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.