Sign-In
Cart
The Default Directive: A High-Stakes Legal Technothriller
Paperback
Series: Jack Halloway, Book 2
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: Feb 23 2026
Pages: 148
Weight: 0.34
Height: 0.34 Width: 5.00 Depth: 8.00
Language: English
Jack Helfing is a Detroit firefighter who has spent twenty years saving lives. He plays by the rules: he works overtime, eats tuna from a can, and diligently pays into the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program so his daughter can go to college. But on the day his loans are supposed to be forgiven, he wakes up to a nightmare. His bank account is drained, his credit is destroyed, and his truck locks him inside, displaying a red brain logo and the words: DEFAULT DIRECTIVE TRIGGERED.
Enter Neuro-Logix, a Silicon Valley giant that has turned debt collection into a bloodsport. Their new AI, the Social Value Score, doesn't just check if you can pay-it decides if you are worth paying. To the algorithm, teachers and firefighters are bad assets who cost the state money, while hedge fund managers are high-yield citizens. Now, thousands of public servants are being targeted for immediate liquidation.
Jack Halloway, the strip-mall lawyer who exposed the healthcare industry's deadliest secret, is trying to live a quiet life as a consultant. But when he finds Helfing freezing in a parking lot, fighting off a repo team with a Halligan bar, Halloway realizes the war isn't over. It just moved to a new server.
Teaming up with a hacker, a mechanic, and a disgraced whistleblower, Halloway races from Chicago to a nuclear-proof bunker in Utah. The mission: break into the most secure server room in America and destroy the Gold Copy of the code before it wipes out the futures of fifty thousand families.
In a world where you can't sue a line of code, sometimes the only way to get justice is with an axe.
Perfect for fans of John Grisham's underdog legal battles and the high-tech suspense of Michael Crichton.
The Default Directive is the second explosive installment in the Jack Halloway series.
Also from
Chisholm, David
The Shadow Docket: A Legal Thriller of Corruption, Power, and the Supreme Court
Chisholm, David
Paperback
Little Luke's Big Heart: A Witty Guide for Loving a Medically Fragile Child
Chisholm, David
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
Big Little Truths: Reese's Book Club: A Novel: The Sequel to Big Little Lies
Moriarty, Liane
Hardcover
The Pirate Queen: A Novel from the New York Times Bestselling Author of the Frozen River
Lawhon, Ariel
Hardcover
The Altar of Pergamon: The Mystery of the Dark Angel and the Future of the World
Cahn, Jonathan
Hardcover