The Hanged Man's Song by John Sandford

 

Kidd calls Bobby his friend although they have never met in person.  They are both computer hackers and Bobby heads up the group of those who make their living this way.  When Kidd can't get in contact with Bobby, he knows its time to make the journey to Bobby's house.  When he gets there, he finds what he had half expected and dreaded--Bobby has been killed.  Worse, the laptop that may hold all the details of who is in the group and what they have been doing for years has been stolen.

With his sometime girlfriend, LuEllen, Kidd and another friend, start to unravel Bobby's life and determine who has killed Bobby and what they plan to do with the information on the laptop.  It's an involved chase and there are other deaths along the way.  Will Kidd be successful?

This is the fourth and final novel in the Kidd series.  It was published in 2004 and eighteen years is a lifetime in computer terms so the technical side is a bit antiquated.  But the story of murder and retribution is fresh and interesting and the reader will be totally involved in the chase.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.