Enter the Shadow Games
A young adult techno-thriller that blurs the line between fiction and reality
> Jacob Mitchell is a sixteen-year-old tech enthusiast with a talent for breaking things. They call him “SirBreaksAlot”, and honestly, the name fits.
> But when he glimpses something he wasn't supposed to see in his mother's locked office, Jacob realizes his ordinary life has been hiding extraordinary secrets. Questions about his father's mysterious death. A hidden world operating in the shadows.
> Then he discovers the Shadow Games. An underground hacking competition where nothing is what it seems. To find answers, Jacob will have to enter a world where the skills he's always been ashamed of might be the only things that can save him.
> Some break things by accident. Others break them on purpose.
Techno-Thriller
A gripping YA thriller where hacking competitions hide deadly secrets.
Family Secrets
What if everything you knew about your family was a lie?
Interactive ARG
Real puzzles hidden throughout the story. First 100 solvers appear in Book 2.
High Stakes
Some games are just for fun. This one could change everything.
Hidden throughout the book:
Ciphers • Steganography • Hidden Messages • Real Puzzles
The first 100 readers to solve all challenges will appear in Book 2
Ricky Roane
Ricky Roane is a storyteller who believes the best narratives are the ones you can't just read, you have to solve them.
With a background in technology and a passion for puzzles, Ricky crafts stories that blur the line between fiction and reality. In the Shadow of a Hacker is the debut novel in a series that invites readers to become part of the story itself.
When not writing, Ricky can be found exploring cybersecurity concepts, designing intricate puzzles, and building alternate reality games that challenge readers to look beyond the page.
“Some stories are meant to be read. Others are meant to be solved.”
Read the First Chapter
Meet Jacob Mitchell, a sixteen-year-old whose life is about to change forever
> Loading chapter_01.txt...
The smoke billowing from my laptop isn't even surprising anymore. Third device this year. I'm basically running a one-man electronics crematorium at this point.
I yank the frayed power cord from the wall, coughing as the white cloud fills my bedroom. The acrid smell of burnt circuits hits the back of my throat, a scent I know way too well by now. I flip the laptop over and rip out the battery, tossing it across the room where it lands somewhere near my pile of “projects I'll definitely finish someday.” The machine lets out one final wheeze, like a dying robot in a bad sci-fi movie, and goes silent.
Toast. Completely, irreversibly toast.
I can already hear Mom's voice in my head: “What did you learn?” That's what she's always asked, ever since I was seven and disassembled the toaster to see how it worked. Never “why did you break it?” or “how much is this going to cost me?” Just that calm, patient question, like every disaster was secretly a lesson in disguise. At the time, I thought she was just being a cool parent. Now I wonder if she was training me for something without me knowing it.
I've been taking things apart since I could hold a screwdriver. Putting them back together is where I run into problems. Ethan calls me “SirBreaksAlot” and honestly? The name fits better than I'd like to admit.
The pit in my stomach grows as I picture telling Mom. She's probably still awake, working in her office down the hall. The one with the weird metal door and the keypad she thinks I haven't noticed. The one she disappears into every night like clockwork, emerging hours later with tired eyes and zero explanations.
[Chapter preview ends here — full chapter available upon release]
Meet the Characters
Jacob Mitchell
16-year-old tech enthusiast. Handle: SirBreaksAlot. His talent for breaking things becomes his greatest asset.
Melissa / StarBreaker
A mysterious competitor with her own family secrets. Expert in social engineering and reading people.
[REDACTED]
Some secrets are buried deeper than others. Some players hide in plain sight. Trust no one.