First published 2019
Colter Shaw makes his living finding people who don't want to be found. The son of survivalists, he travels the country as a reward seeker, helping police crack cases and reuniting families with the missing. When a father hires him to locate his daughter in Silicon Valley, Shaw expects another straightforward search. Instead, he discovers the woman has vanished into the billion-dollar gaming industry's shadowy corners. A second kidnapping points Shaw toward The Whispering Man, a video game where players must survive abandonment with only five random objects. Someone appears to be recreating the game's deadly scenarios in real life. Shaw navigates between eccentric designers, volatile gamers, and ruthless tech executives as he hunts the kidnapper through both Silicon Valley's corporate towers and the dark web's hidden channels. But Shaw isn't the only hunter in this game. Someone else is tracking him, and they're getting closer with each move he makes.
Genres: adventure, suspense, mystery, crime, thriller, action
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, cat-and-mouse
Setting: Silicon Valley
416 pages · Hardcover · G.P. Putnam's Sons