The Perfect Stranger

Meet your new coworker. She’s brilliant. She’s beautiful. She’s unreal.

Everyone loves Alison, the new remote employee at a major energy company. She’s a rising star in the virtual workspace, displaying incredible intelligence and efficiency with digital technology. But Linda, her manager, has growing suspicions that Alison is not the person she claims to be. As Linda probes Alison’s background, Alison fights back through cyber-attacks, ravaging Linda’s work, her family and her safety. Linda must uncover the truth to save herself and discovers Alison’s past history is a lie – in fact, she has none. Is it possible Alison isn’t human at all?

FLAME TREE PRESS is the imprint of long-standing independent Flame Tree Publishing, dedicated to excellent original writing in horror, science fiction and fantasy. The list brings together fantastic new authors and the more established; the award winners, and exciting, original voices. Learn more at www.flametreepress.com and connect on social media @FlameTreePress. Awarded independent publisher of 2024 by the British Fantasy Society.

Brian Pinkerton is the author of novels and short stories in the thriller, horror, science fiction and mystery genres. His books include Abducted (a USA Today bestseller), Vengeance, The Nirvana Effect, The Gemini Experiment, The Intruders, Anatomy of Evil, Killer’s Diary, Rough Cut, Bender, Killing the Boss and How I Started the Apocalypse (a trilogy). Select titles have also been released as audio books and in foreign languages.

His short stories have appeared in PULP!, Chicago Blues, Zombie Zoology, and The Horror Zine. Brian has been a guest author and panelist at the San Diego Comic Con, American Library Association annual conference, C2E2, Fan Expo, World Horror Convention and many other literary and genre events. His screenplays have finished in the top 100 of Project Greenlight and top two percent of the Nicholl Fellowship of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Brian received his B.A. from the University of Iowa, where he took undergraduate classes of the Iowa Writers Workshop. He received his master’s degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. His first published short story appeared in Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine. He enjoys the music of Pink Floyd and Frank Zappa, the art of Jack Kirby, the writing of Richard Matheson, the sport of baseball, and the films of Laurel and Hardy.

Brian lives in the Chicago area with his family. He invites you to visit him on Facebook, Goodreads, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. Brian is also a cartoonist and created the series The Ruts.