CTRL+Z

How do you know who to trust when you don’t know who you are?

CTRL + Z by Lesley Floyd follows Zoey and the clandestine espionage agency that became her whole world after tragedy.  When we first meet the white-haired agent, she’s a spunky nine-year-old in tatters under the care of the Director, a driven member of DNP.

The Director develops his charge over the next twenty years into the most effective dagger in the cloak-and-dagger DNP despite her headstrong disposition. Both Zoey and the Director seek more power to control their fates, but they are stymied. Mercurial, strong-willed Zoey and the vigilant and vitriolic Director are dependent on each other for success.

The Director’s obsession with controlling Zoey grows beyond that needed for her assignments, and Zoey becomes mentally and physically weaker despite her iron will. Some readers may be sensitive to content regarding physical abuse and neglect. The author effectively shows the elite agent’s weakened cognitive state at the point she is presented with a choice: believe what she’s always known, or risk her life’s work on a possible deceit.

In this first of the series, the author has put together a fast-paced adventure with details that leave Zoey and the reader guessing as to the Director’s purposes and DNP’s true nature. The world of Shadow Dynasty is unveiled from the perspective of several different characters, progressively revealing to the reader what Zoey desperately needs to discover.