Connor Martin — THE SILVER FISH - with I.S. Berry

<p>In this thrilling espionage fiction debut, an American journalist in Ghana is pulled into a dangerous struggle for control of the world’s fiber optic cables.<br />Journalist Danielle “Dani” Moreau has spent a lifetime trying to outrun the privilege she was born into. Fresh off a personal tragedy, she lands in Ghana to uncover corruption in the local oil industry. But when she crosses paths with James Aidoo, an idealistic young Ghanaian whose father is a local populist politician, Dani remembers what drew her to journalism in the first place: you go looking for a story, but when the real story appears, it’s never the one you expected.<br />Dani soon finds herself chasing a scoop that involves an American operative with a violent past, a Ghanaian double agent, and a fight between the United States and China over one of the world’s most dangerous and least-known technologies: fiber optic cables. Underwater tubes as thick as a garden hose, the cables snake along the seafloor carrying the world’s information at the speed of light from one continent to another, and the fight to control them is increasingly visible on the world’s front pages. Amidst this world-changing struggle, Dani and her new associates will be forced to make deadly choices that impact each other and their own lives in ways nobody expects.<br />A twisty double-cross narrative, The Silver Fish opens with a spy operation going horrifically off course and takes the reader sprinting through crowded markets, darkened bars, bustling ports, and steaming jungle on the way to a startling conclusion. It will leave the reader shocked, moved, better-informed—and eagerly awaiting the next chapter in the story.</p><p><strong>Connor Martin</strong> is a writer and former senior US national security official, most recently serving as Deputy Director on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) at the Treasury Department. He is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations and he splits his time between Washington and Brooklyn. <a href="https://politics-prose.com/book/9781613167359"><em><strong>The Silver Fish</strong></em></a> is his first novel.</p><p>Martin is in conversation with<strong> I.S. Berry</strong>, who spent six years as an operations officer for the CIA, serving in wartime Baghdad and elsewhere. She has lived and worked throughout Europe and the Middle East, including two years in Bahrain during the Arab Spring. Her debut spy novel, <em>The Peacock and the Sparrow</em>, was named <em>The Times</em>’ Thriller of the Year; a Best Book of the Year by <em>The New Yorker</em>, <em>The Times</em>, <em>The Financial Times</em>, <em>The Guardian</em>, <em>The Telegraph</em>, and NPR; and won the Edgar Award, Barry Award, Macavity Award, and International Thriller Writers Award for Best First Novel. <em>The Times</em> calls Berry one of “the top spy novelists of the 21st century,” and she’s been featured in <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/05/16/is-berry-peacock-and-sparrow/" target="_blank"><em>The Washington Post</em></a>, <a href="https://www.thetimes.com/culture/books/article/is-berry-interview-i-use-my-spy-skills-as-a-writer-53t5qx6bj#:~:text=Ilana%20Berry%20can%20remember,having%20lunch%2C" target="_blank"><em>The Times</em></a>, and WAMU. Berry is a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law and Haverford College, and lives in Virginia with her husband and son.</p><p>PURCHASE: </p><p>https://politics-prose.com/book/9781613167359?ic_referral=Z7s4bdI-8rJQ36YqP-kaBflwLHDnZEHJRhT4TszznTwwMxMnA0FioDr0md5UsdBFGolKoplwmZTQaK66KYzOAXhRfPon7IcB6KFUK7Aec2W_YwiY9Krdexs5xUTlJYgw0Vb6l8o</p>