Black Nowhere (Lisa Tanchik, 1)

Black Nowhere’s Special Agent Lisa Tanchik is definitely going somewhere. Buy this book, and you’ll be glad you were on for the ride with Hirsch and Tanchik. I’m far from a techie, but that wasn’t an issue at all, it didn't distract me from the story. Instead, this thriller got me in the first chapter, and you too will be engaged until you finish the book (for me, at 1:30 am). The writing is strong, the plot and the characters complex and interesting.

I'm a big fan of Hirsch's thrillers - they are well written and fast paced. In this new series (I sure hope it's the first in a series!), Hirsch again subtly raises broader questions on the role of technology in our society, and not just as a means for the crime and for the investigation. He raises issues, for example, around how seemingly ethical 'normal' individuals can be blinded by their laser- focused drive, ambition, abilities, and what they think are good intentions.

It was also great to have a kickass female FBI agent lead. There are still far too few out there in this genre. Author Reece Hirsch has another captivating lead on his hands with Special Agent Lisa Tanchik. I’m hopeful he has more in the works.

This was a fun, fast-paced thriller; picking it up on a work night wasn't the best decision I've ever made, because it was hard to put down. However, that's why coffee exists.

"Black Nowhere" takes off quickly and doesn't slow down. Imagine you’re a college student with a paradigm-shifting platform, an idea that uses an Amazon Marketplace-like framework, and catapults it into a new realm. Imagine that this is a pioneering program, which opens a marketplace to buyers and sellers, eliminating the danger and friction present in real life. Sounds like a business success, right? It would be, if it weren't 100% illegal.

You're taken on a wild ride through the Dark Web, real-life distribution problems, FBI investigations (some authorized, others less so) and very intense competitive forces. The characters are believable; it was hard to not admire the business model. FBI agent Lisa Tanchik was far from the picture perfect agent; she's insanely good at wandering through the murky word that is the Dark Web, but she has her demons, too. In short, she's relatable.

"Black Nowhere" is enthralling and fast-paced and (fortunately) one needn’t be a cyber-expert to follow the twists and turns. The characters are engaging, and evenly-matched, without being formulaic. The plot is scarily realistic. This is especially true when college-student Nate's real-life competition makes a frightening entrance. Being pursued by the FBI can be the least of your problems.

I recommend this book. It's a great read for anyone who enjoys forays into new crime / law enforcement frontiers. There's enough grit in it to keep it real, and I found the characters interesting. I'm looking forward to more adventures with Special Agent Lisa Tanchik!

I can hardly wait to see what Lisa Tanchik tackles next. I have been a fan of Reece Hirsch since his earliest works, and make a point of reading them all. This new series starter, Black Nowhere, is a great way to begin. I enjoyed getting to know the main character as the chapters progressed, from the details of Lisa’s history, to what pointed her in this direction, as well as what motivates the “bad guy”. And I have to admit – having a woman in the lead role is great! Reece is amazingly good at taking a mysterious sliver of cyber-security and turning it into a page turner that is hard to put down. If you’re interested in the Dark Web, and really solid FBI procedurals with a twist, you’ll enjoy this as much as I did.

3 stars because it was good enough to finish reading it. But the author made several egregious and unncecessary errors which take the reader out of the story to wonder why...instead of enjoying the story!
**Spoiler Alert**

1) Lisa laments the fact that DHS found Nate while they were tracking down forged identity documents. But it's never clear how DHS found Nate Fallon at all since he was paying cash for a room using an assumed name....just so no one could find him! So not only would DHS not have found him neither would Lisa.

2) DPain could never have walked three city blocks to the makeup artist's place to stage his assassination. He could barely move from a chair due to chronic back pain.

3) The chance meeting on the beach in Dominica between Lisa and CaptainMal/Nate is far too coincidental.

4) Lisa joins the DEA raid in Mexico ostensibly to make sure the hostage is freed. She isn't trained or qualified to be on the raid. And she does nothing to save Brian. In fact, Lisa knows the only way to save Brian is by following CaptainMal's plan. Why didn't that happen? After Brian was safe, they could have raided the cartel. Worse error in the book.

5)The spelling of the word "yea" instead of "yeah" in CaptainMal's postings is, at best, only a small clue to his identity. But it is blown out of proportion by Lisa. So how in the world, can the author spell it "yeah" at the very end of the book when CaptainMal/Nate writes his final manifesto?

Can you ever really be invisible? Are you able to hide your identity and not be found? Within the web there are many who have created alter egos , alter identities thinking that they are under the radar and will not fall prey to hackers and cyber attacks. Special Agent Lisa Tanchik has tasked herself with uncovering the secrets beneath the dark web in a site called Kyte. Coming upon it and presenting what she found to her superiors opened up an investigation that would take her to Iceland and even the Dominican Republic and inside the channels of the Dark Web. Kyte is where drugs can be bought and sold and delivered to you at a cost only if you pay in bitcoin. Sellers can contact the coders and other members of the team and arrange products to be sold, transported and sell anything they want. This start up company is run by Nate Fallon a college student gone rogue whose entire focus is building up this business and with the help of several team members he’s made a fortune. But for how long?
Lisa has her own dark past and her pouts with depression and alcohol and the memory of her sister Jess often clouds her judgment and decisions the present. “Depression is a dark room, a black nowhere.” But she would doom learn that you could not live your life madly burning through matchbooks. Lisa was bent and determined to investigate Kyte and the person running it known as CaptainMal. This site was unique and hidden in the Dark Web. It provided what people craved:illegal drugs that could be delivered to their doors at a reasonable price and relatively safe. Just who comprised his team: DJINN, DPAIN and others. His main person was DPAIN whom he thought was loyal and trustworthy but money, greed and power be more powerful and enticing.
As we get to know about the dynamics of the investigation and why Lisa wants to be lead on this case which would be interagency, we learn that it would boost her career and take her mind off of her depression.
Nate is driven and yet mistakes are made as he receives a threat from the head of the Zeta Cartel demanding to become a partner and threatening if he does not comply. Hoping to make him go away his future and life might hang in the balance.
The site is lucrative but there are many who want a piece and Lisa using an alter ego called Rodrigo manages to create a dialogue with CaptainMal who has no idea that she’s a federal agent. When DPAIN’S location is discovered and Lisa snd a team take him down what follows is quite interesting almost like watching CSI or Criminal Minds.
Brian Hardwick signed on as a cider for Kyte but made a fatal mistake. Taken hostage by Zeta and tortured, Nate has a life changing decision to make. Give up his dream to safe his friend or let him die. Added in Lisa/aka/ Rodrigo is hired to take out DPAIN and what and how she does is the imagination and creativity of author Reece Hirsch. Getting him to believe and trust her , following him to Iceland and getting a firm handle on his identity is just the tip of the iceberg. Lisa has won the respect of her superiors and given a team to help lead the downfalls but is that enough? When Nate realizes that Brian is in serious trouble and he’s turning over his business to the cartel in the end will he safe him?
Real life situations and high volume and voltage energy as the final scenes are electric and filled with tension and fear.
Lisa and her team had their strategy but the cartel played by its own rules. Nate wanted to do something to show the world he could create a that would bypass government regulations and be free from restrictions.
CaptMal in his interview with a reporter stated that he was excited by the ability of Tor and bitcoin to enable truly anonymous transactions. Can you really operate beyond the reach of the government? Is the Dark Web really so dark you won’t be seen?
Kyte made it easy for people to sell and buy drugs. Nate felt he was doing a service and morals and ethics put aside. Is that true or did it harm others or his argument that people have the right to put anything in their bodies? The interview the author created was so realistic you could hear the dialogue.
Author Reece Hirsch uses his experience as a partner at a San Francisco office of international law and the cochair of its privacy and cyber security practice to bring the authenticity and realism to this novel.
Some ending are unusual beginnings in different divas the twists, turns and creative ending leads readers to believe that Lisa’s career might take an unusual turn upward and Nate just might be a part of it in an unusual way. Will he try again? Where will they both wind up or will they both fall prey to the dark room and wind up in the Black NowherE

A young man out of control in the black hole of the internet trying to escape the grip of one determined female FBI cyber agent named Lisa Tanchik. She is one helluva great agent who dedicates her every waking moment to exposing this dangerous drug-riddled operation. I read Black Nowhere in a few days and now i need to order the first and second in this series. It's a serious page turner.

This is one of those books, that once you start it, it is hard to put down. I found myself carrying it with me throughout the day, to grab a bit of reading whenever I could manage it.

Most male writers do not do a decent job of writing novels when the main protagonist is a female - Hirsch is not one of those, as he does an excellent job of writing the Character of Lisa Tanchik, a young FBI cyber agent.

Tanchik takes down this fictionalized version of the "Silk Road" website.

Much is also written about the anti-hero, Nate Fallon, the coding entrepreneur who builds "Kyte" into a Billion dollar a year online drug marketplace. Fallon has a strong libertarian bent and there is enough of his philosophy to satisfy even the most ardent libertarian.

A great book, and I cannot wait for the next novel in this series to come out in May 2020.

A police-procedural with dark undertones that is told from dual perspectives. Hirsch did well to develop and maintain characters within the narrative, each lending individual support to the plot. Ironically, each character was also burdened with traits or nuances that made them unappealing. It is here that the reader is offered a unique perspective and able to appreciate the author’s true intent. Highly character driven. Recommended to crime/procedural fans everywhere! 4 stars.

She’s smart. She’s devious. And she’s the best at what she does. When someone creates a vast online network of crime and vice, she will do everything she can to hunt down the Internet’s latest criminal mastermind, even if it means searching the deepest recesses of the dark web. Enter Reece Hirsch’s mind bending thriller, Black Nowhere.

Special Agent Lisa Tanchik has a knack for catching bad guys, especially those who try to get away with bad deeds in the nethermost shadows of the Web. When she comes across a site that’s like the eBay of illegal merchandise she knows this case could make her career, especially since it sells everything from computer viruses to prescription drugs, and other exotic substances not available to the masses.

But finding the creator of such a technologically advanced website is going to be tricky, especially in a world populated by brilliant hackers and devious techies who know a billion ways to keep their true identities hidden. The thing is, Tanchik is pretty slick herself, and has a talent for creating digital disguises that get her into places other law enforcement officers can’t access. Besides, she likes wearing these masks. They indulge the part of her personality that likes the anonymity of it all.

On the other side of the case is Nate Fallon, a college student who began his site as an idealistic experiment. Because his new platform has made illegal activity more efficient, it has also put him in danger. Not only do the Feds want to shut him down, but another organization, one with monstrous criminal intent, climbs out of the depths of cyberspace and into the real world to haunt his every move.

Caught in the middle, Nate must make a decision which will forever change the course of his life. Can Tanchick find him before his site falls into the wrong hands?

With Black Nowhere, Reece Hirsch has delivered a novel that is addictive, fascinating, and utterly terrifying. Since Hirsch has a background in both law and cybersecurity, I can only imagine that the premise of this story is altogether real, or at the very least, quite possible. As such, it makes us as readers sit up and take notice, and pray that there are plenty of law enforcement agents in the wings watching all the dark web channels most of us aren’t even aware are there.

Tanchik herself is flawed, definitely, and she has her share of inadequacies. But she is also shrewd, intelligent, and driven. She is a federal agent that is persuasive and likable, yet is a woman who has more moxie than fear, with a dash of charisma thrown in for good measure. She’s not afraid to break down walls, stand up to authority, and fight for what she wants. In this case, it’s the criminal she’s pursuing.

Black Nowhere is a novel that is ripe to become a Hollywood thriller. With it’s strong female protagonist and its cloak-and-dagger storyline, it is a tale of our modern age, and is one which leaves us wanting to unplug. Because according to Hirsch, the online world is a big bad place where danger lurks behind every corner and everyone is watching, waiting to do wrong behind a curtain of code, and ultimately cash in on our ill-gained information.

As originally published at JathanandHeather.com.