Marianna Jameson, Big Trouble

Big Trouble

Marianna Jameson

Signet, May 2006, $6.99

ISBN: 0451218256

Computer security specialist Naomi Connor is the best at doing the seemingly impossible of breaking through barriers that experts insist cannot be breached. That is why companies clamor for her services to conduct the ultimate beta test of their systems security, as she has left many skilled specialists red-faced.

Defense contractor Brennan Shipping CIO Joe Casey hires her company, who sends the world's greatest legal hacker Naomi to break into his new system. She finds it ironic that as a college student she illegally hacked into Brennan Shipping; now she can repeat her escapade legally and clean up any signatures left behind. When Joe and Naomi meet, sparks fly, though neither wants an attraction between them. She needs to prove to the world that she has brains as much as beauty, while he does not go out with workers or women for more than three dates. Still they fall in love, but he is a boat person and she cannot swim; besides which, they must deal with a hacker trying to gain access to top military secrets, though everyone concludes it must be her.

BIG TROUBLE is a fine romantic suspense thriller that grips the audience from the moment that Naomi pleads her way onto the assignment, and never slows down until the final confrontation with the hacker. The storyline is fast-paced as the lead pair falls in love, but he struggles to trust her as she is the prime suspect. The glimpses at computer security are blended nicely into the plot so that the audience obtains a bit of understanding without slowing down the speed. Fans will enjoy Marianna Jameson's wonderful tale and seek her other work, MY HERO.