A science fiction heist connected to a different science fiction heist? Yes please. The Obake Code is a fantastic SF heist story which could be read as a standalone if you wanted, but is the best as a sequel! Keep reading this book review of The Obake Code for my full thoughts.
Summary
After the heist of a lifetime, Malia has it all: a loft apartment aboard the massive Kepler Station, expensive clothes, and a dev credit in her favorite video game. She’s also bored as hell. Three years after retiring her mantle as the Obake, the most infamous hacker in the quadrant—and arguably the galaxy—Malia hasn’t taken well to civilian life. So what’s the harm in rigging a few cybernetic prizefights and making a little cash on the side?
When Malia’s scheme is uncovered, she runs afoul of Jeongah Song—the dangerous leader of a local gang with a reputation for brutality. Malia is ready for retribution. But what she gets instead is an offer she can’t refuse: take down the local politician leading a “clean up the streets” campaign displacing residents and hindering Jeongah’s operations on the space station… or die. Without another way out, Malia takes the deal.
Luckily, she has some friends she can call on in times of need: a master thief, a street racing wheelman, and a femme fatale grifter. But as Malia digs deeper into the politician’s shady dealings, she finds herself embroiled in a conspiracy that might be too big for her to handle. One that has roots in her own rise as the Obake—a cybernetically enhanced superhacker created by a power-mad genius… a superhacker whose mods are rapidly degrading. Faced with threats on all sides, Malia may finally be in over her head…or stuck—forever—inside her own mind.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
I will always read about a science fiction heist and the world was one of my favorite elements in Hammajang Luck! It was so nice to be in this world with a new side character and we love to see it! It’s the best when there’s a group crew dynamic and then you get to explore another character in another book. Malia’s journey, especially as it evolves throughout the story, was my favorite element. She’s had so much taken away from her, that The Obake Code is a heist, but it’s also about her taking back her sense of power and her ability to believe in herself. I wish we had more depth of the side characters, especially some special someones, just because it would have rounded out the character group and the world more.
There were some interesting themes about ambition, familial love (and chosen family), and technology. They were sort of developed more later in the book and I do wish the ending was a bit more spread out so we could really see those hit. Overall, The Obake Code was an entertaining heist with our characteristic found family crew dynamics.
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Find The Obake Code on Goodreads, Storygraph, Bookshop. org, Blackwells, & Libro. fm.