Cheryl Swanson. Death Game (2006) 225 pp. [tpo]
Cooper O’Brien is a computer graphics expert working for a personal injury attorney in San Francisco creating reenactments of accidents to be used as evidence in trials. Her parents had been killed in an automobile accident ten months earlier and her troubled teenage brother, Jimmie, has been living with her. Her boss, Rick Capra, also runs a security business and when the son of one of his clients is murdered, one of his cameras catches the crime on film. To Cooper’s horror, the tape clearly shows Jimmie firing the fatal shot. But, even with this evidence, Cooper is convinced that her brother is not a killer and she races to find him before the cops catch up to him. Her search takes her first into the world of ultra-violent online video games. But, soon she discovers that he is being used as a pawn in a much more dangerous game—a group of terrorists are planning on ramming an oil tanker into the Golden Gate Bridge, causing an explosion that would destroy not only the bridge but also most of the city’s waterfront—and no one is exactly who he (or she) seems.
Setting: San Francisco