Everyone thinks that Robert "Sky" Walker has it all. And they're right. He's the world's most famous athlete and the darling of the Chicago Bulls. His wife is a beautiful and internationally adored anchorwoman, and his nine-year-old daughter, Tonya, is the apple of his eye. He has money, fame, awards and a picture-perfect family. Walker has what everyone wants. And he loses it in a twinkling.

Sky Walker's world comes crashing down when Tonya is kidnapped. At first there is no ransom demand—only deranged E-mail messages, incendiary faxes, and provocative photographs sent to the media. As the world watches on television, lead after lead evaporates. Tom Hopkins, the small-town detective suddenly dealing with a big-time case, is rapidly caught in the middle of what fast becomes an out-of-control media circus. He realizes that he's dealing with an insane hacker whose motives are highly complex—having more to do with revenge and megalomania than with money.

As the story unfolds, Hopkins and Walker discover they're tangled in an increasingly dangerous web of escalating violence, media mania, massive egos, computer wizardry, and high-tech madness, all carefully orchestrated by a madman determined to gain fame for perpetrating the crime of the century.

"A high five for Jay Amberg. Clear your calendar. You won't put this one down."—Rob MacGregor, Edgar Award-winning author of PROPHECY ROCK

"...the chase is exciting and swift and the relationship between hunter and hunted plausible."—PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (August 17, 1998)

"Hefty thriller/police procedural...that seems pretty much done by the numbers until its wilder heart is revealed. Builds nicely, then deftly bends one's expectations."—KIRKUS REVIEWS (August 15, 1998)

"Forget about Luke Skywalker. Read about Bulls star Robert "Sky" Walker. North Shore author/teacher Jay Amberg's suspense novel BLACKBIRD SINGING is just the thing to get your mind off the NBA's dismal season. The abridged version: Superstar player with high-profile anchorwoman wife have 9-year-old daughter who is kidnapped by a high-tech computer madman obsessed with committing a Lindbergh-like crime of the century. And it gets better after that."—CHICAGO TRIBUNE (July 2, 1999)

"[T]he plot takes on a life of its own, due in large part to the palpable evil of the kidnapper and the empathy and humanity of Officer Hopkins. Toss in an unsettling but believable conclusion, and readers will be eagerly awaiting the next Amberg suspense novel."—BOOKLIST