First published 2022
Chief Inspector Wei Bao thought he understood the surveillance system he helped create. The junior Chinese police detective built the world's most advanced tracking network, one that monitors billions of people through cameras and computers worldwide. Then he stumbles across something that changes everything. A global conspiracy controls the very systems he designed. Some of the people being tracked exist only in digital space. Now a more powerful program hunts Wei Bao himself. He races across three continents, from Beijing's power centers to Washington's security agencies to the tech labs of Canada and California. Two problems drive him forward: he doesn't know what disaster approaches, and he can't identify who plans to cause it. Algorithms and computers control more of human life than most people realize, but Wei Bao discovers the real question is who controls those systems.
Genres: science-fiction, mystery, crime, thriller, artificial-intelligence
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: cat-and-mouse, conspiracy, high-stakes
Setting: Beijing, California, Canada, China, Washington
Period: 21st-century
256 pages · Hardcover · Rare Bird Books