Mix some elements of The Matrix with Ready Player One, and a throw in a bit The Last Starfighter for good measure. That’s a decent summary of the feel for MindWar, the first book in the Mindwar trilogy from Andrew Klavan.
But all that changes when his gaming prowess makes him the ideal candidate for the MindWar project. Somewhere, a shadowy, brilliant Russian oligarch is plotting to destroy the United States using a networked virtual world from which he can infiltrate any electronic system. All Rick has to do is infiltrate this virtual world, find out what the bad guy is up to, stop him, and get back before his mind disintegrates. No problem.
The book presents a fast-paced, easy read that’s appropriate for older teens, but still enjoyable for adults. There’s plenty of action, and good pacing from the virtual world to the real world and back again. Klaven generally stays away from technical details that could pull knowledgeable readers out of the story, although there are a few slip-ups with an aircraft where he seems to forget whether it’s a single- or multi-engine aircraft.
An interesting inclusion is a couple pages of discussion notes at the back of the book. The book itself could best be described as “Christian literature adjacent.” What I mean by that is that one or two characters are overtly Christian, but Christianity, or religion in general, isn’t a central theme of the story. The author also doesn’t beat the reader over the head with extra scenes of characters praying or quoting scripture which would make no sense in context. The discussion notes add an element that would make this a good pick for a youth group or other reading club.
While MindWar is clearly the start of a trilogy, it also gives a solid resolution, while still setting up the next book in the series. I’ll definitely be putting the remaining books on my To Read list.