SOLITAIRE

by Billy Pepitone

A public assassination.
A private surveillance empire.
A ghost in the darkness.

When a Times Square shooting leaves a deputy mayor dead, the FBI investigation leads to KATSAI- an AI intelligence network that enhances public safety while also deciding outcomes, prosecutions and elections.
KATSAI decides who rises, and who disappears.

Once an investigative journalist becomes a target, Agents Devi and West are cut off by both New York City and Washington, DC political machines. Their only ally is a man who doesn't exist- Solitaire, a covert operative
hunted across the globe with a personal stake in burning KATSAI to the ground.

If Solitaire fails and KATSAI survives, ballots are just theatre.

The flash drive decides.

259 pages, Paperback

Published February 1, 2026

About the author

Bill Pepitone is a former law-enforcement professional with deep experience in security operations, crisis response, and institutional power structures. A 9/11 first responder, his career included twenty years of decorated service with the New York City Police Department followed by senior leadership roles in public safety and security, providing firsthand insight into the systems, politics, and moral gray zones that shape modern law enforcement and intelligence work.
In 2021, he was a party nominated candidate for Mayor of New York City, an experience that drives the political authenticity and insider perspective found throughout his fiction.
Pepitone has published multiple novellas through independent presses and self-publishing platforms. SOLITAIRE is his first full-length novel, and the foundation of an ongoing thriller series centered on intimate, high-stakes missions with global consequences.
He currently resides in the northeastern United States.