First published 2011
The Reamde virus hits T'Rain, the world's most popular online game, and suddenly virtual crime becomes devastatingly real. What starts as digital extortion explodes into international chaos when hackers, Russian criminals, and Islamic terrorists collide in both cyberspace and the physical world. A kidnapped hostage becomes the center of a deadly game that spans from gaming servers to remote mountain hideouts. Players who thought they were safely behind screens find themselves running for their lives across multiple countries. The virtual economy of T'Rain bleeds into reality as online alliances and enemies translate into bullets and betrayals. Each faction plays by different rules, but everyone faces the same brutal truth: in this game, losing means dying. The boundaries between digital and physical worlds collapse as gamers, criminals, and terrorists discover that some battles can only be won offline.
Genres: fiction, science-fiction, adventure, crime, action, cyberpunk
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Period: 21st-century
1056 pages · Paperback · Atlantic Books
Content warnings: violence