The Silence of Six by E.C. Myers

Release Date: November 5th, 2014

Source: Adaptive Studios

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 358
Buy it: Amazon|B&N
“WHAT IS THE SILENCE OF SIX, AND WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?”  
These are the last words uttered by 17-year-old Max Stein’s best friend Evan just moments before he kills himself after hacking into the live-streaming Presidential debate at their high school.  
Haunted by the unforgettable image of Evan’s death, Max’s entire world is upended as he suddenly finds himself the target of a corporate-government witch-hunt. Fearing for his life and fighting for his own innocence, Max goes on the run with no one to trust and too many unanswered questions.  
Max must dust off his own hacking skills and maneuver through the dangerous labyrinth of underground hacktivist networks, ever-shifting alliances and virtual identities – all the while hoping to find the truth behind the “Silence of Six” before it’s too late.

           After first reading that synopsis above, this book had me hooked. The whole world of hackers intrigues me and makes me a little scared to be honest. It is amazing how much people can do with just a computer at their fingertips. What really hooked me was the book trailer that I have linked below. Usually book trailers are, and excuse my language here, EXTREME SHIT. But this one was so intense and it immediately drew me so much that I needed to get my hands on this book.

I read this book during my two snow days off from school and it took me one reading day to finish. The book flew by and was such a quick read. 

            Max is an interesting character to me and not like many I have read before. At first he seems so innocent and just a normal teen, who was drawn into this mess of a situation due to his friend killing himself, which is partially true. He was the kids who knew a few hacks to get the school’s wifi password. But as we move along, we learn about his past and how he is deep into hacking. Once he begins to start cars only using a stolen laptop is when shit goes down. Max is a very lovable character, but there was not much character development. The scenes where he showed his emotions and true feelings were rushed and a tad forced. I feel like I never got to truly know Max and the inner workings of his mind. We just knew about his strategic approach to hacking and soccer. We never truly see much about how he felt in certain moments.

The storyline enthralled me from beginning to end and kept me guessing though I felt it to be rushed and a little too quick. Before I even realized it, I was on page 300 wanting to know why I got here so quickly. I would have like to see them on the road more running from the government and giving me a little more action. Since I am used to reading al the trilogies that the YA genre presents, having a stand-alone with that huge story seemed to not satisfy me. I think a simple duology would suffice. What I am saying is I wanted more of this book! I wanted more action scenes, love scenes, fight scenes. All of that! 

            This whole Panjea things reminds me of the Feednet from Feed by M.T. Anderson. Just this website that everyone uses for everything and their whole life story is placed of there for the world to see. It terrifies me that this is our future; this is where society is heading. Posting everything online and having no sense of privacy. But this future is inevitable; we cannot escape this for the beginnings are already happening.

            I enjoyed the friendships that were created in this book. I loved seeing the two sides of the spectrum coming in the middle and meeting as one. Max being a soccer player and Evan loving computers. The friendship the two of them shared was quirky and was quality. Even though Evan and Max drifted apart, they still loved and cared for each other and would do anything for their best friend. Evan’s death brought Max closer to Evan than he ever was before and amazing the impact they had on each other’s lives.
Overall I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars. I loved the story line, but it just needed more action for me.

Let me know what you guys think!!
Lee Chand