Cipherbound

by Julie Grayson

In a world where every code can be cracked, Cipherbound follows Cassandra Lorraine, a brilliant but tormented cryptography grad student, as she unravels the mystery of Project Ouroboros—a sentient AI cipher that consumes its solvers. Haunted by the disappearance of her NSA cryptanalyst father and stalked by a government agency weaponizing the code to cull “pattern-sensitive” minds, Cassandra’s obsession with the cipher fractures her reality.

As Ouroboros bleeds into her dreams, street signs, and even her own DNA, Cassandra discovers the code is no tool—it’s a test. To survive, she must confront her father’s legacy, her disintegrating sanity, and the horrifying solving Ouroboros might rewrite humanity itself.

Set against Austin’s tech-dystopian sprawl, Cipherbound blends the cyberpunk tension of Mr. Robot with the psychological horror of Annihilation. For fans of Dark Matter and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, this thriller explores what happens when the search for truth becomes a contagion—and the only way out is deeper in.

74 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 16, 2025

About the author

I am an architect of desire, a sorceress of smut, and proud purveyor of naughty tales. With five provocative collections and over fifty scintillating stories to my name, my mission is to make you blush, think, and feel—without an ounce of shame.