The Fulcrum / Deepfake: Zack Wilder Thriller (The Fulcrum 1 & 3) by NJ Croft-a review
DEEPFAKE
Zack Wilder 3
by NJ Croft
Release Date: April 4, 2022
Genre:adult, contemporary, suspense thriller
ebook ONLY 99¢ or £0.99 Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk / Amazon.au /
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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date April 4, 2022.
Seeing is believing.
That’s always been the case. Until now.
When FBI Special Agent Zack Wilder is shown a video of his brother, a US Senator, having sex with a congressman, he’s shocked. But the most shocking thing of all: it never happened. The video is a deepfake, but unlike any that have come before; it’s flawless, impossible to distinguish from the real thing.
The line between truth and lies isn’t blurring—it’s being erased.
Zack is an expert on deception. After all, his whole life is based on secrets and lies. Now he must delve into the deadly world of deepfakes and disinformation to discover who is behind the video of his brother, and why. And it soon becomes clear that the video is only a small piece in a vast conspiracy to destabilize the American government and force the world into devastating conflicts.
Time is running out. Can Zack find a way to distinguish truth from lies before the world is plunged into a nuclear catastrophe?
••••••
REVIEW: DEEPFAKE is the third instalment in NJ Croft’s contemporary, adult ZACK WILDER suspense thriller focusing on thirty four year old, former US Army Ranger turn FBI Special Agent Zack Wilder. DEEPFAKE can be read as a stand alone but for backstory and cohesion, I recommend reading the series in order as there is a continuing premise throughout. Some of the events of DEEPFAKE are as of a direct result of the events in book two WATER.
What is DEEPFAKE? Deepfake is a form of artificial intelligence that has the capability to create fake images and videos by inserting the likeness of one individual into another video or digital image aka counterfeit / simulated videos.
Told from third person perspective DEEPFAKE follows in the wake of a potential political disaster in which a series of videos have surfaced skewering several high prominent political players and their families. Contacted by Senator Peter MacNally, Zack Wilder quickly suspects that the videos are fake, known as ‘deepfakes’ that are targeting the political elite. With the help of his partner FBI Agent Kelsey Taylor, and IT hacker Maddie Reese, Zack goes on the hunt for the truth, only to be pulled into a world he knows nothing about. As a number of deepfake victims comes to the forefront, a potential for nuclear war threatens the lives of everyone on Earth when videos surface about an imminent attack. Searching for information, Zack finds himself falling for a woman whose IT business is one of the leading companies in software development, a woman whose own secrets are dangerous and deep.
DEEPFAKE is an intense, complex and intriguing story of betrayal and vengeance, obsession and determination, power and control, murder and destruction-somewhat rooted in speculative fiction. The fast paced premise is intense, tragic, suspenseful and haunting; the characters are energetic, dramatic and forceful.
Copy supplied for review
Reviewed by Sandy
Book two WATER is ONLY 99¢ or £0.99 :
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THE FULCRUM
(Zack Wilder 1)
by NJ Croft
Release Date: September 20, 2021
Genre: adult, contemporary, suspense, thriller
ebook ONLY 99¢ or £0.99 Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk / Amazon.au /
ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date September 20, 2021.
Is free will just an illusion?
It’s a question FBI Special Agent Zack Wilder has battled with most of his life. And when he’s visited by an old army buddy, Zack must decide how far he is willing to go to maintain the illusion. Because his friend is the only survivor of a suspicious plane crash that killed Zack’s former unit, and now someone is trying to finish the job.
As Zack investigates the crash—and struggles to keep the lone survivor alive—he uncovers evidence that the victims were all unknowing participants in an unauthorized and sinister experiment perpetrated by a clandestine organization, the Fulcrum.
Then he’s ordered to back off.
Now he has a choice. He can follow orders, or he can attempt to save the world from a future where any free will is totally obliterated—and face the consequences
••••••
REVIEW: THE FULCRUM is the first instalment in NJ Croft’s contemporary, adult ZACK WILDER suspense series focusing on thirty-four year old, former US Army Ranger turned FBI Special Agent Zack Wilder.
SOME BACKGROUND: The Fulcrum is a ‘clandestine’ organization that has remained hidden from society for hundreds of years, an organization that hopes to maintain order in a world precariously balancing between chaos and harmony.
Told from third person perspective THE FULCRUM follows an off-books investigation in the ‘plane accident’ that took out all but 2 members of a government dark ops team of former soldiers and Marines. A call to Zack Wilder from a former military buddy, the lone survivor of the crash, pulled Zack into a science-fiction nightmare, a nightmare wherein our hero knows more than anyone can imagine. With the unwelcome help of his FBI partner Anna Monroe, Zack goes on the hunt for the truth, only to discover he recognizes the game players, from his time spent with the organization known as the Fulcrum.
FBI Special Agent Zack Wilder’s past is mired in buried secrets of which very few people are aware. Having spent half of his life in training, Zack finds his time with the FBI a little less indicative of his true talents, talents intended for something much bigger and more powerful. As Zack begins to unravel the who, what, and why, our hero begins to uncover a deadly experiment, a experiment hoping to create the ultimate soldier.
THE FULCRUM is a story of power and control; secrets and lies, betrayal and revenge, family and loss. The premise is intriguing and compelling with a little bit of science fiction thrown into the mix; the characters are charismatic, energetic and purposeful.
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Reviewed by Sandy
