Mismatch — Lloyd Pye

Two rogue FBI agents make a catastrophic error in judgment when they catch the nations #1 computer hacker and decide to rough him up to intimidate him into quitting his hobby. Percy Marsh is not easily intimidated, and what no one knowsnot even the FBIis that he has the power to shut down the entirety of Americas communication systems. Coldly seeking revenge for his abuse, Marsh enlists the aid of a phone phreaking associate known as The Kraut. What he doesnt know is that Viktor Lubov is a long-term Soviet sleeper, an agent-in-place seeking an opportunity to strike. Marsh provides it with his communication shutdown, and soon Lubov is planning to circumvent Marshs plan with a far more deadly plan of his own. He is going to tell his handlers in Moscow that America will soon be helpless to counterstrike after an all-out nuclear first strike. All he has to do is relay the message in the approved fashion: through a Soviet submarine playing cat-and-mouse with an American sub prowling off the California coastline. World War III is just a shutdown away!