The Cipher

December 22, 2014
Ford (The Morgue and Me) weaves a twisty, paranoid tale of technology, secrets, and lies, as 18-year-old Robert “Smiles” Smylie, heir to a major software security company, gets caught up in a thrilling caper. By solving the fabled Riemann Hypothesis, Smiles’s friend Ben has developed a program that can crack any private code in the world. In the right hands, it could be worth millions. Smiles’s plan: sell the program to the government for a fortune before they simply take Ben and his discovery away for their own purposes. With the mysterious Erin as their accomplice, the team seems poised to succeed—until things go horribly wrong. With Ben in the hands of the NSA, the program stolen, and Smiles’s father’s company on the line, Smiles has to play all sides against the middle. Ford capably juggles several threads as he pulls off a complicated series of plans and double-crosses, as well as the mathematical angle that makes the story’s MacGuffin possible and plausible. The end result is an unpredictable story with some audacious twists. Ages 12–up. Agent: Sara Crowe, Harvey Klinger.

December 1, 2014
A dangerous breakthrough in cryptography leads to a high-stakes adventure for ne'er-do-well Robert "Smiles" Smylie Jr., whose father founded computing security giant Alyce Systems.On his 18th birthday, Smiles receives the first installment of his relatively modest trust fund. The following weekend, he drives his geeky teen-prodigy neighbor, Ben, to a cryptography conference at Fox Creek Casino. When Ben realizes he has discovered a fast-factoring algorithm that will destroy modern cryptography, Smiles hatches a scheme to sell the information to the National Security Agency. The basics of public-key cryptography are explained accessibly, but the focus here is on the fast-moving action and web of double crosses and buried secrets. Smiles' confident, upbeat and largely ingenuous voice lends the book charm, and chapters in which Smiles' fond ex-girlfriend Melanie investigates Alyce Systems' past are both warm and suspenseful. Many different storylines are at play here besides the NSA scheme: Smiles' family history, the upcoming Alyce Systems initial public offering, Smiles' relationship with his dying father and Smiles' growing attachment to a girl he meets at the conference. Each plotline works neatly with the others and achieves a satisfying resolution. One final twist is revealed a bit too quickly to have its intended impact, but readers get plenty of suspense and high-tech high jinks otherwise. High-speed fun. (Thriller. 14-18)

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November 1, 2014

Gr 9 Up-Robert "Smiles" Smylie is a slacker who barely gets by in life. He is surrounded by geniuses-from his father, who invented a key encryption code used by every secure website in the world, to Ben, his best friend who is convinced he has solved The Riemann Hypothesis, a virtually unsolvable mathematical principle involving prime numbers. Smiles tries to prove his worth by accompanying Ben to a conference where he hopes to show his father that he is truly worth something. When Ben gets kidnapped by people who don't want his work to see the light of day, Smiles must use his intellect and street smarts to help his friend, potentially changing the world in the process. Ford has written a unique story involving dense mathematics principles and makes them accessible to a young audience. The thriller aspects of the story are exciting and keep the pages turning. The design of the book enhances the experience; the chapter numbers, for example, are all prime numbers. There are some pacing issues in the beginning of the novel as the main action does not start until roughly halfway into the book. At times, there are differences in the protagonist's voice that bring readers out of the story. Smiles uses oddly formal language like "he extracted his mobile" interspersed with phrases such as, "Dude missed his calling as a bouncer." Once the plot is in full swing, The Cipher is an exciting tale with a twist ending that teens will enjoy.-Christopher Lassen, Brooklyn Public Library

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2015
Grades 8-11 Ford follows up his debut, The Morgue and Me (2009), with another taut thriller. Robert Smylie, aka Smiles, appears to be nothing like his father, a do-gooder software mogul whose company is about to go public. Kicked out of his prep school, Smiles lives near MIT and is surrounded by geniuses, like the nerdy math whiz across the hall who asks him for a ride to a cryptography convention at a nearby casino, convinced he has got a solution to a million-dollar math problem. Unbeknownst to Smiles, this trip sets in motion a feverishly paced series of events that could put his father's prized company in jeopardy and reveal long-kept family secrets. Composing his novel with short chapters that switch perspectives among key players, Ford knows precisely when to lay his cards out on the table. Readers will speed through this book as they try to solve the narrative's puzzle before the solution is revealed. Given all the national-security leaks making the news, this book about privacy could not be more current.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2015
Ben cracks the code unlocking all encrypted information on the internet. He enlists the help of his friend Smiles to negotiate handing over his discovery to a pair of suspicious Feds. Unknowingly, Smiles falls victim to a scam involving his parents and the secret origins of the family's internet security company. This tech-thriller reads like an action movie.

(Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)