Review: Good, but not great
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 01 20, 2013
I bought the serial, but the book spent so long on my in-pile, it was complete by the time I started it.  So the serial aspect didn't do anything for me.I liked the first several episodes: small, serial-y episodes where Hacker Mom does something and the episode is over.  I enjoyed these.  However, the author has a very annoying bad habit: when she introduces a character, she gives a paragraph or more of the character's history all the way back to childhood.  It's lumpy and distracting.  More "show", less "tell", please.I was also hoping for more mom-humor to play along with the hacker-humor, and for her kid, Jason, to play a bigger role in the story.  Also, the FBI agent is too much of a cloddish bad guy.  It would be nice to see some smart, ethical FBI agents, who just happen to be on the wrong side.The second half of the book sets up a big confrontation.  The story achieves a "trust no one, everyone is different from what they seem" vibe -- like a good Hitchcock movie.  Kudos.Bonus point for interjecting both motorcycles and chess into the story.