CORE Deception
CORE Series | Book One
In a world where the government’s CORE systems see and track everyone, seventeen-year-old hacker Seth Alvarez is determined to save his sister from being placed in a reeducation facility. Armed with a cryptic letter, Seth embarks on a search for the powerful incognito devices—cyber master keys that can set his sister free. But with only three weeks remaining, he finds himself wedged between two powerful forces who will stop at nothing to get the devices first.
Do you love a clean YA read that keeps you turning pages?
Do you like stories of underdogs standing up to dystopian governments?
Do you enjoy plots filled with intrigue and suspense?
CORE Deception is the first novel in a series of YA Sci-Fi thrillers set in an arctic-like, dystopian-like world. Each book features themes designed to encourage Christians to stand strong in their faith. There’s plenty of action, suspense, and intrigue, but the stories also present a Biblical worldview and are free of objectionable content.
When an ice age plunges the world into an arctic catastrophe, resources quickly diminish as most of the world becomes unlivable. After years of war, a small remnant of the USA ventures into the Semi-Habitable Region for a place to survive. Leveraging technologies like geothermal power and high-tech layered farming, the little nation settles into the devastated and long-ago-abandoned Hawaii. Their motto becomes Efficiency For Survival, and their guiding system is the CORE—an unprecedented data powerhouse of surveillance, biodata, and predictive analysis that comprehensively tracks and runs everything.
Seventeen-year-old Seth Alvarez grows up in this city state, the Socialist American Peoples. Individual freedom is only a symbol of a prior era. Deviating from the dictates of the CORE. brings swift punishment, something Seth learned the hard way a few years ago when he hacked the CORE. to help a friend in desperate need. He determined never to try such a thing again.

But when the CORE forces his sister into Normalcy Testing, Seth has three weeks to find a way to keep his sister from being placed in a reeducation facility.
Enter the secretive and highly valuable Incognito Devices. They’re Seth’s only chance to save his sister, but finding a missing shipment of these cyber master keys requires a level of deception he’s never attempted. He must hide in plain sight, learn to send and receive coded messages on illegal paper, outsmart the all-seeing CORE, and utilize the one tool that’s haunted him for years—hacking.
Seth secretly enlists the help of his neighbor and peer, Krystin Jakobsdóttir. She’s familiar with methods to deceive the CORE. and knows her way around the ominous ZONE, but is it possible she has intentions she’s hiding from Seth?
With a cunning enemy lurking behind the scenes, watching his every move and waiting for just the right opportunity to pounce on the Incognito Devices, Seth must face his fears and decide how much he trusts the God he thought he believed in.

Book Options and Details
Ebooks:
- Compatible with all the common apps and readers (Kindle, Apple Books, Kobo, Nook, Google Books, BookFunnel, etc.)
- Fulfilled by BookFunnel
Physical books:
- 379 Pages
- Chapter Image Spreads
All versions include:
- Glossary of Acronyms and Terms
- Glossary of Characters
- Glossary of Places
- Discussion Questions
Limited Edition Hardcover
- Signed and Numbered
- Only 50 Ever Printed
- Just 25 Remaining!
Shipping and taxes added during checkout. For limited editions, shipping is included in the listed price.
Orders typically arrive within 2-3 weeks. In most cases, books are printed on demand. So don’t be alarmed if you don’t receive a shipping notice during the first 5-7 business days.
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Praise for the CORE Series
“It was so good. I loved the action!”
– Mason W, teen reader
“I really connected with the main character…I loved this story!”
– Matthew M, avid reader of YA
“It was very intriguing…I read 75% of the story in the first sitting and couldn’t put it down.”
– Kalli J, homeschool student
“This fast-moving story features a heroine who really tugged at my heart.”
– Laura L, beta reader for Association
“The story pulled me in from the first page and was very adventurous.”
– Rachel T, homeschool student