Diana Highsmith was once a computer hacker extraordinaire
with her boyfriend, Daniel Schecter, and their friend Jake.
Together, they hacked into some of the most formidable
databases in the country. It was all fun and games right up
until someone actually died because of something they did.
Diana put her foot down and, to her shock, both Daniel and
Jake went along with her. They would start a legitimate
security company that would protect companies from hackers
like they, themselves, used to be.
Tragically, on a celebratory mountain climbing trip in
Switzerland, Daniel fell to his death. Following Daniel's
death, Diana had a breakdown of sorts, which left her
vulnerable to severe panic attacks. Locked away in her
parents' old house, she has top of the line security and
surveillance systems that let her see anything that is on
the outside of her home and won't let anything unexpected
in. Her main contact with any portion of the outside world
is her younger sister, Ashley, and her online virtual
community called OtherWorld where she conducts her business
meetings as well as chats with a few friends that she's made
there.
When Ashley suddenly disappears without a trace, Diana
starts to realize that she MUST come out of her
self-enforced prison if she's to find her sister. As she
forces herself to get out in the real world once again to
investigate and search for her sister as only she knows how
to do, she starts to realize that she's also in danger.
Someone is watching her every move, using the very
technology that she has trusted to keep her safe.
The closer she gets to the answers she needs, the more she
finds herself in danger. Is Diana strong enough to do what
she needs to do? Can she find Ashley and bring both of them
to safety?
This is one of the best books I've read in a while! Hallie
Ephron has crafted a roller coaster ride of a plot that
makes for some muscle clenching scenes. I was hooked from
the first page of this book and couldn't put it down. This
is an exciting read and one with more than a few twists and
turns to reach the satisfying end. You don't want to miss
this one!
Computer security expert and reformed hacker Diana Highsmith
has not ventured beyond her home for more than a year—not
since that fateful climbing vacation in Switzerland took
Daniel's life. Haunted by the sound of Daniel's cries
echoing across the gorge as he fell, Diana cannot stop
thinking about the life they'll never have—grief that has
transformed her into a recluse.
Diana doesn't have to
shut herself off completely from the world, though; she and
Daniel's best friend run a thriving Internet security
company. From her home, in her pajamas, Diana assesses
security breaches, both potential and real, and offers
clients a way to protect themselves from hackers—the kind of
disruptions Diana herself used to create. Once Diana has a
game plan she is able to meet with clients in OtherWorld, an
Internet-based platform, using Nadia, an avatar she created
for herself. Diana knows she'll have to rejoin the "real
world" eventually, but right now a few steps from her door
each morning is all she can handle.
When Diana\'s
sister goes missing, however, she is forced to do the
impossible: brave both the outside world and her own
personal demons to find her sister. As one step outside
leads to another, Diana soon discovers that she is following
a trail fraught with danger—and uncovering a web of deceit
and betrayal, both online and real-life, that threatens not
only her sister's life, but her own.