FBI Special Agent Jay Fletcher is an agency hacker who uses computers to find out anything about anyone—but her failure to respect proper channels gets her bounced out of Washington, D.C. Assigned to an unexciting arson detail in New Mexico, she follows an ongoing investigation into a serial killer who is terrorizing Las Vegas. Jay's diversion turns into online horror when she discovers that the murderer is linked to a secret network of criminals who play an all-too-realistic computer simulation game. As Jay's recreational hacking turns into a personal quest, she abandons the accepted boundaries of Bureau procedure and due process. With her former colleagues in close pursuit, she and the killer move inexorably toward a shattering confrontation.