No
Biz Like Showbiz
Lexi
Carmichael Mystery Series
Book
5
Julie
Moffett
Genre:
Mystery/Romance/ Action Adventure
Publisher:
Carina Press
Date
of Publication: July 21, 2014
ISBN:
9781426898730
ASIN:
Word
Count: 75,000
Book
Description:
Lexi
Carmichael: Helping Geeks Everywhere Get Some
Okay,
so it’s not exactly as it seems, but that’s what is happening on
the dating reality television show called “Geeks Get Some” that
I, Lexi Carmichael geek extraordinaire, am called to work on. Not
that I’m a fan of reality shows (I can barely deal with my own
reality), yet I’ve been sent to Hollywood to find a hacker who’s
screwing with the results of the show’s online voting system.
So
what happens when I get there? Well, the producers convince me to
continue my investigation from the inside. What should be an easy
hunt for the hacker turns ugly when he sets his sights on me. Add to
that a studio obsessed with ratings, a bunch of nerdy contestants,
and my own confusing love life, and unraveling this mystery might
make me a star—or get me killed.
Catch
up with Lexi in No One Lives Twice, No One to Trust, No Money Down,
No Place Like Rome!
Book
Trailer: http://animoto.com/play/Uvjf5YdOcTrKr1qTkhdUwA
Excerpt:
No
Biz Like Showbiz . . .
My
name is Lexi Carmichael and I have a problem with most of today’s
television programming. Not because of the sheer implausibility of a
majority of the shows—although that does factor—but because too
many programs seem to feature a tech genius who can solve the
problems of the world with one stroke of a keyboard.
Here’s
how it happens… a tech head is desperately trying to hack into a
system. Death, the collapse of the free world, or the apocalypse is
imminent if he fails. (Yes, tech heroes always seem to be guys since
I guess in Hollywood a woman doesn’t know her way around a
keyboard.) He types commands frantically as the clock ticks down to
Doomsday. As the scenario continues, our frazzled hero takes a moment
to run his fingers through his perfectly styled hair before he types
just one more command and bingo, he’s in. He’ll then have a whole
millisecond to navigate a completely unfamiliar system, find the
magic switch, and shut down the entire system in time to save the
day, world, girl, whatever, with one stroke. All of this while the
super expensive, cutting-edge government system or expensive
black-market technology used by the show's villain will aid our
intrepid hero by providing helpful visual prompts like Access Denied
or Access Granted in big bold letters across the screen as he works
his hacking magic.
Just
shoot me.
I’m
a real hacker and yes, I’m female. I double-majored in mathematics
and computer science at Georgetown University and have spent most of
my twenty-five years learning how to bypass cryptographic protocols,
exploit system vulnerabilities, and finesse distributed denial of
service attacks. I’ve never had to avert an apocalypse, but if I
did, I’m pretty sure it would take more than one freaking minute,
and I wouldn’t be worried about my hair while doing it. My first
successful hack on a relatively simple system took five hours. It
might have taken four, but my mom kept distracting me by yelling
through my bedroom door that if I gave ballet class just one more try
she’d give me a hundred dollars to spend however I wanted. So,
watching these types of shows and movies is hard on both my nerves
and stomach.
©
Julie Moffett No Biz Like Showbiz Excerpt
About
the Author:
Julie
Moffett is the award-winning author of thirteen published novels in
the genres of historical, paranormal fantasy, and time travel
romances, and action/adventure mysteries.
She
grew up as a military brat (Air Force) and has traveled extensively.
Her more exciting exploits include attending Kubasaki High School in
Okinawa, Japan, backpacking around Europe and Scandinavia for several
months, a year-long college graduate study in Warsaw, Poland and a
wonderful trip to Scotland and Ireland where she fell in love with
castles, kilts and brogues.
Julie
has a B.A. in Political Science and Russian Language from Colorado
College, a M.A. in International Affairs from George Washington
University in Washington, D.C., and is nearly finished with her M.Ed
from Liberty University in Virginia. Able to speak Russian and
Polish, she worked as a journalist for the international radio
station, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Washington, D.C. for
eleven years, publishing hundreds of articles. She now works as a
proposal writer and research advisor for a defense contractor in the
Washington, D.C. area.
Julie
has two sons who keep her quite busy. She belongs to Romance Writers
of America and Washington Romance Writers where she served six years
on the organization’s Board of Directors. She was also the Market
News Columnist and Feature’s Editor for the organization’s
monthly newsletter, Update, for eleven years.
Website:
www.juliemoffett.com
Twitter:
@JMoffettAuthor
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No Biz Like Showbiz by Julie MoffettMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
No Biz like Showbiz by Julie Moffett is a 2014 Carina Press Publication. I was provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This fourth book in the Lexi Carmichael series, has Lexi in a romantic triangle and is assigned the job of determining who is hacking into the system of a wildly popular reality show called “Geeks Get Some”. So, despite the fact she is still recovering from her last adventure, she sets off to Hollywood.
The show is like “The Big Bang Theory” meets “ The Bachelorette”.
Obviously, Lexi is offended by the concept of the show, but if she doesn't determine who is jacking with the votes it could cost many people their jobs. Plus, it's a crime and it's her job specialty to stop cyber crime.
Once Lexi gets started to work, she is flabbergasted by the way things work in Hollywood. Nothing is really real, no ONE is real and it's just like the old saying about smoke and mirrors. When the “cracker” begins making threats against Lexi's family and the show runners do a little strong arming, Lexi not only finds herself looking for a very clever hacker, she finds herself on national television and the “prize” all the geeks are trying to win.
This mystery is very well thought out and is almost scathing toward so called reality TV. Naturally, by now most people know the shows are rigged. If not , it would not be all that entertaining. So, the creators try to spice things up. Lexi learns that the hard way and her ethics makes it difficult for her to play along. There is one moment when an alternate theory to the show is offered making it seem as though people cheered for the geeks hoping they will learn social skills and find a person they can be happy with. I suppose that might pacify the people who are die hard , hard core lovers of this sort of entertainment, but for the most part Lexi is unimpressed. She does meet some nice people along the way, and some of the situations she gets in are hilarious. Lexi's character put me mind of Brennan on “Bones”. She was often a little socially awkward herself and found all the falseness of Hollywood unappealing, and she felt bad for the geeks being forced to show their limited knowledge about dating and women for all the world to laugh at.
Meanwhile, Lexi discovers Slash had done something that really upset her and she is now wondering about the relationship's possibilities. Can he get back in her good graces? Could they become a team again?
I enjoyed the characters, the obvious homework the author did in regards to tech lingo and the ins and outs of reality TV. Quirky characters are a favorite of mine because I guess I'm sort of quirky myself and can relate to these characters more than some 6 foot blonde who does combat in high heels. Lexi is one of those characters that is confident, stands up for what is right, but is also human and feels insecure and afraid just like most of us do. So, here's to the geek in all of us quirky types!! Well done!
4.5 rounded to 5
Thanks so much for having me! :)
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