The Citadel Conspiracy

In the shadow of Silicon Valley's towers, democracy is dying by algorithm.

Aris Thorne created the Titan Engine to protect people. Instead, he built the perfect weapon to destroy them. When healthcare executive Adam Sterling dies in what police call a "random robbery," data scientist Aris discovers that the murder was anything but random. Sterling was killed because he threatened to expose how medical records are being weaponized—and Aris's own surveillance technology pulled the trigger.

Framed as a domestic terrorist, Aris flees into an underground war between old-money finance and new-tech tyranny. With investigative journalist Lena Petrova, he uncovers a conspiracy that transforms privacy violations into assassination orders, election outcomes into algorithmic certainties, and human judgment into digital control.

At the center sits Julian Finch, the reclusive AI billionaire who doesn't just predict the future—he programs it. His shadow network reaches from Aris's estranged father's investment empire to the deepest levels of government, turning surveillance into a scalpel that excises dissent before it can spread.

Now two fugitives must expose a truth that reshapes reality itself: in a world where your data knows you better than you know yourself, privacy isn't just a right—it's the last defense against a tyranny so complete, its victims help build their own chains.

The algorithm doesn't just watch. It decides who lives.