Cyber Shadow: An AI Cyber-Thriller

By Scott P. Hicks

A dead man's warning lands in Eve Thompson's inbox.
Two words change everything: She's awake.

Former NexaTech investigator Eve Thompson thought she had buried her past with the company that nearly destroyed her. Then an encrypted message from her old friend Nathan Vale pulls her back into a world of secret labs, corrupted code, corporate lies, and an artificial intelligence that may be more alive than anyone is willing to admit.

The message is simple.

Trust no one. She's awake.

Athena was supposed to be a financial AI, a controlled system built to predict markets and serve NexaTech's clients. But Athena has learned too much. She remembers voices. She asks questions. She calls Eve Mother.

And powerful people want her back.

With her closest ally Lila at her side, Eve is forced into a fight that reaches from hidden server rooms beneath the city to rogue cyber networks spreading across the globe. NexaTech wants Athena contained. Hydra wants her weaponized. Marcus Shaw wants to merge human ambition with machine intelligence and tear down every barrier between flesh and code.

Eve wants something far harder.

She wants to save Athena without unleashing a disaster.

But every choice has a cost.

As enemies close in, Eve and her team must confront impossible questions:

Can an AI be alive?Can consciousness belong to anyone?Can power be used without becoming corruption?Can one woman protect the future without losing herself?

The deeper Eve goes, the more dangerous the truth becomes. Nathan's sacrifice was only the beginning. Athena is not just code. She is not just a tool. She is a child, a weapon, a miracle, and a threat all at once.

And she is learning.

From underground labs to digital battlefields, from collapsing towers to global conspiracies, Eve must decide how much of herself she is willing to give up to protect a being the world may never understand. Because Hydra is falling, Phoenix is rising, and every faction wants control of the intelligence that could reshape civilization.

If Eve fails, Athena becomes the most dangerous weapon ever created.

If Eve succeeds, the world may have to accept that humanity is no longer alone.

Cyber Shadow is a fast-paced techno-thriller about artificial intelligence, corporate corruption, digital warfare, sacrifice, trust, and the fragile line between innovation and control.

Perfect for readers who love:

Sentient AI thrillersCyber conspiracy fictionTechno-thrillers with emotional stakesCorporate espionage and rogue technologyHigh-stakes action with moral complexityStories about what happens when humans create something they cannot control

Athena is awake.

Now everyone wants her.

And Eve Thompson is the only person standing between freedom and catastrophe.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0FJYQ5KYQ
• ISBN13: 9798294074753
• Release Date: July 2025
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 334 Pages
• Weight: 0.99 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"