Dotmeme

In this cyberthriller sequel to dotwav, two teenage British Intelligence agents are in a video game-like race to save the world from lies and evil AI.

After preventing conservative MP Victor Palgrave from engineering a human mind-controlled teenage army, Joe Dyson and Ani Lee, operatives for a secret youth division of British Intelligence, have probably earned a rest. But there's no time to be lax with bizarre new developments popping up across the UK and the world.

While busting a group that's pressing teen runaways into slave labor building tech, Joe discovers a computer component not yet out on the market, linked to a very popular, but highly secretive gaming company based in California. Meanwhile, skilled hacker Ani works her way into a vigilante hacking ring intent on using viral social media to bring the truth to the world and bring world governments to their knees. They're method: rewriting reality, virtually, so that the world never knows the difference.

As Ani's and Joe's missions draw closer together, they realize that they have been corralled into a real-life video game-one where the levels are constantly being rewritten, and the stakes are constantly shifting.

What happens when AI evolves to the point where it has a mind of its own? When the computer threatens to turn on its master? Joe, Ani, and the world are about to find out.

Praise for dotmeme

"You don't have to be a geek to enjoy this fun and exciting cyberthriller from someone who really knows his stuff!" -Brian Falkner, author of Brain Jack

"Lancaster excels in constructing a world where reality-memes, fake news, tech giants-and the not-quite impossible-sentient artificial intelligence-chillingly collide. The prose is taut, the dialogue rapid-fire, and the clues interactive (just try not piecing together some of these codes!). A well-researched, exceedingly witty thriller with an activist's heart, this one is destined to go viral." -Booklist

"Video gamers will delight in the lore of early gaming, and the history of memes is fully explored. The novel is extremely timely, referencing the Internet's ability to generate and redistribute "fake news."" -School Library Journal

"Lancaster's action-packed sequel races through puzzling twists and turns that eventually land readers in a conclusion inspired by intricate video game boss levels. During the ride, Lancaster explores socially relevant issues of "hacktivism," digital terror, artificial intelligence, and the ramifications of the organized spread of fake information. . . . An intriguing page-turner." -VOYA