John Sandford: The Empress File (UK 2003)

From the Publisher:
When the cops of Longstreet, Mississippi see a black boy running away from them and clutching something in his hand, there's only one thought in their minds - bag-snatcher. So they shoot him in the back. Except, Darrell Clark isn't a thief, he's a computer-crazy fourteen-year-old, who was running home before his ice-cream melted. And now he's dead.

When the predictable police cover-up begins, Darrell's friend, Marvel Atkins, decides it's time for the corrupt city government to go. Using Darrell's computer, she contacts the only two con artists with the nerve to take on a whole city: Kidd, computer-hacker extraordinaire, and his partner and some-time lover, Lu-Ellen. To pull this off, the sting has to be perfect. And it will be, because if Kidd knows one thing, it's this: a corrupt city regime is about as stable as a house of cards. All he has to know is where to push...

John Sandford: The Empress File. A Kidd Novel. Pocket Books, ISBN: 0743415590 (January, 2003), 240 p., £6.99.

John Sandford: The Empress File (USA 1995)

From the Publisher:
Computer hack Kidd always plays both sides against the middle. His partner LuEllen is his lover, a liar and a thief. When two major politicians secretly embezzle over a million dollars, Kidd and LuEllen decide to steal the stash -- and cover their tracks by blowing the whistle on the dirty officials.

"A fast-moving delight, with dialogue that crackles!" -- Publishers Weekly.

John Sandford: The Empress File. Berkley Books, ISBN: 0425135020 (November, 1995), 368 p., $5.99 (?).