Blackbird Singing
by Jay Amberg
A BASKETBALL STAR. HIS KIDNAPPED DAUGHTER. THE HIGH-TECH GENIUS WHO THREATENS THE WORLD.
Everyone thinks that Robert “Sky” Walker has it all. And they’re right. He’s the world’s most famous athlete and the darling of the Chicago Bulls; his wife is an internationally adored and beautiful anchorwoman; his nine-year-old daughter, Tonya, is the apple of his eye. He has money, fame, awards, and a picture-perfect family. Sky Walker has everything. And he loses it in a twinkling.
Sky Walker’s world comes crashing down when Tonya is kidnapped. At first, there is no ransom demand—only deranged e-mail messages, incendiary faxes, and provocative photographs sent to the media. As the world watches on television, lead after lead evaporates. Tom Hopkins, the head investigator, is rapidly caught in the middle of what is fast becoming an out-of-control media circus when he realizes that he’s dealing with an insane hacker whose motives are highly complex—having more to do with revenge and megalomania than with money.
As the story unfolds, Hopkins and Walker discover they’re caught up in an increasingly dangerous web of escalating violence, media mania, massive egos, computer wizardry, and high-tech madness. Inevitably, Hopkins becomes a target of the warped genius who abducted Tonya Walker—a genius who has concocted a climax designed to stun the world and link his name forever with the crime of the century.
Everyone thinks that Robert “Sky” Walker has it all. And they’re right. He’s the world’s most famous athlete and the darling of the Chicago Bulls; his wife is an internationally adored and beautiful anchorwoman; his nine-year-old daughter, Tonya, is the apple of his eye. He has money, fame, awards, and a picture-perfect family. Sky Walker has everything. And he loses it in a twinkling.
Sky Walker’s world comes crashing down when Tonya is kidnapped. At first, there is no ransom demand—only deranged e-mail messages, incendiary faxes, and provocative photographs sent to the media. As the world watches on television, lead after lead evaporates. Tom Hopkins, the head investigator, is rapidly caught in the middle of what is fast becoming an out-of-control media circus when he realizes that he’s dealing with an insane hacker whose motives are highly complex—having more to do with revenge and megalomania than with money.
As the story unfolds, Hopkins and Walker discover they’re caught up in an increasingly dangerous web of escalating violence, media mania, massive egos, computer wizardry, and high-tech madness. Inevitably, Hopkins becomes a target of the warped genius who abducted Tonya Walker—a genius who has concocted a climax designed to stun the world and link his name forever with the crime of the century.
