The Last Hack - (Jack Palabane Thrillers) by Christopher Brookmyre (Paperback)

About the Book

From a top international crime writer, an unstoppable thriller about an old-school journalist facing down obsolescence, a desperate teenager, and a heist that will take this unlikely pair to the most treacherous corners of the Internet

Book Synopsis

From a top international crime writer, The Last Hack is "an extraordinary suspense novel" (Washington Post) about an old-school journalist facing down obsolescence, the most memorable teenage hacker since Lisbeth Salander, and a heist that will take this unlikely pair to the most treacherous corners of the Internet.

Sam Morpeth has had to grow up way too fast. Left to fend for a younger sister when their mother goes to prison, she is forced to watch her dreams of university evaporate. But Sam learns what it is to be truly powerless when a stranger begins to blackmail her online. Meanwhile, reporter Jack Parlabane seems to have finally gotten his career back on track with a job at a flashy online news start-up, but his success has left him indebted to a volatile source on the wrong side of the law. Now that debt is being called in, and it could cost him everything. Thrown to-gether by a shared enemy, Sam and Jack are about to discover they have more in common than they realize--and might be each other's only hope.

Review Quotes

Praise for The Last Hack:

Longlisted for the 2017 McIlvanney Prize for Scottish crime book of the year

"A highly entertaining writer--his books have won awards for their comic as well as their crime-fiction elements--Brookmyre is tenacious when it comes to exploring the most cynical aspects of his characters while peppering his writing with amusing and spot-on details. Whether he's describing a party venue where the hors d'oeuvres are 'so on-trend that the leftovers are likely to be binned in a few hours for being out of fashion rather than for any of the ingredients being past their use-by dates' or throwing around a wry joke about British 'Apprentice' boss Alan Sugar, Brookmyre clearly relishes wordplay and one-liners as much as he enjoys crafting a finely-tuned thriller."--Daneet Steffens, Boston Globe

--The Last Hack by Christopher Brookmyre is the most compelling thriller I've read all year. I could not put it down once I started, and now that I'm done, I find myself oddly afraid of my laptop.John Gilstrap, author of Final Target and the Jonathan Grave thriller series

The Last Hack is a dialogue-fueled, action-packed thrill ride of a tale. This book has it all--including two great leads--Jack Parlabane, a down-on-his-luck reporter, dogged in pursuit of a good story, but haunted by a deadly debt which could cost him more than a career, and Sam Morpeth, a young lady weighed down with family burdens and responsibilities who finds herself in the center of a web of deadly deceit. Each on their own are compelling characters strong enough to fuel any story. Team them together and the result is pure literary dynamite. If you have not read Christopher Brookmyre before (and I confess I had not) The Last Hack will make you a fan for life...you'll want to read the other novels in the Parlabane series and anything else he puts in print. He's a cocktail of Ian Rankin blended with a dash of Robert Crais and a splash of Michael Connelly. The guy is seriously that good. The Last Hack is a must-read for anyone who loves not just thrillers but a good story well told. The plot is Kentucky Derby fast; the dialogue is tough, gritty, funny, raw; and the characters all come off the page as Elmore Leonard real. Get the book, open a bottle of whatever you're drinking, sit back and enjoy the thrill ride of the summer.--Lorenzo Carcaterra, author of Sleepers and The Wolf A timely, riveting ride into the cyber crime underworld . . . by the very talented Scottish author Christopher Brookmyre . . . The Last Hack pulls back the curtain on a faceless band of marginalized young geeks . . . Brookmyre's easy, long-distance stroke sweeps the reader into this invisible world of digital mayhem, and your eyes will dry out following along. For heavy lifting, he brings in his signature investigative journalist Jack Parlabane, who cajoles his way into blind al- leys and near misses. He's a terrific character . . . A goofy, wonderful, well-written story.--Jeffery Mannix, Durango Telegraph

--The Last Hack is terrific. Hackers are almost old news but Brookmyre puts a fresh twist on it, focusing on his great characters. He puts them in the deepest, most perilous, inescapable situations possible and somehow manages to get them out in surprising and completely convincing ways. Tech fans needn't worry. There are enough digital machinations to satisfy the faculty at MIT.Joe Ide, author of IQ

As soon as I finished The Last Hack, I immediately changed all my passwords, and I'll never look at a USB drive the same way again. It's at once terrifying and tremendous fun, with superb characterization, gripping moral complexity, and no shortage of clever villainy.--Chris Pavone, New York Times bestselling author of The Expats

Christopher Brookmyre's crime fiction has gone from strength to strength in recent years, seeing him flexing his narrative muscles with different protagonists. But The Last Hack revisits the always engaging Jack Parlabane whose knack for finding trouble is unrivalled.--Val McDermid, Observer (UK), best holiday reads 2017

The Last Hack is a revelation. I loved the two central characters and the plot reminded me why the computer is the scariest tool since the invention of the buzzsaw.--Thomas Perry, New York Times bestselling author of The Old Man

The Last Hack is vintage Brookmyre--equal parts adrenaline and empathy, a plot that opens out like a Japanese flower dropped in hot water, and characters so real you want to reach through the page and save them.--Diana Gabaldon

Sam's hacking ploys are cool in the extreme. An enjoyable departure from its predecessors, Brookmyre's eighth Jack Parlabane novel works exceptionally well as cybercrime fiction, but it's the human element that makes it tick.--Kirkus Reviews

A compelling thriller . . . and Sam is a delightfully complex and engaging character.--Booklist

One of the defining characteristics of Chris Brookmyre's Jack Parlabane novels is the development of his protagonist. While other crime luminaries rest comfortably in stasis, Parlabane, like a great white shark, keeps moving. This makes him one of the more fascinating characters in crime fiction . . . Brookmyre's plot is full of surprising twists and turns . . . An engrossing read.--Herald Scotland

Brookmyre is a master of creating tension both on and offline . . . I was up all night reading this book, and while I was satisfied with the conclusion, I would be even more pleased to see Buzzkill in action again in her own series, or at least appearing in another Jack Parlabane thriller.--Mystery Scene

About the Author

Christopher Brookmyre was a journalist before publishing his award-winning debut, Quite Ugly One Morning. He is the author of the Jack Parlabane thriller series, which has sold more than one million copies in the UK alone, and the acclaimed Jasmine Sharp and Catherine McLeod novels. He has won many awards for his work, including the McIlvanney Prize for Best Scottish Crime Novel of the Year, the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize, and the Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Award.