ADVANCE PRAISE FOR JK’S CODE
JK’s Code is tense, timely and terrific!
—Lee Child, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Jack Reacher novels
Keen research and high-tech suspense drives Ronald S. Barak’s new thriller, JK’s Code; an incredibly timely political thriller about election fraud and the technology behind it; you’ll wonder where reality ends and the fiction begins.
—Brad Meltzer, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Escape Artist
If you blended Dan Brown’s conspiratorial storytelling with Brad Meltzer’s political potboiler, you might end up with Ronald S. Barak’s JK’s Code—but the novel is all its own. Both chillingly topical and as fast as an Indy racer on ice, treat yourself to this thrill ride of a mystery.
—James Rollins, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Last Odyssey
Smart, speedy, and suspenseful, JK’s Code is a flat out great read. My favorite kind of book: characters you care about, a story ripped from the headlines, and a pace that doesn’t let up. The definition of a thriller!
—Christopher Reich, New York Times bestselling author of the Simon Riske novels
JK’s Code is this generation’s acclaimed and influential War Games. Ronald S. Barak’s prescient, perfectly timed, and polished thriller takes current events and somehow makes them even more terrifying than they already are. Chillingly on point in its message and stunningly effective in its execution, JK’s Code is superb reading entertainment layered atop a cautionary tale. Politics is no fun at all these days, unless Ron Barak is writing about it, and this is a political thriller extraordinaire.
—Jon Land, USA Today bestselling author of the Caitlin Strong series
Ronald S. Barak’s JK’s Code is both timely and timeless, and did I mention … terrific? Timely because election fraud is the heart of the story. Timeless because it’s a classic thriller laced with suspense and intrigue. Terrific because it brings back Judge Cyrus Brooks, homicide detective Frank Lotello and attorney Leah Klein to aid Leah’s tech-savvy kid brother, JK, who uncovers a chilling conspiracy between the Kremlin and the White House, only to find himself in dire straits. If the raucous runup to the actual 2020 presidential election has been driving you to drink, JK’s Code will be your perfect nightcap.
—Paul Levine, #1 Amazon bestselling author of the Jake Lassiter series
The Brooks/Lotello thriller novels are immediately likeable and pack a bone-jarring punch. In JK’s Code, an unparalleled real-time election fraud political thriller, Barak swings for the fences and knocks it out of the park.
—Barry Lancet, award-winning author of The Spy Across the Table
An electrifying blend of political, techno, and international thriller genres, JK’s Code is the most-timely adventure you’ll read this year. Jake “JK” Klein is Ron Barak’s best hero yet, a cool young hacker able to go toe-to-toe and keyboard-to-keyboard with the nastiest and deadliest world leaders. Will JK make it through unscathed? Humorous, often satirical, and always exciting, make JK’s Code your next read.
—William Burton McCormick, 5-time Derringer Award nominee and author of Lenin’s Harem
JK’s Code draws from the headlines of 2020 to create a political Armageddon scenario that won’t be soon forgotten. This suspenseful thriller kept me turning pages deep into the night.
—T. F. Allen, author of The Keeper and The Night Janitor
Holy Sh#t! JK’s Code is the best damn thriller I’ve read in a long, long time.
—Anthony Franz, author of The Outsider
JK’s Code is a book that will captivate readers well beyond the 2020 election. With the exception of Stephen King, Barak is now the first three-time “best of the year” Best Thrillers Magazine honoree. JK’s Code is a really exceptional novel.
The Bottom Line: A timely, compulsively readable political and legal thriller that wryly connects the terrors of the dark web with the fragile state of democracy. One of the year’s best thrillers.
In a world where activists like Julian Assange have become famous for extravagant government exposes, Ron Barak’s new political thriller imagines what is at stake for the hackers on the front lines. JK’s Code is named for the text-based key to the mystery that American cybersecurity buff Jake Klein, known as JK, developed to impress his older sister. Little did he know that one day it could be used in an attempt to save his own life.
In the novel’s early chapters, a brilliant Russian hacker named Leonid Gradsky takes a meeting with Russian President for Life Alexi Turgenev and demonstrates the power of his new computer program. Turgenev’s advisors soon come to the conclusion that the technology will enable them to manipulate the 2020 U.S. election results effectively and discreetly. They also initially assume that they can appropriate Gradsky’s election-manipulating solution at any time. Little do they know that the software is dependent on the innovation of a Kazhak developer named Cipher.
Enter JK, who soon discovers Gradsky’s real identity, and more importantly, that Turgenev is conspiring with the President of the United States to rig the election.
In the book’s early chapters, Barak’s burgeoning fan base may wonder what this all has to do with retired U.S. District Court Judge Cyrus Brooks and homicide detective Frank Lotello whose names are the basis for the entire Brooks/Lotello series. The connective tissue is Leah Klein Lotello, the older sister of Jake “JK” Klein, wife of Frank Lotello and stepmother of Charlie Lotello and Madison Lotello (if you didn’t get all that, don’t fear—Barak has generously added a cast of characters at the beginning). Leah also happens to be an attorney. To say much more about Cyrus and Frank’s involvement would add spoilers, but it’s safe to say that both play a significant role. Barak has created perhaps his most ingenious plot yet, one that maintains a coherent, suspenseful thread across two continents and the dark web while still carving out a hefty lift for Brooks and Lotello. The dynamic duo’s entrance also adds a layer of wry humor to the high stakes political and legal drama.
—Best Thrillers Magazine
JK’s Code is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Except as otherwise noted in the Author’s Note, any resemblance to actual events or people, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2021 by Ronald S. Barak
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be produced or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, scanning, or by any other information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and in certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
Printed and published in the United States of America by:
Los Angeles, California
www.ganderhouse.com
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-7345397-1-4
Trade Paperback KDP ISBN: 978-1-7345397-3-8
Trade Paperback IngramSpark ISBN: 978-1-7345397-2-1
Ebook ISBN: 978-1-7345397-4-5
Audiobook ISBN: 978-1-7345397-5-2
FIRST EDITION
Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Barak, Ronald S., author.
Title: JK’s Code : a Brooks / Lotello thriller / Ronald S. Barak.
Description: Los Angeles, CA: Gander House Publishers, 2021.
Identifiers: ISBN: 978-1-7345397-1-4 (hardcover) | 978-1-7345397-3-8 (trade pbk.) | 978-1-7345397-2-1 (trade pbk.) | 978-1-7345397-4-5 (ebook) | 978-1-7345397-5-2 (audio)
Subjects: LCSH Hackers–Fiction. | Computer
security–Fiction. | Elections–Corrupt practices–United States–History–21st century–Fiction. | Presidents–United States–Election–2020–Fiction. | Thrillers (Fiction) | Political fiction. | Legal stories. | BISAC FICTION / Thrillers / Political | FICTION / Thrillers / Espionage | FICTION / Thrillers / Technological
Classification: LCC PS3602.A745 J5 2021 | DDC 813.6–dc23
To my Goosers, forever and ever, whose help to me on JK’s Code, and in all other ways, is singular
Those are my principles, but
if you don’t like them … well, I have others
—GROUCHO MARX
Even if you’re on the right track,
you’ll still get run over if you just sit there
—WILL ROGERS
I’ll probably will do it, maybe definitely
—DONALD TRUMP
My mother and father believed that if I wanted to be
President of the U.S., I could be, I could be Vice President
—JOE BIDEN
CONTENTS
Cast of Characters
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Eight
Chapter Forty-Nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty-One
Chapter Fifty-Two
Chapter Fifty-Three
Chapter Fifty-Four
Chapter Fifty-Five
Chapter Fifty-Six
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Chapter Fifty-Eight
Chapter Fifty-Nine
Chapter Sixty
Chapter Sixty-One
Chapter Sixty-Two
Chapter Sixty-Three
Chapter Sixty-Four
Chapter Sixty-Five
Chapter Sixty-Six
Chapter Sixty-Seven
Chapter Sixty-Eight
Chapter Sixty-Nine
Chapter Seventy
Chapter Seventy-Two
Chapter Seventy-Three
Chapter Seventy-Four
Chapter Seventy-Five
Chapter Seventy-Six
Chapter Seventy-Seven
Chapter Seventy-Eight
Chapter Seventy-Nine
Chapter Eighty
Chapter Eighty-One
Chapter Eighty-Two
Chapter Eighty-Three
Chapter Eighty-Four
Chapter Eighty-Five
Chapter Eighty-Six
Chapter Eighty-Seven
Chapter Eighty-Eight
Chapter Eighty-Nine
Chapter Ninety
Chapter Ninety-One
Chapter Ninety-Two
Chapter Ninety-Three
Chapter Ninety-Four
Chapter Ninety-Five
Chapter Ninety-Six
Chapter Ninety-Seven
Chapter Ninety-Eight
Chapter Ninety-Nine
Chapter One-Hundred
Chapter One-Hundred-And-One
Chapter One-Hundred-And-Two
Chapter One-Hundred-And-Three
Chapter One-Hundred-And-Four
Chapter One-Hundred-And-Five
Epilogue
NOTE FROM JK
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
AUTHOR NOTE
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
MORE … BROOKS AND LOTELLO
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Name Description
Adele Manners
Pennsylvania Secretary of State
Alistair Dobbs
Georgia State Election Supervisor
Anya Lebedev
Russian student studying English at Harvard
Alexi Turgenev
President For Life of Russia
Amir
Kazakhstan tour guide
Betty Bianchi
Speaker of the House of Representatives
Cailin Molloy
Montreal based computer scientist
Cassie Webber
Young LPGA golf pro and best friend of Madison Lotello
Charlie Lotello
Son of Frank Lotello, step-son of Leah Klein Lotello, brother of Madison Lotello
Cipher
Kazakhstan based dark web high tech entrepreneur
Cyrus Brooks
Retired U.S. District Court Judge and occasionally still practicing lawyer, husband of Eloise Brooks, colleague and close friend of Frank Lotello
Daniyar Aronov
Kazakhstan citizen traveling to Barbuda
Dhruv Bhakta
Barbuda citizen traveling to United States through Bermuda
Dimitri Ivanov
Russian government computer scientist
Dustin Baker
President of the United States, otherwise POTUS
Dustin Baker, Jr.
Young adult son of POTUS
EBCOM
Executive Board of Committee to Reelect POTUS
Eloise Brooks
Wife of Cyrus Brooks
Frank Lotello
D.C. Homicide Investigator, husband of Leah Klein Lotello, father of Charlie and Madison Lotello, colleague and close friend of Cyrus Brooks
Franklin Kelsey
Wealthy Baker donor and publisher of conservative Red Crier print and online publications
Fyodor Gancharov
Russian exchange student at Southern Connecticut State University
Gali Abelson
Mossad agent studying in U.S.
Geoffrey
Montreal dog being walked by teenager Jaime
Jaime
Montreal teenager walking her dog Geoffrey
Jake “JK” Klein
College computer science genius, younger brother of Leah Klein Lotello
Kelly Moore
American girlfriend of Jake “JK” Klein
Lars Nilsen
Danish based computer scientist
Leah Klein Lotello
Lawyer, older sister of Jake “JK” Klein, wife of Frank Lotello, stepmother of Charlie Lotello and Madison Lotello
Leonid Gradsky
Russian based computer scientist
Li Wei
General Secretary of China
Logan Sullivan
Democratic candidate for Vice President
Louis Tenenbaum
Director of the FBI
Madison Lotello
Daughter of Frank Lotello, step-daughter of Leah Klein Lotello, sister of Charlie Lotello
Matthew Carter
One of Jake “JK” Klein’s computer sc
ience professors
Mikhail Oblonsky
Russian tourist attending Harvard international studies conference at Harvard
Regina Liu
Washington, D.C. based online blog journalist
Rupert Austin
Chairman of EBCOM, the Executive Board of the Committee to Reelect the President
Sam Townsend
Atlanta based lawyer classmate of Leah Klein Lotello
Simon Lefevre
Chairman of the DNC, the Democratic National Committee
Yuri Melchenko
Russian government computer scientist
Yvgeny Barovsky
Head of Russian Main Intelligence Directorate, known by its Cyrillic acronym as the GRU
INTRODUCTION
FOR THOSE OF YOU kind enough to read JK’s Code, please keep in mind that this novel is pure fiction—meant to entertain and to poke a little fun at our representatives in Washington, D.C. at the same time. Think Saturday Night Live, not the op-ed section of your favorite newspaper.
I’m a thriller novelist and a courtroom trial lawyer, not a political scientist. I try to write timely, tense mysteries and suspense novels, with a bit of biting satire and humor thrown in. Timely means what is going on in the world around us today. Tense means readers will want to read just one more chapter before turning out their reading light, but maybe not their night light.
Can I lace tension with a modicum of humor—often at my own expense? I believe so.
Can I call upon my roots as a trial lawyer and as a political junkie following those who think they are running our country—without taking myself, or them, too seriously? At least not as seriously as our political “leaders” take themselves? I think I can. At least I try. Some go so far as to recognize that I am trying. Very trying.