I was a bit disappointed in this book. First, I found much of it difficult to follow as characters were introduced -- but the entire 'technology' business was hard for me and it took away from the story (from my perspective). I also thought the end was 'eh'-- as the chapter just stopped. I do not believe that everything needed to be tied up in a nice bow or anything -- but a little more work into the final chapter of the characters would have been helpful While I did like Julia the main character -- and the book did remind me of "Charm School" by Nelson Demille-- the missing piece was I would have liked a richer history of the characters. I felt that some of the characters were written with very little development (i.e., Julia's husband -- as a cardiologist was depicted as a 'slug' and I had difficulty truly picturing this character married to her). As for Alice, as a first generation Chinese American -- I liked her relationship with her parents -- as parents work hard and want the best for their children -- I believed the scene in the 'farmers market' with her mom selling her noddle's was more realistic and good character development. The rest of Alice, not so much -- for her age I thought she was quite immature in many of her actions. I read the book in under 3 days -- as it was intriguing and kept my interest -- I was not surprised by the different direction the book took. (read less)

I was a bit disappointed in this book. First, I found much of it difficult to follow as characters were introduced -- but the entire 'technology' business was hard for me and it took away from the story (from my perspective). I also thought the end was 'eh'-- as the chapter just stopped. I do not believe that everything needed to be tied up in a nice bow or anything -- but a little more (read more)

Julia Lerner has been recruited by Russia's intelligence agency to infiltrate a tech firm in Silicon Valley to gain access to data on its users. Leo is her handler. Julia rises quickly to the top, becoming COO and a role model in the industry. She has a successful husband and a baby on the way. She isn't very friendly to other women in the industry, though. When Leo gives her assignment, she is torn, because she likes her success and her life in America, and feels an obligation to her users. Alice Lu, a computer tech notices something strange happening with the servers, and decides to investigate. Will Julia's carefully planned life fall apart? What will happen if she obeys/disobeys the Russian orders? I enjoyed parts of the book-about work/life balance, some of the conversations between the characters, but the espionage parts seemed a bit disjointed to me. I had high expectations for this book, but I thought it was just OK. Thanks to Edelweiss for the ARC. (read less)

Julia Lerner has been recruited by Russia's intelligence agency to infiltrate a tech firm in Silicon Valley to gain access to data on its users. Leo is her handler. Julia rises quickly to the top, becoming COO and a role model in the industry. She has a successful husband and a baby on the way. She isn't very friendly to other women in the industry, though. When Leo gives her assignment, (read more)