Warcross by Marie Lu

Emika Chen is gifted with unsurpassed skills in technology. She has lost her father, is alone in New York, and has no money. Scanning police transmissions, she tries to round-up criminals for bounty, but luck never works in her favor. Even though she is about to be evicted, Emika plays her favorite game, Warcross, on a hacked account.  The first tournament of the Warcross world championships are about to begin, and the entire world is watching. Emika decides to do the impossible; hack into the game and affect its outcome.

When she wakes up in the morning, she finds out that her hack is making news all over the world. Now the founder and owner of Warcross, Hideo Tanaka wants her. Emika has always admired him and his fame, but is now fearful of what he will do to her. She is confused by his actions. He has deposited a large sum of money in her bank account. He has paid all of her bills. He has sent an agent to fly her on his private jet to Warcross corporate headquarters in Japan. Why? What are his plans?

Warcross is a near-future dystopian novel that at times is a page turner, and other times drags, especially during some of the longer game-playing sequences. Marie Lu offers a little bit of everything here, and her fans will enjoy this one. The cliff hanger at the end, will make you groan for the next installment.
Mark's Book Picks Score: 4

Reading Level: 5.6 • Interest Level: 7-12 • AR Points: 16 • Lexile: 810L  
Publisher: Penguin • 416 Pages • Copyright: 2018 • ISBN: 978-0-399-54797-3 • Available in Perma-Bound binding.