The Cassandra Virus.

Christina Pike is a member of the Evaluation Division, Department of
Education, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Jordan O’Blenis and his best friend, Helen, both too old for a sitter, are left alone for the summer to keep each other company. To fight boredom, Jordan designs a computer program that he names “Cassandra.” The program is designed to play the Japanese board game “Go,” and Jordan hopes it will be able to beat Helen—a feat Jordan himself has been unable to accomplish. When the computer program Jordan creates begins to talk back, Jordan starts to wonder if Cassandra can think. It isn’t until Jordan asks Cassandra to find out some information that both Jordan and Helen become fully aware of everything that “she” can do. Things begin to heat up when Cassandra is discovered and it is up to Jordan and Helen to save her from hands that want to use her for no good.

K.V. Johansen has woven a tale full of humour, mystery, and suspense. What begins as a story about two friends entertaining each other during the summer turns into a fight for survival and a quest for the meaning of life. In this novel, Johansen has asked, and succeeded to a degree in answering, “What makes something alive?” Johansen falls short simply because Cassandra is a computer virus. Highly recommended.