The Silver Fish

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.

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.

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.

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.

What an impressive debut. Set in the teeming streets of Ghana, Martin’s intricate tale plumbs the depths of personal discovery, betrayal, and justice. Colorful characters, a gritty setting, high international stakes, and a healthy dose of deception—what more could one ask for in a spy novel? From the first page to the shocking ending, Martin’s twists and turns through today’s complex geopolitical landscape deliver in spades.”
—I.S. Berry, Edgar Award-winning author of The Peacock and the Sparrow

A young American journalist’s curiosity about millions missing from an offshore Ghanaian oil transaction leads her down a dangerous path uncovering official corruption and a series of murders at the hands of Chinese and American spies. The Silver Fish, Connor Martin’s debut novel, has a twisting and turning plot that plunges the reader into high stakes international intrigue played out in tropical West Africa.”
—Paul Vidich, author of The Poet’s Game

Martin’s national security expertise lends clarity to the national security and espionage elements. . . . A deftly plotted and paced debut, highly recommended.”
—Booklist

Lively . . . cliff-hangers and a hard-charging finale keep the pages turning. . . . Martin shows promise.”
—Publishers Weekly

Martin’s strong characterisation and notably vivid scene-setting in the bars and back streets of Accra make for an impressive debut.”
—Financial Times

Connor Martin 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. The Silver Fish is his first novel.