The Halter

“Award-winning video game writer Darby McDevitt has ported his storytelling skills…with his debut novel, The Halter….Though on the surface McDevitt’s story is science fiction, its bones are pure noir. The story centers on a missing person mystery and is populated with virtual and actual corrupt politicians, mafia-like criminals, gun-toting thugs…and plenty of whiskey served up in smoky bars. The prose is sharp and gives off a distinct aroma of 1940….While McDevitt might have been satisfied with simply telling an exciting, intelligent noir tale wrapped in a cyber setting, he goes beyond that with an examination of several themes that tend to provoke thought and give the story a greater sense of heft….if you’re an award winner in one medium, there’s a damn good chance you’ll one day become an award winner in another.” —Open Letters Review“With The Halter, Darby McDevitt has remixed the anxieties of Blade Runner, Snow Crash, and Ready Player One, but with a wonderfully assured classic-gumshoe spin. What in lesser narrative hands might feel derivative instead feels transformative. This is to say nothing of the disquietingly plausible tech dystopia he’s imagined from the ground up. A first-rate entertainment.” —Tom Bissell, author of Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter“Assassin’s Creed game developer McDevitt shines in his sci-fi noir debut, plausibly imagining a future in which many have become addicted to ‘surrogate realities’….McDevitt’s Chandleresque protagonist finds the path…challenging and hazardous, creating a gripping and twisty mystery for readers. Fans of Nick Harkaway will be riveted.” —Publishers Weekly“Darby McDevitt channels his world-building brilliance into his sci-fi debut—cinematic, exhilarating, and deeply satisfying.” —Jean Guesdon, Creative Director of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag“McDevitt’s striking debut imagines a dark future that seems all too possible, and serves it up with a bourbon on the rocks. A propulsive Neo-Noir that asks the big questions, The Halter is a triumph.” —Chris Wooding, author of the Darkwater Legacy series“McDevitt’s debut is a detective story that blends the real and virtual worlds, and asks if putting the virtual power of gods in the hands of enterprising coders and hackers—and the corporate interests backing their efforts—is really a good idea.” —Booklist

Darby McDevitt is a writer and game developer best known for his work on the Assassin’s Creed series of video games. He served as lead writer for Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag and as narrative director for the forthcoming Assassin’s Creed: Codename Hexe. His short fiction has appeared in Exquisite Corpse, Jeopardy, Griffel, and In Pieces: An Anthology of Fragmentary Writing. McDevitt is a dual citizen of the US and Canada and lives in Montreal.

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