BETRAYED

An addicted hacker struggles to return her life to something that passes for normal.

Tina Adler’s problems started when she helped her father steal money belonging to mobster Tony DeMarco and escalated when she helped her lover, Ian Cartwright, steal money from a bank and accidentally shot FBI agent Zeke Chapman in the process. For years she’s been on the run, using false identities and supporting herself with her artwork and jobs in bike shops in out-of-the-way places. Now she’s being questioned by FBI agents who don’t know her true identity. DeMarco had a hit put out on him, and someone’s trying to make it look like it was Tina. She’s built up a semi-trusting relationship with Tracker, another hacker who’s helped her, and she’s a little bit in love with him. Although she’s only recently learned that Tracker is Zeke Chapman, he's always known who she was, and she’s not sure if she can trust him. DeMarco, who never got his money back, hasn’t forgiven Tina for her part in the affair even though she was very young at the time. Now Tina and Tracker are trying to track down whomever is hacking into computers and leaving clues that blame all misdeeds past and present on Tina. They retreat to Miami, which Tina hasn’t called home for 16 years, to join the team of hackers Tracker’s set up to find whomever’s taken the missing money, identify the person who wants DeMarco dead, and figure out who is setting Tina up—probably all the same person. In a world where nothing is what it seems and trusting anyone is dangerous, Tina and Tracker must use all their skills and connections to break loose from the past.

The third in this high-tension series (Shadowed, 2016, etc.) is by far the most complex. Newcomers seeking to understand the weird and dangerous world of the hacking community will have to stay on their toes. The finale will leave everyone wanting more.