Flame War: A Cyberthriller
by By Quittner, Joshua and Slatalla, Michelle
Category: Fiction , General

Fresh out of law school, Harry Garnet walks straight into trouble when he accidentally delivers a deadly diskette that explodes inside the computer of a mathematics professor - and kills him. In the aftermath, Harry joins up with the man's clever daughter, Annie Ames, to track the killer. Their journey leads from a sleepy Adirondack town to New York City, where - with the inadvertent help of Harry's scheming hacker friend Blaney - Harry learns of the professor's connection to the anarchists and computer phreaks who make up the underground Urban Crypto Militia. The group's leader, Lionel Sullivan, is as talented a codemaker as the professor had been.In a riveting race against time, Harry and Annie must navigate secret networks and on-line fantasy worlds as they struggle to unlock the professor's final message. It seems to point to a fatal crack in the Patriot encryption program which is about to become the national standard - and which Lionel and his group are about to challenge in a dramatic showdown. Unless the bomber gets to them first.