book cover of Virtually Gone
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Virtually Gone

(2024)
(The first book in the Virtually Detection Inc. series)
A novel by

 
 
Lucy knows real from AI yet nothing she says will convince the police that she's witnessed genuine murder. A pop-up clip on the Internet does not qualify. If it's on the 'net, it could be a technology-generated video or artificial intelligence, they say. Happens all the time, they say. Besides, without a body let alone a jurisdiction, where would the law even begin to investigate? And to make things worse, the site keeps disappearing only to piggy-back on different a web address, each time advertising the murder of the week. Poof, it's gone! Phishing just got deadly.

But Lucy recognizes one of the attackers on the video from her past life and knows that Vince is capable of anything, including hurting women for profit. Once, a long time ago, she worked for him and her daughter suffered the consequences. That gives Lucy an edge in tracking this man at the same time as it brings her back into the crosshairs of the brutal life she struggled so hard to escape. But she's burning with anger and the need to stop this man once and for all. Women are dying and its her mission to stop it.

With the help of her new business partner, Susan, and their on-probation hacker assistant, they deploy the resources of their new technology start-up company to track down
Virtually Gone,. Which is how they end up with a hard copy that was apparently distributed under the label of an educational technology company in New Mexico headed by a racially-diverse group of women. It's an organization that champions equality as long as it's primarily female. The irony has Vince written all over it and Lucy's driven to dive undercover to determine how Virtual Educational Medias Services could possibly be involved. But uncovering the truth without ending up on the murder playlist will be a matter of survival fueled by brains not brawn..

Brash, funny, and haunted by past demons, Lucy is driven to bring the man who harmed her daughter to his knees and round up this ring while she's at it, no matter what the cost. Partner Susan has yet to learn just how far Lucy will go to catch these killers or how deep into the darkness she'll drag her along for the ride.

This detective thriller comes with a trigger warning: though violence against women and children is described via "tell, not show", it may be disturbing to some readers. Still, be assured that the good guys will always win in this world.

Genre: Mystery

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