(From the publisher):
A revelation is exactly what overworked and underappreciated Fort Worth policewoman Deb Ralston needs when a grisly ax murder leaves a man dead and his computer demolished.
Yet another ax attack on a woman and her computer reveals a strange link: a mysterious electronic virus that appears to have plagued the systems of both victims. Could a software virus -- or perhaps its solution -- really be cause for murder?
Even more worrisome is the presence of Shane, an apparently homeless teenager who follows Deb home like a puppy. Deb, always a sucker for strays, takes him in, but when Shane is linked to both murder scenes, she begins to wonder if she isn't harboring the enemy. With dry humor intact, Deb sets about juggling transients, murder investigations, children and dogs in her typical down-to-earth and capable fashion.
The added pressure of a crisis that involves her son Hal pushes Deb to the point where she's just about to ask to sit the rest of this one out. But suddenly, a baffling computer virus appears in the circuits of her husband's computer...
Original title: Hacker
Genre: Fiction→ Crime and Mystery→ Detective Story and Detectives→ Police Procedural