04724cam a2200985 4500 2686162889 TxAuBib 20260219120000.0 ||||||s2026||||||||||||||||||||||||und|u 9798895150894 B0FFTMDD67 Amazon 91aedfac-c804-41b2-a9d8-2030912b3726 OverDrive (Reserve ID) 12051652 OverDrive (Product ID) TxAuBib McDevitt, Darby. The Halter [Libby eBook]. Diversion Books, 2026. Format: OverDrive OverDrive Read. Format: OverDrive Kindle Book. manipulation of technology. memoirs found in a bathtub. life after climate change. artificial intelligence. character-driven sci-fi. environmental collapse. Genre-blending Fiction. the one that got away. appetite for escapism. character with a code. corporate corruption. speculative fiction. scientific research. missing person case. near-future sci-fi. Space Exploration. First in a series. software engineer. mars colonization. utopian metaverse. surrogate reality. frustrated genius. Raymond Chandler. dystopian future. ready player one. Assassin's Creed. Climate collapse. Virtual Reality. Science Fiction. climate fiction. phillip k. dick. sci-fi mystery. worldbuildling. man vs. system. missing woman. nick harkaway. Stanislaw Lem. Chandleresque. underdog hero. noir mystery. eco-thriller. near future. Video Games. debut novel. private eye. future noir. techno-noir. detective. dystopia. Fiction. Rabbits. mystery. sci-fi. cli-fi. novel. debut. noir. mars. Combining the inventive worldbuilding of Philip K. Dick and the elegiac longing of Raymond Chandler's The Long Goodbye and for fans of Ready Player One and Rabbits, The Halter by Darby McDevitt (lead writer for Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag) is a debut sci-fi novel that fuses cyber-noir, psychological suspense, and high-concept speculation in a breakneck search for truth inside a utopian metaverse on the verge of collapse In a world where virtual addiction kills, Kennedy Stark is paid to pull the plug. A professional halter—part detective, part counselor—he trawls the world's darkest surrogate-reality feeds in search of the lost. When he isn't working, he's dreaming of a one-way ticket to Mars, where a new colony has been established as a hopeful alternative to an Earth in the early stages of climate collapse. One evening, after a botched rescue attempt, a mysterious client offers Kennedy a tantalizing new case: brilliant software engineer Delia Walsh, who Kennedy fell in love with years ago, has disappeared inside a surrogate reality project called The Forum. Entering under an assumed identity, Kennedy finds a simulation unlike any other. The Forum bills itself as a tool for cutting-edge scientific research and radical philosophical investigations, but the signs of its corruption are everywhere. As Kennedy investigates, he learns Delia had been working on a new simulation that could upend The Forum's primary purpose, and that even in this prurient playground for the super wealthy, the dangers are very real. Brimming with black humor, hardboiled attitude, and a cast of endearing misfits lost in brittle fantasies, The Halter introduces a charismatic detective and heralds a unique and assured new voice in sci-fi crime. Science Fiction. Fiction. Mystery. Media Type: eBook. Importer Version: 2014-01-08.01 Import Date: 2026-02-18 20:00:02. https://samples.overdrive.com/?crid=91aedfac-c804-41b2-a9d8-2030912b3726&.epub-sample.overdrive.com Excerpt (Kindle Book) https://samples.overdrive.com/?crid=91aedfac-c804-41b2-a9d8-2030912b3726&.epub-sample.overdrive.com Excerpt (OverDrive Read)