There’s always a way in…
You’ve reached the place to find out all about Running Away to Boston, a tech thriller available at the retailers below. It runs about 300 pages, and is $15.99 for the paperback, and $3.99 for the ebook.
Synopsis
There’s always a way in…
Jannie Miller finds people. The only person she can’t find is her mother, who supposedly perished in a tornado, but is deep in hiding from Jannie’s abusive father. When Jannie’s ex-boyfriend, FBI agent Brent Mikkelson, hires Jannie to find Tanya Coleman, a young witness to a vicious murder, he unwittingly drags Jannie into the violence.
Set in Los Angeles, Jannie soon suspects that Tanya might have more to her than anyone would guess. Tanya has been working for Wheeling Corp., a think tank that only pretends to be benevolent. When Jannie gets too close, her mother comes out of hiding to warn Jannie off, but then accepts her daughter into the ragtag group of ethical computer hackers intent on bringing Wheeling down. It’s not just Wheeling’s unethical behavior. The group has discovered that the think tank is writing a virus that could bring the American economy to its knees.
It’s a race against time and a hired assassin, as Jannie comes to know a mother who never really abandoned her and faces a boyfriend who couldn’t be there for her.
Why is Running Away to Boston Set in Los Angeles?
The simple answer is that Boston is a metaphor for safety. The tragedy of domestic abuse means that for many women there is no safe place. Some abusers will go to almost any length to bring back their wives.
However, on a more personal note, the phrase was something I came up with one time when I wanted to be anywhere but where I was. I do not want to go into how that happened, although it was not a case of domestic abuse. Rather, it was a bad marriage starting to show it. But me being a writer, when I left the marriage, I kept the phrase.
When Running Away to Boston started evolving in my brain, I knew that would be the perfect title. I had a missing mother and a daughter trying to find her. Obviously, Mom would have to show up. But what if the daughter was trying to find someone she shouldn’t? All of a sudden, I had a good situation. But, alas, what I needed at that point was a plot.
Writing about hacking
That’s when the computer hacking thing started niggling at my brain. Fortunately for me, I have several friends through the Repair Cafe who were happy to help. The Repair Cafe is a community of volunteers who, every other month or so, gather to fix things and keep them out of the landfills. Living in the Pasadena area means that several of these volunteers are computer programmers working at Caltech and the Jet Propulsion Laboratories. My only problem is that Michael Starch and Scoops Adamzcyk both want to write the sequel to this one. Michael O’Brien is happy writing code.
I have been to Boston, and loved being there. I hope to go again soon. After all, I have to. I’ve got some more research to do for the next Old Los Angeles book. Plus there’s another project I want to start playing with soon.