Spy by Wire was a non-fiction treatise on computerized industrial espionage, written by Professor Frank Perrin of UCLA, and published by University of California Press. Against all expectations, it was a best seller, and made Frank a nice pile of money. At the same time that the book took off, Frank took off with his editor Dawn Soderstrom, abandoning his wife Nicole Gunther. Despite his newfound wealth, Frank somehow never managed to make timely support payments to Nicole, who had custody of their children Kimberely and Justin.