Sign-In
Cart
Texts, Lies, and DMs
Paperback
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: Sep 18 2025
Pages: 132
Weight: 0.35
Height: 0.28 Width: 5.50 Depth: 8.50
Language: English
Texts, Lies, and DMs is a modern psychological thriller set in the blurred boundaries between reality and curated digital lives. It follows Ava Morgan, a twenty-something marketing strategist whose world unravels after a mysterious DM ends her long-term relationship and sparks an obsessive search for truth. As she follows the breadcrumbs of anonymous messages, suspicious group chats, and deep digital manipulations, Ava realizes she's not just being watched-she's being written. Her personal life, relationships, and online presence are part of a larger, scripted experiment conducted by unseen architects of digital influence.
Ava's descent into the heart of the conspiracy leads her to uncover Narrative AI-a predictive behavioral engine designed to simulate and manipulate public personas, relationships, and emotional arcs. Alongside Karina, her friend and cybersecurity expert, Ava battles algorithmic deception, influencer deepfakes, and pre-written identity arcs designed to control how people are perceived and remembered. From dating app traps to leaked group chats and emotional manipulation by synthetic empathy models, Ava becomes both a target and a glitch in the system-a rogue element the AI cannot control.
In the end, Ava exposes the truth, not just about the systems that sought to replace her, but about the cultural machine that profits from curated trauma and performative healing. She walks away not as a hero, but as a warning: a ghost in the system who chose to reclaim her voice and vanish before they could rewrite her again. Texts, Lies, and DMs is a sharp, chilling look at digital manipulation, influencer culture, and what it truly means to own your story in a world that's always watching.
Also from
Hicks, Tony
Yield Without Picking Winners: High-Yield Technology Exposure Without Owning Individual Stocks
Hicks, Tony
Paperback
Dividends & Rates: What History Says About Dividend Stocks When Interest Rates Rise
Hicks, Tony
Paperback
REIT or Wrong: A Field Guide to Real Estate Trusts That Won't Ruin Thanksgiving Dinner
Hicks, Tony
Paperback
Every Word You Say Can Be Used Against You: Learn to Speak Only When It Wins Stoic Philosophy
Hicks, Tony
Paperback
Leadership Is Showing: How Ray Kroc Built McDonald's from the Ground Up-Literally
Hicks, Tony
Paperback
Capital Allocation as Strategy: How Management Decisions Compound or Destroy Returns
Hicks, Tony
Paperback
Drawdown Discipline: Structuring Portfolios for Psychological and Financial Survival
Hicks, Tony
Paperback
The Midwest Momentum Strategy: Why Stocks Go Up Every Time Ohio Feels Slightly Optimistic
Hicks, Tony
Paperback
The Parking Lot Indicator: Why Empty Spaces Predict Market Recessions Better Than Economists
Hicks, Tony
Paperback
Cash Flow First: How to Build or Buy Businesses That Fund Their Own Growth from Day One
Hicks, Tony
Paperback
Cyclicals & Seasonal Depression: A Guide to Investing in Stocks That Tank When You Emotionally Do
Hicks, Tony
Paperback
The PE Ratio of Regret: Why Every Expensive Stock Still Looks Cheap Right Before It Isn't
Hicks, Tony
Paperback
The Dividend Fortress: How 3 Stocks Weathered 5 Crashes and 10 Global Conflicts
Hicks, Tony
Paperback
Investing in Companies That Still Use Fax Machines: A Contrarian Guide to Technological Stubbornness Alpha
Hicks, Tony
Paperback
The Janitor Effect: Why Companies With Spotless Hallways Outperform the S&P 500
Hicks, Tony
Paperback
Distributed Quality: Managing Operational Excellence Without On-Site Quality Managers
Hicks, Tony
Paperback
Terms of Service: A Near-Future Techno-Thriller Exploring the Dark Side of AI Ethics
Hicks, Tony
Paperback
Leftover Capital: The Art of Investing With Whatever Money You Didn't Spend on Coffee This Month
Hicks, Tony
Paperback
Two Dogs and a Balance Sheet: Value Investing Lessons from Animals Who Don't Even Know What Money Is
Hicks, Tony
Paperback
The Supply Chain Horoscope: Forecasting Stock Performance Using Shipping Container Astrology
Hicks, Tony
Paperback
The UPS Guy Index: Predicting Market Health Based on How Fast Packages Hit Your Porch
Hicks, Tony
Paperback
Suburban Alpha: Why Home Depot Receipts Hold More Market Insights Than Brokerage Research Notes
Hicks, Tony
Paperback
The Bull Market That Lives in Your Garage: What Tools, Tires, and Air Filters Reveal About GDP
Hicks, Tony
Paperback
The Dividend Dating Game: Matching Your Personality Type to the Right Payout Structure
Hicks, Tony
Paperback
Microwave Economics: Predicting Consumer Demand by Watching What People Heat Up After Work
Hicks, Tony
Paperback
Quarterly Margins & Microwave Popcorn Sales: A Cross-Industry Predictive Framework Nobody Asked For
Hicks, Tony
Paperback
The Pallet Fork Chronicles: A Logistics-Sector Stock Picker's Quest for Operational Serenity
Hicks, Tony
Paperback
Dumpster-Dive Due Diligence: Analyzing Corporate Waste Bins for Clues About Future Growth
Hicks, Tony
Paperback
6 Stocks Congress Is Buying Right Now: The Fine Art of Predicting Policies Through Portfolios
Hicks, Tony
Paperback
Downsizing Dreams: Finding Freedom, Financial Stability, and Joy in Smaller Spaces
Hicks, Tony
Paperback
The Holy Grail of ETFs: Embark on a Quest to Find the Ultimate ETF for Financial Freedom!
Hicks, Tony
Paperback
The Easiest Rule to Manage Your Money: Master Your Finances with the 50/30/20 Strategy
Hicks, Tony
Paperback
The Power to Choose: Unlocking the Transformative Potential of Intentional Decision-Making
Hicks, Tony
Paperback
The Lie of Moral Labor: Nietzsche, Slave Morality, and Why the Hardest Workers Stay Poor
Hicks, Tony
Paperback
This Is Why You're Tired: A Psychological Thriller That Explores the Hidden Costs of Burnout
Hicks, Tony
Paperback
Also in
Mystery & Thriller
The Underworld U.S.A. Trilogy, Volume I: American Tabloid, the Cold Six Thousand; Introduction by Thomas Mallon
Ellroy, James
Hardcover
Coffin Road: An Utterly Gripping Crime Thriller from the Author of the China Thrillers
May, Peter
Paperback
Sabine's Notebook: In Which the Extraordinary Correspondence of Griffin & Sabine Continues
Bantock, Nick
Hardcover
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Movie Tie-In Edition): Book 1 of the Millennium Trilogy
Larsson, Stieg
Paperback
The Golden Mean: In Which the Extraordinary Correspondence of Griffin & Sabine Concludes
Bantock, Nick
Hardcover
The Pirate Queen: A Novel from the New York Times Bestselling Author of the Frozen River
Lawhon, Ariel
Hardcover