Girl, Unlocked — John Argo

Love is in the air, but so are death and danger. It's a case right out of Physics 101, but in reverse: the immovable object (Laurel 'Blue' Humboldt) meets the irresistible force (two competing love interests in a triangle of opposing desires) right in the middle of a critical coast to coast drug plot with a slasher on the loose, cartels battling the Mafia, and assassins killing key witnesses right before her. Blue, 23, one year out of college and finished with the academy, is already on her first major DEA case. When things go from creepy to terrifying, she not only has to take the lead in a unique investigation when she is the only survivor - she must also untangle her steamy (and mostly steamy, all sizzle and no steak) messy love life. Does she desire gorgeous Chinese-American detective Martha Yee - or does she go with handsome male ex-model and lately millionaire John Connor? She's been hurt before, and she's scared to try again. The choice is as pressing and unnerving as her deadly drug cartel case. In her heart, she really gravitates toward dazzling bad boy and irresistible ladies' man Johnno Connor, whose jihad is that he must settle down and stop letting hot and cold running beautiful women run through his fingers. Will Blue be the woman who finally snares his restless spirit? It sure starts looking like it, but Martha Yee is that safe, nurturing, passionate haven Blue always gravitates toward (like famous New York City painter Maggie) when she has been hurt by her stupid choices in men. Oh yeah, she was married for a few months, to a handsome but abusive cad of course, among other foibles. That's in her past, and the express rushes on. That was then, this is now. This is life and death, and there's no time to waste on silly things like love, sex, or passion. With one foot in punk rock and the other in cop world, Blue puts off sorting things out by locking her emotions in strongboxes, throwing away the keys for the padlocks. Now something has to give. She feels overpowering love coming on, and her heart is torn. But there's little time to think, with the cartel slasher after her neck. She's next on the hit list, and already one of her close friends is dead. Can Blue stop the cartel, save her life, rescue the world, fight for truth and justice, and make the right choice for her throbbing heart and achy soul? This novel made history in 1996 by becoming the world's first true ebook, a proprietary (not public domain) standard-length novel published online for download. See the Clocktower Books website for explanation. Along with simultaneously published SF novel This Shoal of Space (also by John Argo), it was released 1996-7 in innovative weekly serial chapters, every Sunday, eagerly anticipated every Monday morning by readers around the world. Both novels were bestsellers for over a year in the early Web venues, including BN and Nuvomedia. Originally titled Neon Blue, we bring back DEA Special Agent Laurel 'Blue' Humboldt and her gripping but passionate ordeals along with her deadly fight for survival - as fresh today as the novel was in the dawn of Web publishing.