Susan Fensten

Brian Whitney

A firsthand look at a notorious Internet stalking campaign that the FBI described as a case “in a category by itself”—in the words of the victim herself.

After her father died in 2003, Susan Fensten turned to a genealogy message board to search for surviving relatives. Days later, she was delighted to receive an email from someone claiming to be a distant cousin. In fact, Susan had just been ensnared by a relentless sociopath.

She soon became the target of an elaborate cyber-hoax involving dozens of frightening characters, including known sex offenders, who made threats of kidnapping, murder, rape, torture, and cannibalism. Remarkable in its complexity, this story of Internet stalking is also a harrowing tale of courage in the face of madness.

This is a story about the search for family, the Internet Age, and a journey into the underbelly of American crime. Beyond raising questions about safety online, it forces us to question our perceptions of reality.

"Quite possibly the most twisted and surreal case of stalking I have ever encountered. Well written and gripping. Just when you think it can't get any more bizarre, it does." —Patrick Quinlan, Los Angeles Times–bestselling author of All Those Moments and Sexbot

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