is getting to deeply involved in a dangerous game. The computer hacking she is asked to do becomes more difficult so she enlists the help of friends. As the stakes get higher Rachel finds out without knowing it that she has been enlisted into a secret organization. Her next mission will be to prevent a war between Israel and Palestine.I have to admit when I heard about D.E.M. Deus Ex Machina by Lee Ness I was apprehensive. Its a spy novel and it had a lot about computers in it. As far as reading goes, this isn’t what I usually like, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I decided to give it a shot because I thought it would be fun to read something that was different and it blew me away.In the beginning I was a little confused as to what was going on because the action moved so quickly. We start with an abduction with Rachel deciding she has to do something, then we see that Rachel’s actions have brought her to the attention of someone who is extremely dangerous. This all happens in a few pages, then we get into the mystery of who is giving Rachel strange tasks via email to complete and what do they really want from her.The first half of the book I was trying to guess who the person was that was giving Rachel things to do. Right when I felt I had it figured out the story goes in a completely different direction and goes from a mystery to a fast paced action novel. D.E.M. Deus Ex Machina has everything you could want in a book. The characters are fascinating and full of surprises and the story never gets boring. This book starts with a bang, slows down to let you have a vested interest in the characters then takes you on a roller coaster ride. This novel has a perfect plot and is a well told unpredictable story.Another thing that amazed me about this book is all the computer terminology in it. Lee Ness must have a lot of computer experience or did a lot of research because he gives a lot of information that went over my head. I enjoyed it because I felt I was learning while I read. The best part of the book is the characters in it. No one was what they seemed to be and the relationship between the main 4 characters changes throughout the book. There is never a dull moment in D.E.M. Deus Ex Machina and I found myself thinking it would make an excellent action movie. If you love spy novels, this one is great one. I saw on Lee Ness’s website that he is currently working on a sequel so I’m happy to see that this will be a series. Give this book a try you won’t be disappointed.