The Bookwyrm's Review of Cyber Squad - Level 2 by A.K. Mocikat
Rating: 10/10 Stars
The Net is a dangerous place…
Kai barely survived his encounter with the rogue AI calling itself “The God in the Machine” in the Dark Net. Promoted to Level 2 with no time to recover, he has gained access to all Helltek has to offer.
Life on the campus could be perfect except that Cyber Squad is one of the most high-risk jobs in the world. If the murderous AI wasn’t bad enough, the hackers who attacked TSOTA are up to no good and a traitor within the Cyber Squad is helping them.
Nothing and no one are what they seem. Not even Alice, Kai’s dream girl, who’s way more mysterious than he would have thought.
Kai soon finds himself in the center of a massive conspiracy. Luckily his team members have his back. But will it be enough to beat forces as powerful as they’re malicious?
After finishing the first book in this series, I couldn't wait to see where the author took the series. I just finished it and can say that it is just as good as the first book, expanding on the world and characters in such creative ways. This isn't a placeholder in the series, but an integral part of the character arcs. It's quite the story arc as well.
The world building really expands on what we saw in book one. We get to see much more of the the working and living environment of Kai and his team, especially now that Kai has been promoted to Level 2. Kai's new living quarters on the Helltech campus are a huge upgrade, and shows a lot of the advances in technology from our current day. The in-game world building is also expanded, and we get to see even more of the Behind Blue Eyes world Kai and his team are doing QC work on. This is kind of an Easter egg, since the dystopian cyberpunk world of Behind Blue Eyes the game is also the real world of the author's Behind Blue Eyes cyberpunk series. It's kind of fun seeing what are real world events in one series turned into game levels in Cyber Squad. The dangers in the game seem to be getting greater as well, with influence from outside the game creating a more deadly environment for them to traverse in-game, all leading up to a stunning climactic final scene.
The characters continue their story arcs from book one. The story still centers around Kai, the newest member of the team who seems to have a real knack for the job. His arc continues to develop, as he gains more skill and abilities in his job, while his personal life is also in flux, as there seems to be a spark between himself and Alice, if only he could figure out how to develop it. There is also another woman who has eyes on Kai, which presents it's own intriguing possibilities. Which is all a moot point if Kai can't figure a way to keep from getting murdered in cyberspace.
The secondary characters get more fleshing out as well. We get a deeper look into their lives as they get more time to interact with Kai, since he now lives on campus with them. I really like the complicating of Kai's romantic possibilities. It really creates some great character interactions. We get a much deeper look into those characters as well, and there motivations aren't nearly as upfront as I expected.
The antagonists are starting to reveal themselves a bit more. You can see there are several agendas that have competing goals, and they are willing to pull some truly heinous acts to make those goals a reality. There is also someone close to Kai that is not what they seem, although the author is doing a great job being cagey about who the mole is. We do see that they too are willing to kill to make their goals a reality.
The narration is ably handled by the talented Zachary Johnson. He does a fantastic job of giving each character their own distinct voice, breathing more life into an already lively story. You are never in doubt which character is speaking, and he brings such vitality to the characters. When he voices the antagonists, he does a great job of projecting real menace. His narrative pacing is excellent as well. I highly recommend checking out this version.
I was happy to see one of my new favorites in the LitRPG genre has continued to excel. Creating even more tension and danger while continuing the characters story arcs is a neat trick. I can see this story appealing to fans of LitRPG, cyberpunk and sci-fi thrillers. I give it my highest recommendation.
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