Thirty-two-year-old Tristan Shays isn't a messenger; he's the CEO of an electronics manufacturer who is literally minding his own business. But one fateful day, everything in his life changes. Tristan receives a mysterious warning delivered directly to his mind and accompanied by unbearable pain. The warning tells him that a good friend will be murdered if Tristan doesn't give him a message. Impossible as it seems, he decides to share the message. As Tristan begins to realize that the warnings are real and he has the power to save people's lives, he is faced with an unenviable choice: continue living the life he knows or give up his career and his free will to be the universe's bearer of bad news. If that weren't bad enough, someone is working very hard to stand in his way a stranger named Ephraim who knows Tristan's every move and delights in causing chaos. How do you fight an enemy who knows everything about you? A prequel to the award-winning Messenger Trilogy, Instant Messenger tells the story of how Tristan's journey begins.