The Cube Master

"Readers who know Gerdes mainly as an excellent women’s fiction author will be pleasantly surprised to find she is equally remarkable when it comes to blending the thrills and chills of a thriller with biotechnology and cyber suspense. The standard techno thriller components: a secret government conspiracy, evil masterminds are part of the plot, but Gerdes’s balanced writing (which is an impressive blend of credible action and emotional depth) lifts the techno thriller elements well above the average thriller norm. Complicated technical terms and cyber space detail are plenty, but Gerdes’s skillful use of accessible language while explaining complexities keeps the flow of the narrative smooth. Flawlessly blending high tension with accessible technology, Gerdes has created another winner. YA as well as mature readers of techno thrillers will be rewarded." The Prairie Book Review Apr 7, 2020

Rumors of titanium cubes, containing all the financial and personal records of each American citizen, begin filling the Darknet. Within days, every major criminal circuit begins searching for the missing cubes and the one who knows where they are. They seek Kyle Smith.

In his hometown of Ouray, Colorado, Kyle has become a pariah. His lone ally, FBI Agent Brayden Cox, is in federal custody, leaving Kyle alone and vulnerable. Arrested by the NSA, Kyle successfully resists attempts to extract information of the cube’s whereabouts. Upon release and determined to finish the job he started, Kyle retrieves the remaining identity cubes he has hidden within a top-secret government facility near town.

The consequences are immediate and  unanticipated. An NSA agent is found dead and Kyle’s girlfriend, Billy, volunteers to have a face transplant using data derived from one of the cubes Kyle has in his possession. And when agent Cox is exonerated and assigned to lead a task force focused upon saving the country from financial collapse, Kyle is forced to make a choice: does he work with the wrong people for the right reason, knowing his moral and ethical values will be compromised but lives will be saved, or does he go it alone, relying on his own wits and resources,  on the run from criminals as well as the government?

Unable to trust those around him,  Kyle only knows he must stay alive long enough to bring down the government that created this catastrophic situation and prevent it from happening again.