Max Mooth--Cyber Sleuth And The Case Of The Zombie Virus by Stephen Kogon

From the Publisher

Nineteen-year-old Max Mooth is a cyber sleuth, dedicated to ensuring the safety and well-being of computers the world over. Aiding him in this effort is his eight-year-old sleuthing partner, Jake Zellner, who goes by the professional name, Mr. Z. Max's nemesis, a millionaire named Xefland Aurcracker, has sworn revenge against Max for getting him expelled from college four years ago, and now the time has come to exact that revenge. Aurcracker does so by hiring minions to create the most evil computer virus ever, the Zombie Virus, and then having them launch it upon the world, framing Max in the process. Furthermore, Aurcracker schemes to steal away Max's love interest, Abby, in order to further defeat him. So having only sixty hours to save the world's computers and his good name, Max and Mr. Z finally devise a plan that might stop the Zombie Virus--a plan that brings the fate of Max, Abby and computers everywhere down to the bare wire.

Sean Michael Fleming - VOYA

Max Mooth is sixty hours away from being framed for the creation of the Zombie Virus, which is ready to destroy innocent computers the world over in this freshman effort from Kogon. Millionaire Xefland Aurcracker, owner of Virus Be Gone, has hatched this plan to seek revenge: Max exposed him as a cheat when they were at Berkeley, and Xefland was expelled. The two also vie for the affections of Abby, who is unaware of the conflict between the two antagonists. Thrown into the mix is Max's sidekick, precocious eight-year-old Mr. Z. Preposterous subplots, action, and dialogue combine to create an unappealing end product. For example, Max is able to evade two FBI agents who are chasing him by quickly ducking into a copy room and dressing up as a clown. Teen slang such as "I'm the iMac Daddy," and "boss like DOS," which emanate from the mouth of Max, would likely make many teens cringe or stare in disbelief at the speaker. The audience that Kogon is trying to reach is difficult to determine, as the main character is nineteen, and his sidekick is eight, yet the text is simple enough to be easily understood by the average twelve-year-old. The visually unappealing cover will not help to make this book more popular with potential readers. Libraries can safely avoid adding it to their collections. VOYA CODES: 1Q 1P J (Hard to understand how it got published; No YA will read unless forced to for assignments; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9). 2005, iUniverse.com, 120p., Trade pb. Ages 12 to 15.

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