The year is 2023. Much of the world enjoys the great wealth generated by the triumph of information technology, but horrifying poverty grips many countries, bitter wars rage over natural resources, and the failure of international regulatory agencies has resulted in an expanding black market in all forms of weapons - including nuclear devices. The staphylococcus plague 2006 wiped out forty million people, the crash of '07 ruined many national economies, and in America the assassination of President Emily Forrester in 2018 traumatized the nation. The Internet remains the main source of information, bombarding people everywhere with news, rumors, and allegations twenty-four hours a day - and creating enormous possibilities for the manipulation of mankind.New York psychiatrist, criminal profiler, and historian Dr. Gideon Wolfe becomes enmeshed in this world of deception when the wife of a murdered special effects wizard brings him a computer disc containing startling evidence that the now-famous visual record of President Forresrer's assassination was digitally altered by her husband. Investigating this crime, Wolfe enlists the help of his oldest friend, Max Jenkins, a private detective expert in all forms of information manipulation.When Max, too, is murdered, a stunned and enraged Wolfe sets out to uncover who is behind the Forrester hoax and the killings, a journey that leads him to a secret group of scientific and military experts who - led by an ailing, mysterious young genius and his beautiful, brilliant sister - have undertaken to demonstrate the astonishing degree to which the public can be deceived and manipulated. Seduced in every way, Wolfe joins the team. But are their methods really as noble as their motives? Read Less