The Exphoria Code

July 6, 2020
MI6 cyber-analyst Brigitte Sharp, the heroine of this intriguing if flawed series launch from comics author Johnston (The Coldest City), was a teenage hacker who avoided prison by going to work for the British government in the Cyber Threat Analytics unit. She has been a field agent, but lost that status in an incident that still haunts her. Sharp’s boss in London wants her back in the field, but she balks, until she feels compelled to investigate the suspicious death of Tenebrae_Z, a friend and fellow hacker. She determines that Tenebrae_Z’s death might have security implications. Later, she looks into a suspected breach of a secret project in France, where a mole appears to be stealing secrets. Sharp turns out to be quite resourceful, physically and mentally, and thrilling action scenes keep the pages turning, but readers should be prepared for too much exposition and paint-by-numbers characterizations. Johnston’s obvious talent suggests he can do better in the sequel. Agent: Sarah Such, Sarah Such Literary (U.K.).

September 1, 2020
In the new novel by accomplished comic-book writer Johnston (the Wasteland series, among many others), computer hacker Brigitte Sharp works for MI6, the British intelligence organization. After her investigation into a friend's death unearths a mole inside the military, she finds herself targeted for assassination, afraid to trust anyone. What follows is a fast-paced and cleverly constructed story that uses many of the familiar spy-novel tropes but does so in exciting new ways. The novel bears a slight resemblance to the author's 2012 graphic novel The Coldest City (filmed as Atomic Blonde), but that was a Cold War-era story, and this one is very much a modern-day spy novel. Johnston makes good use of jargon and technical terminology to give the story an air of realism, although the story pushes itself right to the edge of plausibility, cleverly adding to the suspense. A rousing success.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)