gHost — Jonathan Wright

Sleen owns Deel, and he's not about to give her up. How far will Brady go to make her his own?

Blurb: In the 23rd century you can jack into the web, shop at a mall floating half a mile above the street, kill yourself with the drug of the week, and wake up in a new body.

The rich can have what they want -- and they want immortality. What they get is gHost, generic Host Somnambulant Transfer. The dead become re-animated hosts for the living. The trade is controlled by megacorps and is highly regulated. Getting on the list is the perk for any corporate ladder-climber. But the price is steep.

Brady Woods is a smart-ass hacker fighting to survive in the dim streets at the bottom of the canyons between two-hundred-story buildings, where smog and anti-grav shopping malls block out the sun and predators prowl the shadowed alleys.

Brady has talent. He can fix anything. And he can surf the web like no one can. Code is his junk food; blind killers and security bots are his nemeses; information is his currency and his rush.

Sleen's girl Deel has eyes for Brady; a battered cat knows its own. Brady knows what he wants, and he wants Deel. Problem. Sleen thinks he owns Deel, and he's not about to give her up. In a barter economy Deel's up for grabs -- for the right price. But can she be trusted? And how far will Brady go to make her his own?