BLACK DAWN by Cristin Harber releases on July 14th – but we couldn’t wait that long to share the first chapter with you! Check out the first part of chapter one, plus enter to win a gift card + a Titan mug by spotting the highlighted word in the excerpt below. Be sure to stop by each stop on the excerpt hop every day this week for more chances to win, plus the rest of chapter one!
Excerpt Hop:
July 6, 2015 – Reviews by Tammy and Kim
July 7, 2015 – Grown Up Fangirl
July 8, 2015 – Red Cheeks Reads
July 9, 2015 – InkSlinger PR
July 10, 2015 – Obsessed with Myshelf
Chapter 1 Part #5 from BLACK DAWN
BlackDawn wasn’t even on her short list, though he was actually more talented than anyone she had initially thought about. Combined. The request seemed a little novice to ask of him, but who else would be considered her partner-in-crime?
She’d never met him in person but chatted with him almost every week. Years ago, they’d formed an alliance because sometimes hacks needed more than one set of hands. Sometimes code needed another mind mulling it over.
BlackDawn was one of the very few hackers who could hold their own at the highest echelons. But she and he were also slightly competitive.
He wasn’t one for these parties, never came to the hacker events—not that people knew who she was when she showed. So maybe he was in the room. Her eyes skimmed the crowd.
“Silver?” Shadow asked. “Scowling at a party?”
“Just thinking…”
His eyes narrowed. “About?”
“No. Not him.”
“Have a reason?” he asked, leaning in for whatever she would divulge.
Which wouldn’t be much. Black was a talented hacker somewhere in the world—US-based, she presumed, because they’d worked on what she could only assume were American military cyber offenses. That was his specialty. But still, he was her competition, and while they might play allies in the field—occasionally butting heads in heated discussions over who was right and wrong on things that had no right and wrong—business was a whole other world. She didn’t want him helping when it came to securing her sales.
Lexi shook her head, wrapping the long string of necklaces around her fingers again. “Not particularly.”
Shadow chuckled as if he could read her mind. “Alright, Silver, get out there and enjoy your party.”
With a nod, he melted into the night, leaving her to survey the scene. The place rocked out—lights bouncing, bass dropping, and bodies dancing and drinking. Phreaks, gamers, hackers, and groupies. Matt would hate it. The people—the geeks, the nerds—he’d blame for ruining his night out. Didn’t he see she was one of them? Didn’t he see anything about her? She looked at her engagement ring. It wasn’t even a style that she ever would have chosen. But she wasn’t the girl who pined over the perfect ring or the perfect dress. She wanted a perfect love who held her tight, promised security, cherished her, appreciated who she wanted to be more than who he could put on display.
Shifting her gaze from the ring to her drink, she wondered if maybe there was more alcohol in that glass than she realized.
Growing up the way she had, she knew just how lucky she was to have a man who’d promised to never ever leave… right?
Still, surrounded by hundreds of people who didn’t know her given name, she was more comfortable there than at home. They accepted her. Respected what she did. They didn’t hurt her.
Not that most times she’d even admit that to herself.
—
Phiber kept his eyes on the waif of a woman. She was blond, confident, and watched the crowd of dancing bodies under the makeshift strobe lights as if they were her people. His gut said they were—she was in the know, dropping his handle and chatting with the likes of Shadow, who was almost infamous for the amount of deals he’d brokered and connections he had.
After weeks of crawling into every dark corner, trying to pin down SilverChaos through all of the hacks attributed to that handle, Phiber had wormed his way into enough intel that said the woman who’d declined his drink offer was Silver. How about that? Silver was a woman. Not that he was sexist. He didn’t care who Silver actually was as long as the bank transfers from his mysterious Taskmaster continued to arrive, along with the codex message for his new tasks.
Each request from the unknown sender had grown in difficulty, almost as though the first ones were tests. As he completed each challenge, Phiber became more interested in what the end goal was. Though by now, he had a guess. Whoever had contracted him wanted the Monarch exploit. They wanted to worm into Monarch’s website and siphon data about its users. Their intent had malicious undertones, and their means were obviously sketchy. No way was his employer legit—otherwise they would just bid in the upcoming auction. SilverChaos was one of those hack snobs who cared who bought their—her—product. She wanted good people, which wasn’t Phiber or Taskmaster.
At this point, he guessed Taskmaster was positioning him to steal Monarch’s zero day patch, either online or in person. Lifting a laptop or hacking her system? Both would be simple. He was elite enough, even if his peers hadn’t yet given his handle that designation. The most concerning thing would be if she kept her creation in pieces until the auction was complete.
He watched Silver continue her conversation with Shadow. That guy had some secrets and a vat of industry knowledge.
Rubbing his hands together, Phiber itched for the opportunity to find all the parts of Silver’s program, in both hard copy and hidden in the crevices of the cyber world. A physical file extraction wouldn’t be problem; breaking and entering was almost a hobby for him, as his rap sheet showed.
He pulled out his phone and tapped out a quick message.
Silver identified. Send bank transfer and next job.
GIVEAWAY
Want to win a $10 Amazon gift card and a Titan mug? Find the highlighted word in the above excerpt and enter it in the rafflecopter below! Make sure to stop by each stop on the excerpt hop for more chances to win!
Excerpt Hop Stops:
July 6, 2015 – Reviews by Tammy and Kim
July 7, 2015 – Grown Up Fangirl
July 8, 2015 – Red Cheeks Reads
July 9, 2015 – InkSlinger PR
July 10, 2015 – Obsessed with Myshelf
ABOUT BLACK DAWN
What happens when nothing is as it seems?
Lexi Dare is on a one-woman mission to stay alive. Both at home and at work. Because how did she end up with a ring on her finger and an abuser in bed as she readies to hit the high point in her career? Everything should be perfect. Amazing job. Handsome fiancé. It’s all a disaster.
Parker Black is the brains behind Titan Group, an elite security firm. In his world, everything is ordered and controlled, except what he feels for his buddy’s girl. Something in her eye screams for help, but he has no idea what.
When Lexi disappears, Parker realizes what he should have known. The lines blur between friendships and work, and they must find each other to survive a terror attack that only Lexi can stop.
Black Dawn can be read as a standalone and does not have a cliffhanger.
BLACK DAWN releases July 14th – add it to your Goodreads list here!
Preorder it now: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iBooks | Kobo
Black Dawn Release Party!
Want to celebrate the release of BLACK DAWN by Cristin Harber? There’s a release party on facebook on July 16th! Join the event here for more details!
ABOUT CRISTIN HARBER
Cristin Harber is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling romance author. She writes sexy, steamy romantic suspense and military romance. Readers voted her onto Amazon’s Top Picks for Debut Romance Authors in 2013, and her debut Titan series was both a #1 romantic suspense and #1 military romance bestseller.
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