Cyber Genius: A Family Genius Mystery, #3

By Patricia Rice

Poison, passion, pandemonium

 

Anastasia Devlin is a genius at organizing her eccentric family and her online clients, but she seriously doesn't have time for playing detective. 

 

Then her super-geeky teenage brother Tudor claims his hacker worm has escaped and is chewing through the Internet. This, followed by the news that the executives of a major computer company have croaked from exotic fish poison, sets Ana's danger radar pinging. Soon, Tudor is running from government agents, a trained assassin, and corporate spies.

 

Tudor's worm might have led to murder, but Ana's landlord—the infuriatingly competent Amadeus Graham—could take the fall. Before long, Ana has four bodies, dozens of suspects, and more trouble than she can count. On top of which, the Internet is on the brink of collapse. 

 

Finally Ana gets more than a glimpse of sexy Graham, the enigmatic tycoon who holds the family's inheritance hostage. But this time, she holds the trump card and is about to secure their future—if she lives long enough.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FAMILY GENIUS SERIES IN ORDER:

Book #1: Evil Genius

Book #2: Undercover Genius

Book #3:  Cyber Genius

Book #4: Twin Genius

Book #5: Twisted Genius

 

On EVIL GENIUS: "This thought-provoking story includes a convoluted mystery and some fascinating characters. The interactions between Ana and the mysterious Amadeus are delightful. The ending will leave readers longing for more stories about this captivating heroine and her gifted half-siblings." Susan Mobley, RT Book Reviews 4 stars

• Language: English
• Publisher: Book View Cafe
• Release date: Sep 29, 2015
• ISBN: 9781611385397

Book preview

Cyber Genius

Cyber Genius

FAMILY GENIUS #3

PATRICIA RICE

Book View Café

Contents

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Author’s Note

Magda’s Family

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

Eleven

Twelve

Thirteen

Fourteen

Fifteen

Sixteen

Seventeen

Eighteen

Nineteen

Twenty

Twenty-one

Twenty-two

Twenty-three

Twenty-four

Twenty-five

Twenty-six

Twenty-seven

Family Genius Series

Psychic Solutions

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Acknowledgments

About the Author

Also by Patricia Rice

About Book View Café

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Author’s Note

The Family Genius mysteries were conceived in a politically fraught era (I’m not sure I remember when politics weren’t fraught) when I was looking for escapism. They’re told in the tradition of tall tales with tongue in cheek and a dash of wicked humor. Do not expect reality, or even CSI.

I am not capable of writing fast enough to produce an entire series within the single year in which these stories take place. I have left current events and technology as if it were the year I wrote the first book. Anyone with a modicum of political knowledge will recognize that ten years after 9/11/01 does not correspond with a Senator Paul Rose—or anyone similar— running for office. All characters are fictional and entirely the product of my warped imagination and probably my bad upbringing.

What is truly amazing—all these years later—is that nothing has really changed.

Magda’s Family

Rathbone Maximillian – Magda’s father, a meddling Hungarian-American billionaire, poisoned by the secretive cabal called Top Hat.

Anastasia Devlin – age 30; self-employed as virtual assistant and self-appointed family caretaker; daughter of Magda’s first husband, Brody Devlin, an Irish revolutionary

Nicholas Maximillian – age 25; Magda’s illegitimate son by Lord Terence Arbuthnot; educated in Britain and has a dual passport; works for British embassy in DC

Patra Llewellyn – age 23; journalist; father Patrick Llewellyn, English journalist who embedded in one too many war zones.

Tudor Bullfinch – age 16, educated in Britain, has 3 passports; father is traveling English and Australian merchant currently on third or fourth wife.

Elizabeth Georgiana Maximillian (EG) – age 9; illegitimate daughter of cheating Senator Ewell (Tex) Hammond; half-sister of Eloise, Tex’s legitimate daughter.

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ADDITIONAL CHARACTERS:

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Amadeus Graham – alias Thomas Alexander, head of Alexander Security; Maximillian Rathbone’s protégé

Sean O’Herlihy – political investigative reporter for DC newspaper with Patra Llewellyn

One

Friday, November 11, 2011

---

The world is full of evil, and tablet computers are the right hand of the devil, I warned, tugging EG—Elizabeth Georgiana, although Evil Genius works too—away from her admiration of a businessman’s expensive new device. That one is worse than cell phones. It tracks your every move. You might as well have a drone hovering over your head 24/7 and hand out tickets to your bank account.

I checked the airport’s overhead signs for international arrivals and picked up speed.

Why is it bad if some stupid computer company tracks my every move? They really want to know I’m in my bedroom? And I don’t have a bank account. Fascinated by new tech, EG dragged her feet and strained to see what the guy was doing. If we had a system like that, you could use it to find me.

I continued marching past Dulles baggage claim belts, forcing her to run to keep up. "You want me to hack MacroWare to find out where you are? I asked, performing my best incredulous act. You think I have nothing better to do?"

With no apparent doubt that I could perform miracles, EG shrugged. You’d have more fun doing that than sending Mallard to look for me. Intercoms are so last century.

My baby sister, the techno-fashionista. I knuckled EG’s shiny black hair and changed the subject. Are you going to tell me what inspired Tudor’s visit? Last I heard, he was neck deep in some hacker competition and couldn’t even meet Magda for dinner when she was in London.

Magda being the so-called Hungarian princess who had birthed me and my roving half-siblings—incredibly long story. As an example, I’m Anastasia Devlin, my next sibling is Nicholas Maximillian. The first names continue in royal arrogance while the last names change with regularity. Our mother’s non-maternal instincts would be the reason Tudor was heading this direction and not toward her.

I wanted to resent that Tudor had sent his itinerary to a nine-year-old and not to me, but unfortunately, I understood. I’d spent years raising my younger half-siblings, then years hiding from them.

Sixteen-year-old boys were easily confused. My little brother hadn’t known if I’d tell him to jump off a cliff or go home where he belonged—not that he actually had a home other than his boarding school.

Despite his apparent confusion over my frame of mind, Tudor had bought the tickets and sent EG the info, knowing she couldn’t do anything to stop him. This rated pretty high on my Here-Comes-Trouble meter.

EG shrugged again. It was the middle of the night when he emailed me, and I doubt he had your phone number.

Which made me even less comfortable—Tudor was our family communication central. If he wanted to find my number, he’d find it. After all, he’d been the one to locate my hiding place in Atlanta so EG could visit me earlier this year. Best scenario—he just didn’t want to talk to me.

I feared otherwise. As a family, we had essentially been raised to flee in the middle of the night at a moment’s notice. I feared teenage rebellion was too easy an excuse for Tudor’s arrival, and buying last minute plane tickets was a dead give-away. Tudor was on the run.

My phone pinged a text warning. Popping it from the case on my belt, I scanned Nick’s message and frowned. Nick says watch CNN. Think Patra is on the news?

Our twenty-something half-sister had only recently moved to Atlanta to take a job with the news station. She was a pretty—emphasis on pretty—junior reporter. A live shot seemed unlikely, unless she was in trouble—far more probable given our history.

We have time, EG said eagerly, turning around to find a newsstand with a television.

I’m not tall and willowy like Patra, but I’m well-muscled. I can move fast. I passed EG, and she had to run to catch up. To see what had set off usually blasé Nick, I pushed my way through the crowd that had formed around a TV monitor.

In breaking news, Stephen Stiles and four of MacroWare’s top executives have been hospitalized for possible food poisoning after Wednesday’s conference dinner at a DC hotel. MacroWare stock prices are plummeting over worries that their new product release will be delayed.

I frowned in puzzlement. Patra wasn’t making the announcement. Now that we had a nest egg to invest, I’d socked it away in mutual funds, not something as risky as MacroWare stock. I saw no relevance to our lives in a bunch of over-fed execs pigging out and getting sick. I’d had enough food poisoning experience in my childhood to know the routine. They’d spend the day on the Royal Flush and someone on the catering staff would be fired.

I was about to turn away when I caught the file clip of VIP attendees at the conference. I froze and gawked. Sauntering into the hotel wearing a sleek Italian business suit, with his hand in one pocket and looking bored was our landlord, Amadeus Graham, hermit extraordinaire.

What on earth? He couldn’t condescend to leave his lair to have dinner with us, but he could go to a public dinner with Stephen Stiles and a thousand computer geeks? This was not normal by any standard I’d learned these last months of living under Graham’s roof.

Amadeus Graham had been an ascending political god until his life had gone up in flames with the Pentagon in 9/11. His wife had died in the tragedy, and he’d emerged from the fire badly scarred in more ways than one. He’d deliberately incinerated his political career with his crusade against powerful figures influencing the president—a crusade he carried on to this day. Only these days he did it in private. He’d painstakingly eradicated his existence, leaving the world to think him dead.

Appearing in public was very much not Graham’s style.

The clip was only a brief glimpse. I couldn’t be positive that was our reclusive spy in the attic striding into the hotel as if he owned it.

Who was I kidding? We’d sucked each other’s faces not that long ago. He was the irritant under my skin, the hindrance to my every desire—except lust—and just watching him cross a TV screen escalated my pulse rate.

Graham was so bloody reclusive that I was pretty certain Nick had never seen him. In his position at the Brit embassy, our budding diplomat brother must have heard more pertinent news than I was seeing. I texted him a YEAH, AND?

What had been so important that Graham had come out of hiding to attend a geek business conference—one in which five extremely important, powerful men had turned up sick? Men who could affect stock markets!

My gut roiled as if I’d been the one poisoned. No good came of surprises like this. Or maybe it was just worry over Tudor that had my paranoia alarm blaring.

The news moved on to the latest yawn about a crooked mortgage lender and a banking oversight committee’s ruling. I tugged EG toward baggage claim.

We must have missed the story Nick wanted us to see, EG said in disappointment. If I had one of those new tablets, I could go online and look for it.

Only if I had a hot spot on my phone or you pay for the public Wi-Fi here and risk having all your game coins sucked out. Her school tablet didn’t have accessible Wi-Fi, thank all the heavens. But I lied about the hot spot. I didn’t go anywhere without access to the internet—which was why I knew how dangerous it would be in EG’s hands. And I’m not footing the bill for either. I keep telling you, MacroHell wants to drain every penny from your pocket.

Which had me wondering if they really were run by demons, and the heavens had struck the demons down with diarrhea. Justice would be served.

We have money now, EG protested, still on the tablet kick. You shouldn’t be so tight-fisted.

Old argument, not one I intended to indulge as I hunted the dumping ground for international passengers exiting customs. The area was a colorful bazaar swarming with chatter, luggage, and exotic garb. Given my world-traveling youth, I felt right at home.

There he is, EG shouted excitedly.

She was running before I could see what she’d seen. I took time to scan faces. I almost missed Tudor’s.

He’d probably been ten the last time I’d seen him. Once I quit the thankless job of being my mother’s doormat, I’d left my half-siblings in the care of their parents, where they should have been all along. Tudor’s Aussie father had deposited Tudor in an English boarding school for tech geniuses—a far better choice than my care.

Judging by the grungy clothes on the tall, lanky kid EG was chattering to, geniuses didn’t do laundry. His wavy red hair hadn’t been cut in months, so I didn’t have high expectations for his personal hygiene either. But behind the teenage lankiness I could still see the red-headed tot who used to cling to my leg and beg for ice cream.

We didn’t hug. Our family is high on drama, pretty stingy on affection. He’d be shocked if I hugged him, especially since he was now almost six inches taller than me, drat him—but I took the handle of his heavy wheeled bag. He almost managed a smile in return, revealing his crooked tooth. No braces for our boy, no sir. Even his thick black-rimmed glasses looked nerd-stylish.

Our glamorous mother had left her mark on all of us, sometimes in very strange ways. In Tudor’s case, rebellion against perfection was the result.

Sleep any? I asked as I steered him toward public transportation.

Not much, he admitted wearily. Look Ana, I’m sorry for popping in on you like this—

I cut him off as I aimed for the bus counter. Let’s save it until we’re home. It’s good to see you. Next time, call, okay? That was as close to affection as I dared offer.

He seemed to melt with relief and actually nodded. Okay. That lasted until he saw my goal. Bus, Ana? We have all this money now and you still take the bus?

I’m not wasting what could be college funds on taxis. The bus will take us to the Metro, I explained. We live way downtown.

He didn’t say anything, and he didn’t move. The grinding in my stomach grew sharper. He examined the transportation signs, then wordlessly took back his suitcase, and made a beeline for the taxi stand.

He opened the door of a cab at the end of the line.

My fear kicked up another notch. Magda had taught us how to avoid long taxi lines if we were on the run. EG and I looked at each other, then dashed after him.

While the taxi stand supervisor jogged over and tried to explain that we were breaking the rules, we performed Magda’s Dumb and Dumber act. Gabbling in French, Russian, and Tagalog, we played ignorant tourist and piled into the back seat. Ultimately, both driver and authority surrendered and let us go on our way.

I gave the address for the train station. Tudor didn’t blink. Well trained in caution by our international journalist/spy mother, we didn’t speak until the cab let us out at the Metro.

I marched them both down the platform on the line that would take us to our neighborhood and EG to her school.

She gave me the evil eye. I shouldn’t have to go to school today, she informed me.

I’ll give you a note excusing you for being late. Tudor needs sleep. You’ll be home by the time he’s awake.

How long will this take? Tudor asked anxiously, scanning arrival screens as if he had a clue as to which line was which.

No longer than a taxi, given the traffic in the area at this hour, and anonymity is safer. I take back what I said earlier about waiting until we’re home. At what point do we get explanations? I demanded as the train rolled in.

I just don’t want anyone to know where I am for a few days, he said with a frightening air of exhaustion. It’s been a bad week.

I knew he would be safe when I got him home. This was the reason I put up with Graham—he owned the fortress I needed to protect my perpetually troublesome family. That fortress had belonged to our grandfather and ought to be ours. I had calculated that, several lawsuits down the line, it would be ours—one of the many reasons I was hanging on to the few dollars we’d salvaged from the theft of the inheritance our grandfather had left us. But until we proved our ownership, we lived on Graham’s grace and my ability to act as his virtual assistant.

The house belongs to all of us, I said reassuringly. You’re welcome to stay as long as you need, or until your father drags you home.

He won’t even know I’m gone, Tudor admitted, as the train pulled out of the station.

Give her a week and Magda will, I warned. Our mother might not be maternal, but she always knew where all her chicks were and hunted them down if they weren’t where they should be.

Tudor closed his eyes and just leaned against the pole that was holding him up.

Yeah, I kind of had that reaction to our exhausting parent too. I’m thirty, so I know Magda is pushing fifty, but she has the stamina of a toddler and the morals of a meth dealer. I’d rather not have her bearing down on us any time soon.

We got off at the station near EG’s private school and left her, still protesting, at the school office where she could be escorted back to her classroom.

The house is half an hour away by foot, I told Tudor. Walk or Metro?

He was wearing a heavy backpack and had reclaimed his rolling suitcase. He gazed at the busy traffic and the less-crowded sidewalk. You’re going to interrogate me anyway. It might as well be where no one else can hear.

That bad, is it? I took back the rolling bag.

Worse, he admitted. I may have just sabotaged the entire internet.

Ouch. Tudor has a clockwork mind. He wasn’t given to self-aggrandizement or exaggeration, so the grinding in my gut escalated to a buzz saw. He was perfectly capable of having wiped the internet off the face of universe.

I’ll be out of a job, I said selfishly, grappling with the impossible vision of a world without instant research.

He snorted at my paltry assessment. Chaos, anarchy, total economic destruction, he predicted gloomily.

Yeah, that pretty much nailed it, if he knew what he was talking about. Any evidence to support this theory of your omnipotence?

The cookie-blocker I’ve been working on? He raised a questioning eyebrow to see if I was familiar with his project.

I nodded. By cookies he meant the internet hooks that many websites planted in a computer. Some were nasty little devils that broadcast our searches to companies that used the information to bombard us with ads.

Cookies didn’t bother me much because Graham’s master network used a non-commercial operating system and had an impenetrable firewall that crumbled the hooks like. . . cookies.

But the huge commercial operating systems sold by corporations like MacroWare encouraged cookies in the interest of efficiency and—most importantly—selling more stuff. Most people liked the results and allowed cookies, not understanding how dangerous those little devils could be in the wrong hands.

In the commercial world, cookies were a legitimate form of hacking. Leave it to my genius hacker brother to try to block himself.

Cookie blocking is pretty standard, he continued. "To win the competition, I had to do something different, like expand the program to worm my personal information out of selected websites and crunch it. If the website’s software is operating according to protocol, it’s not anything really radical and should only target specific files with my ISP signature. I tested it on a bunch of commercial sites and it worked perfectly. Then I accidentally left my program on when I accessed a government website."

Tudor stayed silent another half block while formulating his explanation—leaving me way too much time to imagine what would come next.

Instead of just crawling into the website’s internet files and grabbing my data the way it normally does, he finally continued, "my worm kept going. It disappeared down some kind of cyberhole. It didn’t even need handshake protocol to fall directly into their server. When I noticed the signal I’d set to show the program was activated, I opened it up to turn it off, and all kinds of code scrawled by that shouldn’t have been there."

I’m tech savvy enough to know that a worm is a small program that works its way through software to spy on other servers and sometimes commit acts of sabotage. I wasn’t seeing how eating or blocking cookies was the end of the world, but a worm, that could be problematic. I waited without comment.

Tudor gritted his teeth and continued. "My cookie monster started eating through all data files, not just my website information. There should have been an impenetrable firewall between that website program and their servers!"

Eating files? Eating, as in destroying entire computer files? I couldn’t even understand how that was possible with a worm. Hacking for information, I understood. Destruction. . . ? Automatic destruction—as in a giant delete button? Had it eaten through the website program itself? That would certainly destroy the internet.

What website? I asked, trying to ground my spinning thoughts.

I’ve been accepted to MIT and Stanford. I was checking to see what kind of visas I needed, he said gloomily.

Talk about being torn! I needed to smack him over the head—what visa website?—but I was refraining from screeching in joy and hugging him in the middle of the street. To me, a college education was the epitome of success.

"MIT? Stanford? I cried in such excitement that heads turned around us. Attending college had long been a wish of mine, one I wasn’t much likely to attain given my GED and lack of funds. But scoring the cream of the college crop? I was in awe. You didn’t shout it to the world?"

Tudor shrugged again. "I just received the letters. I was excited. That’s why I didn’t think to turn off the cookie monster program when I went to the visa website. I shut down as soon as I saw what was happening, but the site crashed while I watched. The whole site was still down yesterday. If my worm is no longer performing search and destroy on just my ISP signature and isn’t blocked by firewalls, it can conceivably creep through every network connected to their server."

If this had been our half-brother Nick, I’d call him an arrogant idiot for thinking he’d personally destroyed the internet with one website crash. But this was Tudor. He hadn’t told me the worst.

Okay, I’m back off cloud nine now, I said in resignation. What did you do, decide to experiment more with Scotland Yard’s operating system?

No, I was simply accessing the U.S. Department of State, he said with a sigh. My monster went on a search-and-destroy mission for ISPs and wiped out entire government data files before I could break the connection. That’s when I bought the plane tickets.

Two

I shivered in the cold November wind as Tudor and I strolled toward the Victorian-era neighborhood that I called home. Towering painted ladies and enormous brick edifices lined narrow residential streets, now occupied mostly by embassies and foreign ambassadors instead of families.

Our grandfather’s house was substantial, taking up almost the entire footprint of a large lot. An antique wrought iron fence lined the front walk. A foot of green grass separated fence and foundation. It would be warmer inside, out of the wind.

We did not turn in that direction.

With the buzz saw of fear whirring in my gut, I steered Tudor around the block and down a less fancy street of deteriorating old homes. Tudor glanced at me worriedly, especially when I trespassed on the broken concrete parking lot of an enormous abandoned building that looked part church, part warehouse.

We don’t live here, do we? He studied the high block walls and eccentric mansard roofline.

I have it pegged as someone’s half-remodeled carriage house, I said as I trotted across the parking lot to a gate hidden among the brambles along the property line. Let’s not lead anyone tracking you straight to the front door.

I didn’t know if the State Department was capable of tracing incredible inedible worms back to Tudor, but I was betting infuriated roars had federal techies around the world scrambling to find the creator of destruction. And I didn’t like any of the possibilities of what they would do to Tudor when they found him.

Tudor’s eyes widened in surprise as I opened the rusty gate to reveal a fantasy land of vined arbors, herb and rose gardens, complete with haunted house. Accustomed to the damp cold, he halted to gawk at the gables and towers of our newly acquired sort-of home.

What did you do after you ate the state department? I prompted before we went any further.

"I shut down my computer as soon as my alerts flashed, but it’s not my fault that there’s a hole in their security, he said defensively. We really live here? he asked in awe, averting the painful subject. Is there a dungeon?"

Yeah, and the dungeon’s mine. I let him get away with the diversion while I explained the lay of the land. Our landlord has spyholes all over the house, apparently left over from our grandfather’s regime. How much of your problem do you want known?

None, if possible. He looked like a little lost boy.

Tell me how bad this hole is in the firewall, I demanded, lingering by the gate. Will a patch fix it?

He hesitated and looked longingly at the tower. But Tudor had known he’d have to pay the price of my curiosity if he showed up here.

"The website’s program was stored in a MacroWare operating system. I

Reviews for Cyber Genius

[kcaroth1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Undercover Genius is the second book in a series about a family of half-siblings. I found it a little hard to get very interested at first but found myself pretty engrossed by the end. I'm still not entirely clear on why or how these characters came by so many "spy" type skills, although this may have been addressed more in the first book. But the siblings are fun, and there is a good bit of entertaining action throughout. Ana, the oldest sibling, is the main narrator, while a middle sister occasionally has chapters from her point of view. I don't think the change in POV is necessary since it doesn't really add any significant information or texture to the story that couldn't be added through the single narrative. However, it isn't distracting or confusing either, so just a stylistic issue for me, I suppose. Typically this would be about three stars but since the last half kept me really turning pages and chuckling, I've given it four.

[mminor1985 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a good suspense book about a family who is varied as well as their eccentric landlord. They are trying to find the person who had killed Patra's father. The main suspect is the head of a right wing political group. The group investigates the group and the media company that funds them and their candidates. This book keeps you in suspense in how Patra's father died and also how hypocritical the supposedly religious group is. I received this book from LiveJournal in return for a review.

[sarahcameron · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved this book. I hadn't read the first one in the series, but it is easy to pick up with this book. The story is so well written and full of love, laughter, and conspiracies. It is everything you can want in a book. The characters in the book are very dynamic, and it adds to the all over experience in the book. There is so much to laugh about and enjoy in this book. I highly recommend it.

[tpenny-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I won my copy through LibraryThing. It had sounded really good, and I was so excited to get my copy. I liked, I really did, but I'm wavering between 3 & 4 stars. I think it would be more of a 4 star book if I had read the first book (Evil Genius)in the series before I read this one. I didn't know it wasn't the first in a series or a stand alone book. Although the author does explain some things from the past (that I assume happened in the first book), I still felt a little lost or confused. I think I'd like it more & understand it more, if I'd read Evil Genius first. It was slow starting for me - setting up the plot, introducing all the quirky characters & mysteries - and kind of confusing & crazy. Added to the already crazy characters were more allies & too many bad guys to keep track of their names. Then somewhere in the middle, it snagged me & I couldn't put it down. I wanted to know what was going to happen with everything & everyone. I became fond of Ana & her quirky family. I really wanted more sparks & un-work-related conversation between Ana & Graham. All in all, a good mystery & very entertaining. I plan on reading Evil Genius & hope there are more books in the series - can't wait to see what happens with Ana & her family!!

[qstewart_5 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is an excellent off the wall mystery inhabited by quirky and interesting characters. I am in search of volume 1 so that I can catch up with this family of very intelligent young people and look forward to any further volumes that carry on this story.Put four young people in an almost inherited home in Washington, D.C. searching for the lawyer who may have stolen their inheritance and have them set out to undermine the one person that controls the information and money behind some murders and politicians in that city and the world. The leader of the pack wants to stay hidden and work behind the scenes and wants to create as normal an environment for the youngest to grow up in. Then there is one who wants to go out and push for the information without thinking of the danger she may be placing herself and the rest to the family. The fourth seems to just be along for the ride and trying to maintain a job. Throw into this mix and adult living in the attic and a butler and you have the beginnings of a humorous and interesting mystery.I found the story kept the reader involved simply by wanting to find out what happens next. Ms. Rice has hit upon an interesting and fun formula for a long running series.

[carrie.kilgore · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It's a bit hard rating this book. On the one hand, there's a lot of humor and some genuine excitement. On the other, too much telling and a gigantic cast of characters makes it hard to really get into and follow what's going on. The romance is little more than a tease (which may suit many readers just fine, I suppose). Although the world itself can be confusing, I think it's generally best if an author resolves reader confusion by the end. Despite explanations here, the convolution is such that many readers may be as befuddled at the end as they are as the mystery unfolds. All this is punctuated by trite... I do get sick of reading how "every cell of one's body" blah, blah, blah...I received this book for free through LibraryThing.

[nanalilo · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

First, I had to buy the first book the day i finish the second (thank god for ebook and estore). second, I hope she is writing the third. What is more to say? I hope she is writing the third is what . the story is full of mystery at every corner and you won't have a minute to look around.

[rjlouise · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Again, I enjoyed myself immensely with Rice's Genius family. I was pleased to meet another member of the Maximillian brood - Patra, the journalist - and to see the story develop on the home front and in the political sphere again. I took an entire course in college that focused on the difference newspapers made to literature and culture, so this was a little nostalgia tour for me, seeing many of those elements in the novel. I still enjoy the continuity that the problems on the home front provide, while allowing for a story that is wrapped up by the last page to take the foreground.Much like the last novel, while Ana was the narrator, this was Patra's story. I still find this a charming and delightful choice. Ana is very much a character who prefers to be in the background and I think this series may well end up with her learning to join the world, but for now she's witnessing the world through the eyes and experiences of her siblings. It's very fun. It's also a delight to see a new sibling introduced and get a decent hint of the next sibling who might be joining us. The characters are still rich and fun, the dynamics are a little more settled in this novel, and I am adoring Mallard, the butler.Before I get to the things that I wish were improved upon, I have a couple things that have improved from the last book that I want to note. Nick has been given a little more depth and I appreciate that. Last book he was gay, and that was about it. While I still feel that the fact Nick is gay is mentioned unnecessarily often, I feel like his being gay was dealt with better (less, LOOK AT HOW GAY HE IS, and more, "this might affect his career in a conservative political world"). Also, the sex. It happened, it was over with, and it was a pleasant surprise. With all the build up from the first book and this book, I was expecting a moment-by-moment recitation and I was THRILLED when it was dealt with tastefully and quickly. Also, the aftermath was a surprise, but entire in character for Ana. I was much pleased by the outcome being completely different from what I expected.There were some thing I didn't completely enjoy. I will say that, while the switch between Ana's first person narration and the third person narration focused on Patra was better, it's still difficult to deal with. First person to third person is just jarring. Also, I really wish there had been more Nick in this book. I hope the next book is about Nick. He deserves his chance to shine . . . but only if it isn't about him being gay all day, every day. Nick is so much more interesting than his sexuality.A (good second novel, rich characters, improvement in writing; perspective switch doesn't work for me, wanting more from established characters)

[gpangel_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Undercover Genius by Patricia Rice is a 2014 Book View Cafe publication. I was provided a copy of this book through the Librarything Early Review program in exchange for an honest review. Ana is trying to save the family's inheritance when her half sister Patra shows up. Patra, named after Cleopatra, has some rather murky evidence that her journalist father had been murdered because of a conspiracy he had discovered. Now Ana has to contend with her younger school age sibling keeping bats for pets, a dangerous investigation into Patra's father's death, trying to save the family millions, and the eccentric spy living in the attic named Graham. Graham has the deed to the mansion until Ana can get the inheritance all cleared up. While Graham is forever snooping into Ana's business and pretty much drives her nuts, the two of them are also a bit attracted to one another. All of Ana's siblings apparently are the result of their mother's numerous marriages and affairs meaning each of them has a different father. The brood were raised around spying and each have a particular talent. Patra want to be a jounalist like her father and use those contacts to find out what really happened to him. Her forte is more Hollywood reporter than serious jounalism, but this case could open a few doors for her... if she survives.This is a zany, light hearted spy caper/ mystery with off beat characters , witty dialogue as well as a complex mystery, intrique and a healthy dose of humor. Told partly from Ana's first person narrative and partly from Patra's point of view the story gives us insights into how the family manages to get things done. There is nothing heavy or too graphic, no explicit sex and the language is mild. This book was a little offbeat but a lot of fun to read. Overall this on is a B+. ( 4 stars)

[bookshellz_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed Undercover Genius like nobody's business! It's hilarious and devious with a mix of sensual teasing thrown in. You never know what will happen next as each character comes with their own brand of trouble. All the characters are tied to each other in the most curious way, but it makes the story that much more fun. Ms. Rice makes you use your noggin' as she ties each clue of the story together in the most comical of ways. The detail will keep you engrossed to the point of ignoring all else! I love the interaction between characters, the closeness in the midst of all the chaos. Each character is essential to the story and you'll find yourself glad they're all included. I especially became attached to Ana and Graham and you will too. Their encounters definitely left me wanting more, which I certainly hope I'll see in the near future! Undercover Genius is a keeper and I highly recommend it! 4 1/2 Stars!

[awilliams75 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Once again I found myself immersed in the antics of this obscure family. I would have to say I'm glad I read the first book of this series initially but it can but read without doing so. The characters are hilarious and each have their own traits with Ana the dowdy and cunning eldest child and her beautiful but fiery sister Patra. This was a fantastic read and would highly recommend.

[dotland101 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Very good story line, I like Ana and her sense of humour in the face of danger. This story would be even better and more entertaining if I could just read the first book first, in correct order. Although reading this book first is okay to do, read as a stand-alone book, but I believe they're definitely related in more ways than one hence would've given the reader a clearer background and better understanding of the story which means I will have to find that first book to fill in the blank soon. I'm a fan of Patricia Rice's historical romance novels, especially The Rebellious Sons series, I'd never read her contemporary-mystery-suspense novels before, until now. I have to say that at first I don't know what to expect of this book or whether I'll like it, but thought I'd give it a try...... Well, I should've known better! Shouldn't doubt Rice's ability to deliver a contemporary and a spy story! Because it's just as good as she's always done.So! Read this book, but better start from book one ("Evil Genius").

[mnm123_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I received this book in exchange for a review. I absolutely loved this book. It is the second book in the series so I went back and read the first book. The family of half siblings are very smart and entertaining. The character Graham adds a lot to the main character Ana. The plot twists will keep you guessing and the characters are so much fun and easy to connect with. I am eager to read the next book.

[lubazuck · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Ana is trying to save her family's inheritance since she is the one that bonds the family together. She has lots of half siblings from different fathers.This was a free kindle edition and I did enjoy it even though it was meant for the younger generation.

[romonko · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I was asked to review this book by the publisher, and when I received it I wasn't sure it would be a book that I would like. But this book surprised me. It was fun. The characters were realistic and the plot moved quickly . This was the second book in a series. I didn't read the first one, but it was easy to catch up on the plot line, so I didn't feel at a loss because I didn't read the first one. The series is about a very unusual family. Each of the siblings has the same mother, but each has a different father. The oldest is Ana (short for Anastasia). Her sister Patra (short for Cleopatra), her brother Nick and young EG (Elizabeth Georgiana). There are a few other siblings but we didn't see them in this book. This family followed their mother around the world when they were growing up, and because of the instability in their family relationship, and because of their intelligence, they learned a large number of coping mechanisms and tricks that made each of them much more mature and worldly wise than most young people. In this book Patra is trying to find who killed her father in Iraq five years ago, and the rest are helping her with that quest as well as trying to determine who murdered their grandfather in his own home. They are living in their grandfather's mansion with a very peculiar landlord who actually lives and works on the third floor of their house. Graham is a recluse who never leaves his lair, but he has contacts and eyes everywhere in the world with his private network of computers and surveillance equipment. The family and landlord have a butler/bodyguard named Mallard who looks after the entire motley crew in this off-beat house. I know. It sounds a little crazy, and it is, but it's so much fun! I liked the whole strange and weirdly wonderful premise of this story and I loved the characters. This was a very enjoyable book.

[inishowen_cailin · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a fast, fun read.Having not read book one in the series I was slightly confused at the beginning with the rapid introduction to a string of characters and an underlying unresolved subplot from book one. Having said that it was easy to pick up the story and it was full of action and humour.

[carod_51 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the second book in Patricia Rice's Family Genius murder mystery series. I have read some romantic fantasy by Rice before so was curious to read a mystery by her. I haven't read the first book in the series, but that didn't keep me from quickly catching on to what was happening and who the characters were. Ana and her sister and brother are living in their grandfather's mansion which should have been theirs. Unfortunately, an unscrupulous lawyer cheated them of their inheritance and the mansion belongs to a mysterious recluse. He allows the siblings to stay in the mansion in exchange for Ana's work as a researcher. Her half-sister Patra appears one day after having had her apartment burned. She is trying to bring her father's killer to justice and has his files. Soon Ana is involved with evil media barons, nefarious right wing conspirators and incompetent gangsters. Using all the tricks they learned from their bohemian mother, the siblings work to keep themselves safe while bringing the criminals to justice.This is a very funny book. The eccentric family at the center of the story is intriguing and entertaining. I look forward to meeting more of the siblings in future books. There is a great deal of suspense and daring do as well as slapstick comedy. There is even a touch of romance. This is not a whodunnit. It is pretty clear early on who the villains are. The suspense in the book comes from how the siblings use their skills to survive and thwart the bad guys. I enjoyed this book very much and am looking forward to more in the series. I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy funny romantic suspense and mysteries.

[reading_fox · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fun romp in the same style as the first and better than I expected. A fun mix of high style living, conspiracy theories, social commentry and action, romance and humour! Not a bad combination at all. Ana's erratic but high livign family are gathered together in their family home - owned by the mysterious and reclusive Graham on the top floor - when their media savvy sister comes to visit. She's unearthed some old files of her dad's who was a reporter for a new unsavory media company and died unexpectedly int he Middle East. The files purport american politicians recieving campaign bribes if they lead a war that the media and oil Barrons need/want. The topicallity of media barrons controlling vast sources of news and only disemmenating their viewpoints - and unethical news gathering sources - remains a story of much interest. Patra gets a job with said news corp and everybody else runs aorund trying to ensure she stays alive whilst she smiles prettily at an IT geek and gets all the juicy data. Yes it's horrendously stereotyped. And out of date. The author admits that it si all set in 2001 give or take and appreciates that technology has moved on - faster than she can write about it. But it's still great fun. Ana is ridiculously tough, Graham's mysteriously potent connections can do anything, and everythign else just sort of falls into place. But the key point remains: beware of what media moguls are telling you! The rest is a kind of modern female James Bond, or else an urban fantasy/paranormal romance without the fantasy. It works very well. The author's romance tendencies are played down enough to make this fun rather than silly. There is good continuity with the previous book, the backstory of the family is obviously contrived to ensure a wide variety of talents and opportunities are put together, but given that asa premise, it is internally consistent. The continuing story arc of Ana and Graham and the house will be a good thread to tie the series along.I'm looking foward to the rest of the series.

[lisabost · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Complex conspiracies to the right, dastardly deaths to the left, and all Ana wants to do is save her family's inheritance.When her half-sister Patra arrives on the Maximillian mansion doorstep with the news that Patra's father was murdered and the killers are after Patra, Ana is off on another race to protect her eccentric family. Graham, the hunky spy in the attic who holds the mansion ransom, has a stake in this mystery if he wants to prevent Ana and her family from turning his high tech bat cave into Grand Central Station.While Ana unravels a tangle of gangsters and media moguls, she's also saving Patra from murderous zombie racers and preventing brother Nick from exacting justice by wrapping their coked-up lawyer in a rug and smuggling him through customs.Murder in Ana's world comes accompanied by mayhem and madness...and a sexy glimpse of the man who holds their inheritance hostage.My thoughts:I was hooked by the blurb attached to the book's description on Barns and Noble. Intrigue and conspiracies in books usually make for a good read. Patricia Rice's second novel in her Family Genius Mysteries did not disappoint. Ana is an intrepid, self-reliant, woman intent on protecting her own even if that means braving gun toting members of crime families, sleazy reporters, and media moguls with the power and connections to bring down half the world. The other characters in the book are much less developed than Ana although the bits of this book that are written from Patra's perspective give insights into her motivations and her character. Not having read Evil Genius, the first installation in this series, I was unfamiliar with a few of the characters but it didn't take me very long to figure out relationships and personalities. From what I've seen Evil Genius has bits from the perspective of Elizabeth Geogiana, the youngest sibling, and I hope the future bits are told in the perspectives of other members of the family. The mysterious hunk in the attic, well actually, the 3rd floor, is Graham who has some mysterious connection to Ana's grandfather and family. There was just enough glimpses of Graham and Ana together to make the reader want more.One of my favorite parts of the story was the zombie race.Anyone who enjoys books full of action, mystery, and intrigue will enjoy this latest book by Patricia Rice. I look forward to reading more of the Family Genius series.

[kathykara · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A peculiar family of half siblings is trying to regain their inheritance. Their problems grow when the journalist half-sister, Patra, arrives at home seeking refuge and assistance. She has just discovered the murder of her father and this has caused her a few trouble. Ana starts another “race” to save his sister and family. A special role in this race will have the temporary owner of the residence, the spy who lives isolated in the attic and Ana has never seen. Graham. An entertaining read with an interesting plot and alive heroes. I have not read the first part, however I could easily follow the story. The drawback is that is distinguished a youthful naivety, not fully overcome until the end. Although it was not something entirely new, it was pretty good and did not let me stop reading. I definitely am going to read the volume one, and am curious about what comes next for the family.

[stormchase-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This is a YA novel where the plot revolves around Ana and her family, trying to find out whether their half-sister Cleopatra’s (Patra) journo father was murdered after discovering a conspiracy. First off, this is the second book in a series so the first pages introduced/recapped characters and plot lines from the first tale. Ana's family is very complex thanks to a rich absent mother who had children with different fathers. Ana is the glue that holds everyone together.There’s lots of snappy dialogue, a bit of vague politicking and pop culture references galore: a style I usually love but it just didn’t come together for me. I couldn’t quite figure out who was who at the beginning and I didn’t feel a particular connection to Ana or the others as the story progressed. The tension between Ana and Graham, the spy who lives in the attic, seemed a bit off but that may have made more sense if I’d read the first book. The switching between Ana’s and Patra’s POV didn’t work well for me either. I’m struggling to say something positive but this isn’t a bad book. The writing’s okay, it has a plot and I can see how it might appeal to American teens. I’m not sure what it is, but this story lacks the appeal of similar books like The Gallagher Girls, Heist Society and Pretty Little Liars. I’m giving it three stars because it’s perfectly readable and definitely not a two star book but it’s not my cup of tea.

[toastytoesthebear · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Review of Undercover Genius by Patricia RiceI received this book on Library Thing in exchange for an honest review. At first I was caught off guard by the profusion of characters, both Ana's strange, huge family in which each sibling shares a mother but has a different father, and all the “bad guys”, who are too numerous to list. Some members of the family live in a mansion they are fighting legal battles to possess, with the owner and his butler, both enjoyable characters. Other members are spread across the globe, and Magda, the self-indulgent mother, can pop up anywhere. Numerous plot threads are ongoing as well, so the book can be a little confusing.The satire of the American Republicans (the “Righteous and Proud”) and the self-serving media is timely and amusing. The novel is humorous, fast-paced and quirky. I couldn't help but like Ana, the protagonist who tells most of the story. While this novel is the second in a series, it stands alone, while inviting the reader to become more involved in the antics of the Genius Family series.