First published 2011
Dagmar Shaw designs massive alternate reality games that stretch across continents and engage millions of players. During daylight hours she orchestrates these complex digital worlds. When darkness falls, she battles memories that refuse to fade. She cannot escape the sounds of a burning city or erase the images of friends dying before her eyes. The blood that stained her hands haunts her still. An old friend arrives with a proposal that defies reason. The project he describes seems impossible in its scope and ambition. Dagmar knows she should refuse, but the challenge proves irresistible. She accepts his offer and discovers that this new game operates by different rules entirely. Her expertise in crafting alternate realities becomes a weapon in a conflict where the boundaries between simulation and truth disappear. The players are no longer gamers seeking entertainment. They are soldiers and intelligence operatives whose lives hang in the balance. Success means survival. Failure means death. Dagmar must navigate this deadly landscape where her skills as a game designer become tools for actual warfare.
Genres: fiction, adventure, contemporary, thriller, action, espionage
Vibes: dark, emotional, fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
390 pages · Paperback · Orbit
Content warnings: violence