Someone is murdering wealthy metaverse gamers. RJ Dowland invented the process for players to immerse into the metaverse, living as an avatar inside the computers worlds. But the immersion left some of the players addicted to the impulses in their nerve endings, choosing to remain inside while their bodies wasted away in real life. RJ became one of the addicted. With his fortune lost, he weaned himself off the games, eking out a life as a socially-inept homicide detective with a partner who calls him names, an ex-wife who will not acknowledge him, and the choice to use other addictions to fight off returning inside the metaverse. But the FBI has approached RJ because they are investigating a series of murdered gamers who ignored the government regulations and lived inside the computer worlds. They need his game experience and knowledge to catch the serial killer before more are murdered. The agents ask him to enter the metaverse again, putting his life in danger, to chase an old nemesis from his past when he ruled the gaming world. Now RJ is back inside a game, trapped in a 1930s film noir world as a private detective and searching for the serial killer while negotiating his way through the gangsters, roscoes, and dames. Every step he takes toward meeting his former enemy is haunted by one Even if he finds the killer, will RJ be able to pull himself away from the metaverse worlds that are more real to him than his life? If you like mystery and murder mixed with a slice of science fiction, virtual reality, and a step into the metaverse, you will love Kirk Dougal’s page-turning thriller!