The Florentine Deception: A Novel Paperback – September 29, 2015

The Florentine Deception is a fun, easy read set that mixes real-world adventure with the intrigue of a cyber thriller. Written in an accurate style with a plausible plot line, the more technically savvy among its readers will especially enjoy the on-target details as the computer expert protagonist's decision to help out his father with a computer problem leads deeper and deeper into a mystery that has global implications. This is not one of those "cyber thriller" books that are completely implausible and illogical -- this plot line could definitely happen today.I found the book very entertaining and flew through it over the course of two days. A great read for folks curious about computer security in the modern age as well as for those of us well acquainted with it!

Overall the book is good. The writing is solid, the characters mostly believable and the plot is well done with technical information relative to the story included so that the reader isn't left scratching their head. There are several issues that i have with the plot however, that pulled me out of the story and made me think that point was a little contrived. Overall, the novel will keep you reading as long as you can suspend disbelief.My issues, with some mild spoilers:Fife (The main character) has anti-virus level computer technical skills but doesn't just reformat the hard drive and install windows. He's been putting it off and his Dad is wanting the PC back and instead of a 30 minute operation, he's trying to make it virus free. I know central to the story, but make so that he HAS to do it that way, OR make him more curious of the files on it. He's too casual of a snooper.He freaks out over eating pizza due to the carbs (he's supposed to be an athletic rock climber), but eats microwave burritos regularly. Huh?Bad guys will kill innocents on a moment's notice, but [Spoiler Alert] Fife has several opportunities to be killed and is not.Bad guys have mad tracking skills. It would have been better to have the bad guys monologue that they were tracking his phone's GPS or there was a tracking device on his car or something.The technical details of the programs could have been pared back a lot. It was nice to be able to understand how they worked, but it turned into a data dump rather than being interlaced with dialog.Finally, [Spoiler---Spoiler] the instructions for the code activation and configuration were documented better than commercial programs I buy for $150+. It read like "what if we want to do X?", "There's a code for that".."Well, what if we wanted to do Y?", "well, there's a code for that". If the code's purpose was to do what it says in the novel, why would you even have a disarm code?Again, overall, worth the read. I kept coming back to it and continuing on. I enjoyed it, but would have loved to work with the author on tightening up the storytelling a bit.

Carey Nachenberg is a phenomenal storyteller. I started reading this book on a camping trip and found myself reading well into the night, even with a full day's hike scheduled the next day. I just couldn't put it down, I was always kept on my toes! The pacing of the book was fast, and filled with action and suspense at every turn. I never found any of the chapters to be a chore, and I was always looking forward to the next.I did wish that some of the characters were more fleshed out, and I sometimes found myself hoping for more colorful descriptions and emotional content. But none of this detracted from my enjoyment of the story and, for the most part, the writing was solid.Overall I would definitely recommend this book to others looking for a fun and exciting read!

The Florentine Deception by Mr. Nachenberg can be summed up in two words: buckle up! Get ready for a thrill ride where the cast of characters move from ordinary to extraordinary! Ordinary in that the characters feel very much like your neighbors, college roommates, or co-workers. I felt at home with them almost immediately. It is Mr. Nachenberg’s ability to weave a story, to draw you into their lives, which bring the characters to life. Extraordinary in the adventure that lay ahead for the characters. The story itself could be pulled from today’s headlines, and provides heart pounding moments where it becomes impossible to put the book down. The pace of the book worked very well, as the opportunity to get to know the characters is not ignored. And as the pace quickens I already had an affinity for the main characters and was fully invested in their adventure!At the end of the novel I found myself hoping this was a farewell for now, and not a goodbye. I look forward to the next adventure that lay ahead for Alex, Linda and the gang. The Florentine Deception is a most for your summer reading list if want international intrigue, heart pounding danger, and a set of characters that you will come to care about.

The Florentine Deception - Book reviewFull disclosure first: I am not a professional book critic, just an excited reader of non fiction business, science, technology and sociology popular books and an occasional reader of futuristic adventure and mystery novels.I came across the florentine deception after reading Dan Brown’s Origin and doing a quick google to find similar novels. My rush to buy was encouraged by a need to escape the daily stresses of life as a freelancer and a desire to not drown my evening in another Netflix session with my girlfriend in our attempt at having more productive evenings by either working or educating ourselves. In no mood to further over stimulate my brain cells after a day of job interviews and reading a new rules marketing textbook in an attempt to keep up with the endlessly evolving technologies available to marketers, I opted for the first action adventure mystery novel with a science fiction flair that was also grounded in some semblance of reality.Before buying the book I discovered that the books author - Carey Nachenberg - is a leading cyber security expert with accomplishments in anti virus technology. I wasn’t expecting beautifully written prose but an exciting, boyish, techie adventure novel grounded in realism and contemporary dangers. It delivered as such.The story begins by introducing the protagonist - Alex Fife - a young man with a talent for coding which by his mid twenties has resulted in selling his startup (begun in his dorm room at UCLA with two friends) in a multi hundred million dollar buy out by the threatened worlds largest anti virus software company. The trigger event for the mystery begins with Alex being disturbed from his meandering thoughts as an uninspired, jobless, young (multimillionaire) man by a phone call from his father which reminds him to fix an old computer - a highly relatable situation for any young person with a knack for technology. Through some light hacking, he discovers that the computer used to belong to a now deceased antiquities smuggler, and presictably, a threatening email indicates one of the treasures has gone missing.Alex of course takes it upon himself to find the treasure along with his best friend Steven which leads to a lethally dangerous dance between Iranian and Russian spies, a society crumbling cyber weapon and many life threatening near misses, stream of consciousness style adventure and ultimately a last second saving the world moment. The book ensures no mystery is left unsolved with the author meticulously ending the book with a chapter in which Alex explains all the prior events in various hearings and explanations of his absence to family and friends.The book is not a literary masterpiece by any measure, however it kept me engaged through action, strong back story, cliffhangers and the extremely relatable plot. The action all takes place within a single town in California, yet the vividly described locations and perspective through the eyes of a relatable character keeps one engaged.The pertinent issues of cyber warfare, digital espionage and hacking all make the novel relevant and place the reader in a very possible scenario that, as the introduction describes, may have already happened without public disclosure. Through an exciting adventure among friends bringing childhood dreams of treasure hunting to life, Nachenberg jovially highlights the fragility of a society that relies on largely homogeneous technology (in this case Microsoft) for all of its core systems - utilities, finance, government.For more find me @reinventbalance

really enjoyed it!

I have been an avid reader of the thriller genre for some time and found this book to be very entertaining. Was surprised to read that this was the author's first book in this area. It is worth reading.

Good read!!! Unlike many other techno-thrillers that are full of errors and misconceptions, Carey's book is flawless from the point of view of practical cyber security. I highly recommend it.

Great book, exciting, thrilling, entertaining, great characters and keeps your attention to the end. Hopefully there might be more books to come?10/10