Technothrillers aren't often fertile ground for layered social commentary. The majority you might think of first tend to deal in absolutes. Our guys are always right, theirs are always wrong. Occasionally, you get a Lee Child who likes to give us those chiaroscuro shades, and layers of commentary hidden by the action of his Jack Reacher novels. John Darrin is a welcome addition to the latter group, and his debut thriller could anchor a dissertation based on its multiple layers: moral, ethical, criminal, and psychological.

A well-off executive who fancies himself a high-tech vigilante and calls himself "Screenshot" appears one day by targeting a "deserving" victim, someone whom the justice system has failed to punish. Considering himself God-like in his retribution, Screenshot anonymously pumps a live feed of the murder onto the internet, but goes one step farther – he puts the weapon's remote trigger in a random (or not so random) stranger's hands. In seconds, rounds from a rigged WW2-era BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle) tear apart a notorious drug dealer and some of his thugs. Millions watch live and, later, on YouTube. No so many disapprove.

Seth Mathias, recently-widowed freelance journalist and high-tech RV traveler, watches as well. But he watches because Screenshot emailed him a preview link by hacking into his son's college email account. Why Seth?

Mathias is pragmatic and tries to alert the FBI about his strange connection to the crime and its perpetrator. They blow him off as a crank, of course. Later, he becomes a suspect. In the meantime, a female federal agent who sees a career opportunity (the reason Karen Larson's career is hindered is complex, but relevant to the novel's layered approach) decides to follow up on Seth's warnings, especially when Screenshot strikes again, after a week's planned hiatus.

Screenshot becomes a bizarro weekly television show or video game, popular due to its subject matter and approach, though the murders themselves are terrifying despite their TV-ready aspect. Screenshot is a fairly accomplished engineer who invents his own remote-controlled weapons, gives them darkly funny names, and marks them "ACME" products (as in the Wily E. Coyote and Road Runner cartoons). Society is just crazy enough to embrace this new kind of vigilante, who is nevertheless cowardly in the way his victims are targeted and ultimately "punished."

Seth is a reluctant player in this game, but Screenshot raises the ante when blackmailing the journalist into being the next remote killer by threatening his son and daughter's lives. The FBI takes him seriously now, but botches the event and causes more trouble when a militia-connected ex-general is the target and innocents become casualties. In the meantime, a disgruntled mathematical genius and scientist named Morgan Sicals who nitpicked Seth's journalism is also drawn into the game. Robbed of a Nobel prize years before, Sicals is himself a bit sociopathic, but Seth has no choice but to enlist his aid and both are drawn farther into the conspiracy despite Sicals' gripe (and plan against) the Nobel Committee who spurned his work. Agent Larson predictably goes rogue once her employers set out to scapegoat her, as law enforcement struggles with the players and their possible motives for the high-tech serial killing that masquerades as an anti-crime crusade.

John darrin's debut delivers entertainment on several levels, reminiscent of David Morrell's Scavenger blended with Death Wish, Nolan-helmed Batman, and a dash of Jason Bourne for good measure. Plenty of intricate internet hosting and filtering details will keep the tech crowd pacified, while the hidden cameras will tweak the conspiracy-minded. Though the overly straightforward narrative occasionally falters, or recounts too many actions it could have shown (such as the very climax!), Screenshot provides an engrossing exploration of multiple societal issues disguised as a fast-paced thriller. Darrin may well want to revisit Seth Mathias, his complex hero, and give him more social dilemmas to chew on in the future. Chances are, anyone who reads Screenshot will want to go along for the ride again.