A gray hat hacker. A dark-hearted crime boss.

Baltimore isn't big enough for both of them.

C.T. Ferguson uses his illicit digital skills as a private investigator. When a teenaged boy wants to find his missing brother, C.T. takes the case.

He soon discovers the missing brother is a fellow keyboard wizard, which piques his interest. Then shadowy figures turn up wherever C.T. goes. He gets an offer he's not supposed to refuse from a budding gangster.

He declines it anyway, of course. But how is it all connected to the missing programmer?

When the investigation takes a turn for the worse, C.T. must contend with the police trying to arrest him and a cadre of enforcers trying to kill him. Can he follow the clues online and in the real world in time to reunite a family?

You'll love The Unknown Devil because it combines classic hard-boiled sensibilities and modern tech savvy in a compulsively readable package.