First published 2009
Kathryn Dance stares at another roadside cross planted along the Monterey Peninsula highways. These aren't memorials for past accidents. They mark future murders. Someone mines personal blog posts for ammunition, selecting victims based on their digital confessions. Dance and her California Bureau of Investigation team know the timeline for each planned attack, but the killer's targets remain hidden. Her body language analysis skills point her toward a recent fatal car crash and its survivor, Travis Brigham. The gaming obsessed teenager has become prey for ruthless cyberbullies who torment him online. When Travis vanishes, Dance must track him through the shadowy networks of bloggers and social media platforms. Nothing in this digital landscape appears genuine. The investigation forces Dance to navigate between virtual cruelty and real violence, where anonymous users wield words like weapons and crosses serve as countdown timers for death.
Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, thriller
Vibes: dark, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: cat-and-mouse, high-stakes, technology-driven
Setting: Monterey Peninsula, California
Period: 21st-century
397 pages · Hardcover · Simon & Schuster
Content warnings: death, violence