Splinter: Literary Fiction – Political Thriller – Techno-Social Drama

What if the system already decided who you are—before you ever had a chance to speak?

In the border city of El Paso, where lives exist between visibility and erasure, Silvano Cienfuegos survives by staying invisible. An undocumented carpenter from Honduras, he trusts only one thing: wood never lies.

But when his workshop takes on a lucrative contract for OmniSight—a powerful tech company developing an AI-driven border surveillance system—Silvano stumbles upon something he was never meant to see.

Hidden deep within the system is a truth more dangerous than any weapon: an algorithm that labels ordinary people as threats. Friends. Neighbors. Innocent lives reduced to data points.

Including his best friend.

As immigration raids begin to follow the system’s silent judgments, Silvano is forced into an impossible choice: remain invisible and survive, or step into the light and risk everything to expose the truth.

But in a world ruled by data, can one man’s voice still matter?

Splinter is a gripping literary thriller about surveillance, algorithmic bias, immigration, and the cost of being seen. Perfect for readers of social justice fiction, AI ethics thrillers, and character-driven suspense, this novel explores what happens when humanity is measured—and misjudged—by machines.