Exposure Release + Excerpt

 

Happy book birthday to this incredible book! I am so excited to show you one of my favourite parts in this book. I had the privilege to beta read this book and honestly I am so grateful to Sylvie for this amazing opportunity!But before we jump into the excerpt, here is some information on Exposure!

Title: Exposure
Author: Sylvie Parizeau
Series: Incandescent #3
Publisher: By the Book
Publication Date: 22 November 2017
Pages: 326
Rating: 5 Stars











Goodreads Synopsis:

PHILIPPE-OLIVIER TISSEROT's caffeine addiction is about to land him in uncharted territory and one hell of a ride. One that's about to go viral.

Current Status: Computer whiz to hacker to penpal.

Upgrade status: Lover.

Well, I'm still working on the lover part.

I'm just a computer geek studying at MIT. And now I'm in two places at once – the geek and the lover battling it out to get the girl.

The only problem is, my dream girl doesn't know she knows me in either one of them.

Now I have to win her in both.

Please wait. Upgrade in progress.

WARNING: Happy story within, through and through. May become addictive.

Like a warm cup of cocoa on a cold day, the Incandescent Series warms your heart and makes you feel good. Try it. Happily Ever After never felt so good.

Excerpt



Excerpt from Chapter Six – AURÈLE
(...)
My brows dipping, my fingertip retakes possession of the mouse pointer, or so I think. This mouse is possessed, and it’s not by me.
I don’t know what I do exactly as I wrestle with option menus appearing in rapid succession just by hovering over them. I click in a bid to get rid of them, but instead it grants permission—without my permission—to download an obscene amount of Windows updates.
How did that happen? And critical updates, really? So soon?
I’m left staring stupidly at an indicator showing a steady zero percent progress and a dire warning not to shut down my computer while in progress. Understatement of the year. Progress, what progress?! 
Downloading now. Please wait. Time remaining eight hours forty-seven minutes.
I shake my head in disbelief, staring at the remaining hours. It’s the only change occurring on my screen every second or so, going up, going down, while the rest of my computer stubbornly sticks at the zero percent progress mark.
When the hours hit a new high of thirteen, an annoyed buzz swarms inside my body. I know I only get a flickering two bars of signal sitting this far out from the café, but this is ridiculous.
I press the escape key over and again, growing frantic when nothing aborts.
This computer has gone rogue on me.
Now what? Camp outside the café all night?
Just then, my screen blacks out and lights up again on a bright-blue backdrop. Long lines of indecipherable codes scroll down for what seems like a millennium, give or take a few seconds, as I sit immobile, staring wide-eyed, wondering if the thing is getting ready to implode on me.
I’m pondering if it would be wiser to snap it shut and never ever go near it again when a pop-up appears, stating: As a computer, I find your faith in technology amusing.
I blink.
A surprised peal of laughter escapes me. I slap my hand over my mouth. When was the last time I laughed out loud? I don’t even know how it sounds, but right now, I don’t care.
Meanwhile, what looks like a private chat window opens on the bottom left corner of my screen, identified as coming from MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab. MIT as in the world-renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology? I scrunch up my nose in confusion. What on earth...?
Mesmerized, I watch a row of five little dots prance in a wave before a text message appears.
Are you aware your laptop lacks in the most basic security protocol leaving it wide open to cyber-attacks?
My cursor blinks, and so do I. I hesitantly type a reply, because right now...
Is this a joke?
Not even close. Took me less than three minutes to target you and take over.
I’m either chatting live with an aggressive market research company, an innovative infomercial, or a computer lunatic. Not sure which.
And you’re telling me (your target) this...?
Seriously?
I’ll go with lunatic, but I kind of like his or her repartees, piquing my curiosity. And since I can’t remember the last time I had this much fun, I go with the flow. Besides, whoever it is has effectively put a stop to the absurd amount of critical downloads my computer was trying to swallow, earning points with me already. The timer has frozen. I take that as a good sign.
Asked by the pirate upon hacking my laptop! Seriously.
Hey, I resent that. a) Not all hackers are pirates. b) Coming in was too easy to call it hacking per se. c) All the above.
I laugh softly, loving this quirky, anonymous exchange. It’s freeing, being able to talk to someone who doesn’t feel put out with my limitations.
Which bears the question. What are you doing in my laptop?
Securing it! Any more questions?
I roll my eyes and shake my head as I type: That would be a yes.
Shoot.
Are you really from MIT?
Yes. Really.
We’re chatting in French, which would be awesome if it wasn’t so bizarre coming from someone supposedly stateside.
How did you know I am French speaking?
Your location.
My head jerks back in surprise.
What...?
You’re presently connected through C’est la Vie Café in Val-David, Québec. A Canadian province where 96.4% of the population either speaks or understands French. I took an educated guess.
He knows where I am. That’s probably just this side of creepy, but for some unfathomable reason it doesn’t freak me out. Au contraire. I’m even more curious now. Go figure. Still.
How...?
How do I know the stats or how do I know where you’re at?
Both... Should I worry?
Nah. Your laptop is equipped with a GPS tracking device. Cool app. Want me to sync it with your phone?
What for?
I hate the thing and unless I need to send an SOS to 911, I won’t be using it any time soon.
So it will ping back to you a location message if you ever lose it or, you know, if someone is trying to hack into it.
Like now?
I can’t help but tease, enjoying myself immensely.
Please. I didn’t even have to break any laws in order to get in. What do you have to say to that?
That will teach me to leave my ‘Windows’ wide open!
(Hacking up a laugh.) No worries, I’m closing them now.
Why are you doing this?
I’m a nice guy?
Sure you are. Try again. What’s the deal?
Truly. No big deal. Our computer lab servers systematically scan network servers across the web to find new types of vulnerabilities so that we can develop better firewalls. (See? Nice guy.)
Impressive. So, it means I’m helping all of mankind by using a café’s WiFi connection?
More like MIT grad students wrapping up their thesis. We would love to change the world but they won’t give us the source code.
a.)You’re welcome? b.) Wonder why they won’t give it to you (insert light sarcasm).

a.)Don’t mention it. b.) I wonder the same (insert clueless shrug).

No surprise. Computer Science: solving today’s problems tomorrow.
Hey, I can live with that.
I’m sure you can! So, Nice Guy (jury is still out; you could be a seventy-two-year-old sex offender luring me in). Student or professor or... Which one are you?
Which one do you want me to be?
Is that a trick question? Or are you trying to be creepy now?
Are you always answering critical updates with a question?
Virtually?
For real?
Yes. So?
So. Let’s say my answer is grad student...
For real?
For real. Aren’t you glad you asked me (out)?
Out of what? My laptop? :D
Harsh. Did you hear that sound? Me. Crashing and burning.
I swallow hard. The reality check crashes upon me, burning down my throat.
No... I didn’t hear anything.




Comments

Popular Posts