How to Hack a Hacker

Unholy Trifecta, Book 3

By: AJ Sherwood

Narrated by: Iggy Toma, Antonio Amato

Length: 6 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

Staying away is Kyou’s number one rule when it comes to protecting the sexy real-estate developer.

Kyou has a routine. A system. He guards Brannigan Genovese, hacks for his family of choice, and drinks far too much caffeine for any living being. Only a few things can completely disrupt his routine to cause him trouble:

•Brannigan buying up real estate from the Irish Mob

•Kyou’s band of brothers figuring out who Brannigan actually is

•Ivan

•Feelings for one Brannigan Genovese

Oddly enough, it’s the feelings that get Kyou in the most trouble. Because when Brannigan is in danger, Kyou ignores all his brain’s protestations and breaks every rule he has to save the man, including his number one.

And damn the consequences.

©2020 AJ Sherwood (P)2022 Podium Audio

awesome

well done I see me relistening over and over again along with the rest of the series

last stop on the chaos train

A Joyfully Jay review


Audio: 3.75⭐️

"How to Hack a Hacker" is the final book in the Unholy Trifecta trilogy and features:
*a pansapiosexual billionaire too smugly happy to be worried about death threats
*the harried over-caffeinated hacker trying to keep him alive
*the hacker’s lovingly chaotic criminal family

While Kyou cyberstalking Brannigan and snippets of conversations between the pair appear in the previous books, everything about their relationship is established in Hacker, so it can be read as a standalone. However, the bonds between Kyou and his found family are probably richer for having read the entire series, especially as their curiosity about Brannigan and how much he means to Kyou plays a major role in them getting together and the Unholy Trifecta and their significant others are very present and active in the story.

Brannigan is a force of nature who finds Kyou to be the most intriguing person in his world and he has been searching for him for years. He knows Kyou, even without specific details, so meeting in person is like coming home for him, and Brannigan fits right in with the group. Kyou is antisocial, but extremely loyal and protective of those he loves and trusts. With Kyou inserting himself more and more into Brannigan’s daily life, the pair has basically been dating for the last few years so they fall quickly into a relationship, making the falling fast theme in the series feel the most believable. The dynamic between Kyou and Brannigan is established early on with the majority of the story taking place in the safe house with Kyou’s family as the team of criminals work to keep Brannigan safe and neutralize the threat.

The banter is fun and affectionate, the shenanigans alternately deadly and silly, and the family vibe strong. As with books of a comedic, lighthearted tone, the comedy and hijinks may work better for some than others, but Sherwood’s tags are a good indication of the kind of story it is and the high level of suspension of disbelief required to ride this ride. Personally, I’m a fan of Sherwood’s style of irreverent glee so found most of the story to be delightful, although even I had to roll my eyes at the inciting incident as somehow [the professional criminals didn’t think that killing a bunch of mob enforcers sent to harass Brannigan would put a bigger target on Brannigan’s back. (hide spoiler)] But if you can roll with it, you’ll probably have fun with the characters. For all the large body count and Kyou’s anxiety, this is a low-angst story with little in the way of drama and much in the way of warm fuzzies, especially as Kyou finds ready-made family acceptance and love he didn’t know he needed.

Iggy Toma and Antonio Amato are a solid duo as narrators for the audiobook. As someone who has mixed feelings about dual narrations, I thought both men worked well together and kept the character voices nicely similar between chapters, though neither has consistent differentiation between the Trifecta’s voices, with Toma’s chapters being the most noticeable as he narrates Kyou’s POV. Having listened to the previous books, it was easier for me to pick out who was who in dialogue, but those only listening to this book may struggle at times. However, both Toma and Amato had good pacing and intonation that fit the tone of the story, making it an enjoyable listen.

Excellent narration!

Loved the entire series. Happy to listen to Kyou's story. Anthony Amato has a great voice and he emotes veryvwell; I hope he narrates more books. Listening to Iggy Toma is always a good time had❤️

Love this series

This is one of the rare series where each book is as good as the next and they are all excellent. The stories are well read and I enjoy the two voices for the two perspectives.

Loved these guys!!!

Really good series with a different story to tell. It was refreshing and fun with all the love and very little angst.

The narration was spot on. I enjoyed it immensely!

Great series

Great narration. The stories really kept my attention. Such sweet bad guys. I wish there was more to this series.

The best!

I adore this book! Kyou and Brannigan are the best! It's so cool to see the whole team come together. I love them all so much! Bunch of badasses!

I want to read about Ivan and Aidan and their kids!! I hope there will be more. Also it would be awesome if Ross and his crazy peeps show up in future books. I was so flipping happy when Ivan showed up in Ross Young's story!!!

I love this narrators. AJ Sherwood rocks! ❤️

Loved it!

Kyou and Brannigan are very cute together. Bran likes to do things that drive Kyou nuts.

Love K & Brannigan!!!

K is one of my favorite characters from this series. I love seeing Brannigan with him. K has put a lot on himself and it's wonderful seeing him learn to deal with it in a better way. With Brannigan's help. These two are also lots of fun, and I love their interactions with the rest of K's family. I would definitely read more of these characters if more books were written.

Loved it!

This series was so very good. I'm sad it's over. I'd love to hear of more adventures from this group. They all got their HEA but the adventure story was as good as the falling in love stories. So good and the narrators were fabulous. So worth the credit!