Tartarus Book 1: Undercoat

This is the first part of the Tartarus trilogy.

The technological revolution has claimed mankind. Powered by vastly-intelligent AIs, Corporations have taken the place of governments. Cults and gangs replace law and order. People are disposable. People are cheap.

In the city of Chicago the tech-slums are home to unchecked violence and crime. Rising out of the sprawl is The Tower, a 260-mile high refuge where the wealthy enjoy the protection of privilege. In the slum known as Custer's Revenge a cult leader is murdered for his prototype mobile device, the Tartarus, which contains a powerful secret. Obsessed by the device, the murderer's hacker/drug dealer room-mate steals the Tartarus and is forced to flee Custer's Revenge. Pursued by the cult, the gangs, and a Corporation that seems to want to help him, the hacker known as Undercoat must find salvation and a new life.