The Bottom Line: A knockout series debut you can’t afford to miss. Proxy War is a rare combination of explosive technology, global security stakes and emotional depth.
College student Alex Mercer lives with her adoptive parents, Jin-woo and Soo-yeon Mercer, in a modest Fremont, California apartment complex. Amidst financial struggles, Alex has to juggle school and side jobs. When she learns that her father has been the unwitting victim of a ransomware virus, she decides to hack into an infected server to understand how the virus works and potentially protect her family and community.
Upon accessing a hidden communications layer, Alex realizes that the ransomware virus isn’t just stealing money — it’s actually a massive espionage tool. This ransomware wasn’t ordinary criminal activity for financial gain. It’s cyber warfare.
Author S.W. Michaels reveals Cipher, a primary actor behind the virus, before we even meet our protagonist. Handpicked by North Korea’s elite intelligence agency, the Reconnaissance General Bureau (RGB), Cipher is a force to be reckoned with. We first see him holding a blade to a captive’s throat, with deadly intent, in a Las Vegas hotel room. And Cipher’s motive for unleashing a virus across the globe? Revenge for his parents’ fiery murder (although he tells himself that his reason has evolved into something bigger – American imperialism).
Needless to say, Alex and Cipher are on a collision course that will play out both across the labyrinthian digital landscape and in the real world. Should Alex (and eventually, U.S. Cyber Command) fail to stop him, the North Koreans will have laid the groundwork for a devastating attack that could tip the balance of global power in their favor.
Michaels has created a colorful supporting cast, including Riley, a spoiled rich girl and high school cheerleader who bullies Alex. There’s also Tae-Woo and Jin-Soo, a pair of meticulous and effective field operatives under North Korean General Tau’s command. But the real star of the show is Michaels’ careful thematic construction. Cipher is working for North Korean intelligence, while Alex’s adoptive family are South Korean immigrants who sacrificed everything for a life in the United States. Alex’s South Korean adoptive family embodies resilience, love, and hope, while Cipher and his North Korean handlers largely represent control, vengeance, and destruction. The result is an undeniable allegory for the larger North/South Korean conflict that underpins much of the novel’s deeper emotional and political resonance.
Readers will find themselves anxiously awaiting Alex’s next adventure.
