Clean

When police officer Peggy Whitfield receives a series of social media messages that instruct her to commit murder, she is plunged into a nightmare. She has no desire to kill anyone, but if she doesn't obey the mysterious messenger, she herself could be killed. Can she solve the mystery behind the messages before anyone is murdered?

When police officer Peggy Whitfield receives a series of social media messages that instruct her to commit murder, she is plunged into a nightmare and there seems to be no escape. She has no desire to kill anyone, but if she doesn't obey the mysterious messenger, she herself could be killed. Can she solve the mystery behind the messages before anyone is murdered? As she digs deeper, Peggy learns of a computer program named Clean that uses online activity to target those deemed unworthy, and as the ramifications of the program become clear and the bodies pile up, Peggy questions the motives of those closest to her. When she fakes her own death, is it a brilliant plan that will thwart Clean? Or has she made it easier for someone to kill her—without facing the consequences? Today's headlines are dominated by addictive iPhones, computers taking over our homes and finances, the invasion of privacy, and shadowy figures influencing our every move from afar. Clean tackles head-on one of current society's biggest fears: what happens when we use a computer to make decisions, and the computer starts making decisions by itself?

At an impressionable age, Tom Lytes's family moved from Manhattan to a rural farm – a dramatic change in scenery and culture that shaped the next decades of his life. From a small town to an Ivy League school was the next drastic culture shift, and many others followed in Tom's study of culture, anthropology and economics which brought him to Africa, the Arctic Circle and Europe over many years. Tom Lytes captures the feeling of displacement in his thrillers. His engaging, real characters find themselves in extraordinary circumstances yet somehow find the grit and intelligence to overcome unusual obstacles. Tom Lytes previously worked in fashion in New York and Europe, has championed historic buildings with restoration projects appearing in television shows, on MSNBC, in Travel and Leisure Magazine, Money Magazine, Flying Magazine and in several books.