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Summary

​A science-fiction series about a teenage gamer hired by the government to fight in a terrorist’s virtual reality world. 
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Stats

Genre: YA (16+ years) science fiction

Series length: Three books

Violence: Primarily moderate video game violence

Magic/Supernatural: All "magic" is restricted to the video gaming

Romance: Book one has little to none, with more in books two and three respectively. 

Christian/spiritual element: Some overt Christian elements

Recommendation: Excellent for boys who enjoy gaming and video gaming worlds.

You might like this book if you liked... 
Ender's Game or Ready Player One.

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Opening Lines:

Rick Dial streaked through the vastness of space, starlight and gunfire blazing all around him. The seat of his battlecraft shook beneath him as he pressed the button to unleash another deadly barrage from his two forward guns. He caught on glimpse of the pilot of the Orgon ship veering in toward him from starboard, then his shot struck home. There was an orange blast of flame and scrap metal. When it was over, both the Orgon ship and its pilot were gone. 

That was the last of the guardians. Rick righted his battlecraft and zoomed in toward the mothership, which now hovered in the endless darkness undefended. He held the Fire button down. His forward guns bucked and spat death in a continual rattle. The black wall of the mtohership frayed, chipped, and then burst apart. The landing bay was laid open to the vacuum of space. 

Mindwar (Mindwar Trilogy, Book 1)
by Andrew Klavan

​When Rick lost the ability to run, he came one step closer to becoming a hero.

New High Score! New Record Time!

Rick nodded with grim satisfaction. He laid the game controller aside on the sofa and reached for his crutches.

Rick Dial was the best quarterback Putnam Hills High School had ever seen. Unflappable. Unstoppable. Number 12. But when a car accident left him crippled, Rick’s life as he knew it ended. He disavowed his triumphant past. He ignored his girlfriend. He disappeared into his bedroom—and into the glowing video screen.

But Rick’s uncanny gaming skills have attracted attention. Dangerous attention. Government agents have uncovered a potentially devastating cyber-threat: a Russian genius has created a digital reality called the Realm, from which he can enter, control, and disrupt American computer systems . . . from transportation to defense. The agents want Rick, quick-thinking quarterback and gaming master, to enter the Realm and stop the madman—before he sends America into chaos.

Entering the Realm will give Rick what he thought he’d never have again: a body as strong and fast as it was before the accident. But this is no game, there are no extra lives, and what happens to Rick in the Realm happens to Rick’s body in reality.
Even after Rick agrees to help, he can’t shake the sense that he’s being kept in the dark. Why would a government agency act so aggressively? Can anyone inside the Realm be trusted? How many others have entered before him . . . and failed to return?

​In the tradition of Ender’s Game and The Matrix, MindWar is a complex thriller about a seemingly ordinary teenager who discovers a hidden gift—a gift that could make him a hero . . . or cost him everything.

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Opening Lines:

Molly was just finishing up her jog when the killers came for her.

It was finals week. Five days until the Christmas break began. A quiet had fallen over the university. Students were at their tests during the day or grinding away at the books in their dorms and in the library at night. The undaunted party crews were now confined to Greek Row and a few venues off campus where no one would complain about their loud music. A lot of kids had already headed home. By five or so every evening, when the last dusk light had faded and the winter night came down, there was no one walking on the lamplit pathways and the majestic stone buildings were dark.

That was when Molly liked to hit the gym.

Hostage Run (Mindwar Trilogy, Book 2)
by Andrew Klavan

RICK DIAL IS FACED WITH AN IMPOSSIBLE CHOICE: SAVE THE LIFE OF HIS BEST FRIEND MOLLY . . . OR SAVE THE FREE WORLD.

Rick Dial’s career as a superstar quarterback ended when a car accident left him unable to walk. But his uncanny gaming ability caught the attention of a secret government organization trying to stop a high-tech terrorist attack on America. He’s been to the fantastical cyber world called the MindWar Realm . . . and returned to Real Life victorious.

But the stakes have just gone up. Another attack is imminent, and Rick is the only one who can stop it. How can he, though, when terrorists have kidnapped his best friend Molly and are threatening to kill her if Rick returns to the Realm?

​As Molly uses every resource of mind and body to outwit her brutal captors, Rick races against time inside a nightmare video game where a fate worse than death may be waiting for him. 
Hundreds of miles apart, both will have to test the power of their faith and the strength of their spirits. They’re being forced to a moment of sacrifice . . . one that could cost them everything.

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Opening Lines:

The city was empty except for the dead, but the dead were everywhere. Rick saw them staring at him through darkened windows, their jaws slack, their eyes open but lifeless. He saw their bodies lying in the gutters. He saw them sitting slumped at the tables in the outdoor taverns, or lying crumpled in the shop doorways, as if death had found them going out or coming in. He saw the soldiers propped against the courtyard walls, their swords still gripped in their hands, their mouths twisted in an eerie rictus--that fixed grin of slow decay. 

Game Over (Mindwar Trilogy, Book 3)
by Andrew Klavan

This time, there’s no escape from The Realm.

The MindWar Realm is a computerized world created by a deranged terrorist named Kurodar. Built through a link between Kurodar’s mind and a network of supercomputers, The Realm is a pathway through which the madman can project himself into any computer system on the planet.

Twice before, Rick Dial has entered the Realm as a Mind Warrior and come back alive. But now, something has gone terribly wrong. A connection has formed in Rick’s brain that sends him hurtling into The Realm without his consent—and brings the Realm’s monsters into the Real World.

​As Kurodar works to turn Rick’s brain to his own purposes, Rick’s waking and sleeping life is ravaged by terrors he never imagined.
Rick knows he has no choice but to face The Realm’s final and most powerful protector. But can Rick destroy MindWar without destroying himself and the people he loves?