Dead Money
A Novel
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4.4 • 44 Ratings
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
“A stone-cold banger of a novel—a twisty journey through Silicon Valley’s dark side, wrapped in a stunning mystery package with some wild surprises along the way.”—Blake Crouch, New York Times bestselling author of Dark Matter
“Terrific . . . an unpredictable nesting-box of surprises.”—The New York Times Book Review
Don’t call me a fixer. This isn’t HBO.
In her job as unofficial “problem solver” for Silicon Valley’s most ruthless venture capitalist, Mackenzie Clyde’s gotten used to playing for high stakes. Even if none of those tech-bro millions she’s so good at wrangling ever make it into her pockets.
But this time, she’s in way over her head—or so it seems.
The lightning-rod CEO of tech’s hottest startup has just been murdered, leaving behind billions in “dead money” frozen in his will. As the company’s chief investor, Mackenzie’s boss has a fortune on the line—and with the police treading water, it’s up to Mackenzie to step up and resolve things, fast.
Mackenzie’s a lawyer, not a detective. Cracking this fiendishly clever killing, with its list of suspects that reads like a who’s-who of Valley power players, should be way out of her league.
Except that Mackenzie’s used to being underestimated. In fact, she’s counting on it.
Because the way she sees it, this isn’t an investigation. It’s an opportunity. And she’ll do anything it takes to seize it.
Anything at all.
Featuring jaw-dropping twists and a wily, outsider heroine you can’t help rooting for, Dead Money is a brilliant sleight-of-hand mystery. Written by a longtime insider, it is also a dead-on snapshot of the Valley’s rich and famous—and a glimpse at the darkness lurking behind the tech world’s cheery facade.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Kerr puts his background as a lawyer and tech executive to good use in his impressively unpredictable debut. Mackenzie Clyde, an attorney from humble beginnings, now works as an investigator for Hammersmith, one of San Francisco's hottest venture capital firms. When Trevor Canon, head of tech startup Journy, is discovered dead in his office and the SFPD fail to make headway on the case, the founder of Hammersmith—whose firm made a $5 billion investment in Journy—uses his influence to bring in the FBI. Mackenzie joins FBI agent Jameson Danner, the son of a U.S. senator, in leading the investigation, and the pair soon discovers that, before Trevor's death, he inserted a clause into his will freezing his assets (including Hammersmith's investment) until his murderer is caught. It gradually becomes clear that only a Journy executive would have had the access necessary to kill Trevor, but each one has an airtight alibi—except for the chief technology officer, who's just disappeared. After setting the stage for a standard, albeit glitzy, murder mystery, Kerr takes the narrative on a series of hairpin turns before arriving at a jaw-dropping finale. This marks the arrival of a formidable new talent.
