The Hive

This well-paced collaboration between spouses Lyga (Bang) and Baden, a ghostwriter, takes social media, mob violence, and hacking to extremes, pitting a 17-year-old against a frighteningly believable crowdsourced justice system. After the death of her father, a legendary computer genius, biracial Cassie—a formidable coder—and her professor mother are forced to relocate. At her new school, Cassie tries to ingratiate herself with the queen bees by posting a tasteless joke about the Trump-like president’s grandchild. In this near future, the Heuristic Internet Vetting Engine polices internet misbehavior, aggregating Likes, Dislikes, and Condemns to calculate the punishment level, which is meted out by regular people acting as HIVE mobs. When her joke goes viral, resulting in a high Condemn level, Cassie and her mother flee, and after connecting with a hacker group, Cassie gradually discovers a conspiracy with government connections. Offering heart- pounding action while asking difficult questions, this novel is perfect for fans of thought-provoking cyberthrillers. Ages 14–up. (Sept.)