Praise for The Halter:

“Award-winning video game writer Darby McDevitt has ported his storytelling skills…with his debut novel, The Halter….While McDevitt might have been satisfied with simply telling an exciting, intelligent noir tale wrapped in a cyber setting, he goes beyond that with an examination of several themes that tend to provoke thought and give the story a greater sense of heft….if you're an award winner in one medium, there's a damn good chance you’ll one day become an award winner in another.”
—Open Letters Review

"With The Halter, Darby McDevitt has remixed the anxieties of Blade Runner, Snow Crash, and Ready Player One, but with a wonderfully assured classic-gumshoe spin. What in lesser narrative hands might feel derivative instead feels transformative. This is to say nothing of the disquietingly plausible tech dystopia he's imagined from the ground up. A first-rate entertainment."
—Tom Bissell, author of Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter

“Assassin’s Creed game developer McDevitt shines in his sci-fi noir debut, plausibly imagining a future in which many have become addicted to ‘surrogate realities'....McDevitt’s Chandleresque protagonist finds the path...challenging and hazardous, creating a gripping and twisty mystery for readers. Fans of Nick Harkaway will be riveted.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Darby McDevitt channels his world-building brilliance into his sci-fi debut—cinematic, exhilarating, and deeply satisfying."
—Jean Guesdon, Creative Director of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag