Don't Turn Around by Michelle Gagnon

Noa's always been a loner, well...at least since the day her parents were killed. In and out of the foster system, she took the smart way out at 15, and created a "family" for herself. She was tired of being abused, neglected, and ignored. When she wakes up on a silver operating table though...that's a whole 'nother story. It's clear someone has cut her open, but the cause is still a mystery. Her natural distrust for authority comes in handy, because she doesn't buy their b.s. story that she was in an accident. With some quick thinking, and a little luck, she finds her way out...but then what?

Jason's biggest accomplishment in life is his hacktivist group, Alliance. They've helped bring down guys like a social worker with kiddie porn on his computer. Or a shampoo company that was testing on animals. He's not afraid to say he has some skill. Snooping around on his dad's computer is just a routine matter, or so he thinks. He starts hacking into a file called AMRF, and suddenly goons in black show up, bust in the door, take his computer, and give him a message for his parents. "Tell them Mr. Mason said hi, and we'll be back to fix the door before morning." What kind of thief repairs the evidence of their presence? Confronting his parents doesn't bring any answers either, and actually leads to more questions. What are they involved in?

Jason naturally turns to Alliance for help. He reaches out to one of the best hackers on the site, Rain. Noa (Rain) just happens to be in need of some fast cash; thus their fateful meeting. Noa gets more than she bargained for when she hacks into the site and finds Project Persephone. One of the files she uncovers is labeled with her name. Jason does too, when his entire site (including the domain name) disappear overnight. Someone is serious. Things escalate as guys in black come after Noa as well, and Jason gets kicked out of the house.

With no one left to turn to, the two meet up and swap information. It seems they are unwittingly entangled in the same story: the company who runs AMRF is using kids to find a cure for PETA, an epidemic killing teenagers. Whoever is responsible is smart enough to find them through pretty tech savvy means, and has the money and clout to back it up. They are going to need some help. Do two hacker kids really have a chance?

*Library Link*

“For most people, home was represented by four walls and a roof. Not for Noa. She preferred a motherboard to a mother, a keyboard to house keys. Nothing was more comforting than the hum of a spinning hard drive,” (Gagnon, 2012). 

If you liked this, check out:

Don't Look Now by Michelle Gagnon (Don't Turn Around, Book 2)
Starters by Lissa Price (Starters, Book 1)
Insignia by S.J. Kincaid (Insignia, Book 1)

Gagnon, Michelle. (2012). Don't Turn Around. New York: Harper.