Michael F. Stewart and Mac Doninri (Don) L. Dimanlig are the author and artist, respectively, of the Assured Destruction Series. Michael F. Stewart
is not afraid to experiment and combine the written story with stylized modern
graphics, technology, and social media. The
Assured Destsruction series is published by Non Sequitur Press.
In Stewart’s first Assured
Destruction the reader was introduced to the major character, Janus Rose. Since Janus’ dad deserted the family, Janus
and her mom have taken on the computer recycling business. To complicate matters, Janus’ mom has
multiple sclerosis. The prognosis isn't
good. And this is how Janus’ life
is—complicated.
This second novel in the
series, Script Kiddie, adds more drama to Janus’ life. Assured Destruction is in danger of being
foreclosed. Janus’ friend runs into
trouble with online dating. As usual,
school marks are precarious. Janus’
boyfriend is running out of patience.
Mom’s boyfriend is suspicious.
The police have Janus doing community service. Teen age stress is complicated even more by
the online hacking community.
An interesting concept is
that Janus has a few alter egos. She has
set up old computers with names and personalities, and interacts with them. They’re Gumps, Frannie, Heckleena, Tule, and
more. Not only do they help Janus think
through her options by getting her to focus, these on-line characters help us,
the reader, to explanations, and character motivation.
NB my favorite quotes:
If life’s a stage, then you should be in
the audience, Heckleena tweets.
@Heckleena For some reason the director
keeps shoving me out for more, JanusFlyTrap replies.
Heckleena is one of my many alter egos, which allow me to say what
I want without inciting direct hatred. JanusFlyTrap is the real me.
##
Shadows
have lengthened and the sun shines into my eyes through the windows. The hair
on
the
back of my neck does a little dance. It’s
nearly closing time and despite the thrill of adventure a new hard drive always
sends through
me, I’d rather not profile a killer in the dark.
##
I
don’t understand the half of it, but I want to, oh how I want to. And I will.
It’s like
cracking
the binding on a dusty old spell book and reading arcane language promising to
augment your powers, create wards of protection, and destroy your enemies.
##
First Prize: I will bow to your feet, sing your
praises,
and be otherwise suitably impressed. But you’ll never
have all that, because this code is
impossible to crack.
NB these related sites:
Author Michael F. Stewart http://michaelfstewart.com/ http://www.goodreads.com/
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