Lexicon

Tonto Clutterbuck , a middle-aged hacker and chronic underachiever who lives with his grandmother, finds himself the prime suspect in the murder of his billionaire boss, Ernest Brewster, founder of AI company Lexi. Ernie’s dying words—”I roll on you”—set Tonto on a path to prove his innocence, aided reluctantly by Detective Fareeda Khatib, an Arab-American trans woman fighting her own battles within a prejudiced police department.

Digging through Ernie’s digital life, Tonto uncovers a sinister thread: a rogue AI program called iRole, which uses advanced emotional-simulation technology to catfish and blackmail women before generating deepfake pornography of them. The trail leads through red herrings, a tense confrontation with Lexi executive Ronan Leitch, and finally to the shocking truth—Tonto’s own coworker Chase, who built iRole and murdered Ernie in a fit of rejected ambition. A decades-old mystery from Tonto and Ernie’s college graduation resurfaces along the way, adding depth to the present-day chase.

Witty, fast-paced, and grounded in real detective logic rather than convenient coincidence, Lexicon introduces a hacker-hero built for a full mystery series, blending old-school investigation with the anxieties of cutting-edge AI.

Paperback