Submerged: A hacker thriller - Paperback

Submerged is a near-future cyber-thriller built on realistic hacks, for readers of Daniel Suarez and Tom Clancy. It's the second book in the West Wilder series and is best read after Identified.

More than a year after her death, West Wilder still mourns the girlfriend he lost in Russia, and keeps talking to her AI model. A message arrives that can't be true: She's alive. Who is trying to weaponize his grief?

As he starts investigating the origins of the message, he notices that European websites are stale or have stopped working altogether. Unbeknownst to him, the transatlantic subsea internet cables have gone dark, governments have invoked contingency plans intended for cyber war, banks are starting to panic, and the White House is drafting a statement to the public. One layer further down, the fight for internet sovereignty and the message about West's girlfriend are secretly connected.

The hacks in Submerged are grounded in reality. You don't have to understand technology to enjoy the story, but it's there if you want it. While there's some violence in the book, it's more hacks than guns. This is a thriller about information warfare and doing everything for the ones you love.