Book excerpt: Originally published in 1991, at a time when computer messages included letter prompts like “A>” to indicate the source drive, A>LOVERBOY imagines the world as it might be at the start of the 21st century. Lucy Beckwith, a computer whiz, gets messages through her computer from someone who calls himself Loverboy and claims to be crazy about her. His messages are so romantic, she finds herself falling for him. He’s the antithesis of Jim Kazan, her colleague at Access Computer Systems. Voted the Sexiest Felon of 1988 thanks to his illegal hacking, Jim is brilliant, arrogant and egotistical. She fears he’s going to take over her work project, and she resents the way he flirts with every female he sees. Jim may flirt, but Lucy is the woman he wants. That she’s pretty is a bonus, but her intelligence is what really turns him on. Yet he can’t seem to break through her defenses the way Loverboy can. Jim may be a tech genius, but winning Lucy’s affection might be impossible when he’s competing against a mystery lover like Loverboy.