Miller Crane, co-owner and Director of Cybersecurity at Inner Flow, survives a devastating car bomb that kills his wife, Elizabeth, and leaves his young daughter permanently injured. Consumed by grief and searching for answers, Miller is forced to confront the fragile boundaries between justice, revenge, faith, and despair while trying to rebuild what remains of his shattered life.
As Inner Flow enters a high-stakes merger with Velorocity-a powerful AI and smart-technology corporation-Miller uncovers dangerous secrets tied to cyber warfare, surveillance technology, and his wife's murder. With the help of his former Marine brother Dakota, ex-government operative Samantha "K12" West, brilliant cybersecurity experts, and Detective James Thrush, Miller is drawn into a deadly world of corruption, hidden agendas, and moral ambiguity.
From Atlanta and Savannah to Krakow and the Virgin Islands, the story blends mystery, technology, loss, and redemption into a gripping thriller about the collision of human ambition and human suffering. At its core, the novel asks a haunting question: are love, justice, and purpose real forces in life-or is everything simply left to chance?
DOUG PINKSTON
Is a software engineer and tech professional with over thirty years of experience in software development, project management, and enterprise architecture. A longtime resident of Atlanta, Georgia, he brings a sharp technical mind and a deep fascination with artificial intelligence to his writing.
Doug is the author of Catering Complete, a practical guide to the catering industry, the novel American Season, and the short story collection A Thanksgiving Bear. In addition to his literary work, he is an accomplished composer and recording artist with more than twenty original songs to his credit.
In Artificial Malevolence, Doug draws directly from his extensive background in cybersecurity, AI systems, and complex software development to craft a chillingly plausible techno-thriller. His insider knowledge of how technology actually works - and how it can be weaponized gives the novel a rare authenticity and urgency that elevates it beyond standard genre fiction.