Aubrey Hamilton Reviews: The Shadow Broker by Trace Conger

The Shadow Broker by Trace Conger (CreateSpace Independent Publishing, 2014) introduces Finn Harding, a private investigator whose willingness to operate in ethically gray areas cost him his license. Now the only organizations that will hire him are those working outside the law.

Finn needs money in the worst way so when he’s asked to meet with Bishop to locate the person blackmailing him, he is quick off the mark. Bishop is running an underground information brokerage on the Dark Web. He sells personal and financial data derived from business information system hacks, stolen Social Security numbers, and misappropriated credit card numbers to a laundry list of unsavory people who do not have benign plans for the data. Somehow his blackmailer has managed to acquire Bishop’s record of buyers and is threatening to expose it, which would bring the interest of the authorities to bear on both Bishop and his clientele. To keep Bishop’s secret, the blackmailer wants $50,000 a month, which Bishop is unable and unwilling to pay for any length of time.

The blackmailer wants his payment in Bitcoin and all of his communications are encrypted so how Finn goes about identifying him is a detailed description of finding someone nearly invisible on the Internet. The story is worth looking at just for this lesson in tracing a missing person.

Bishop is impressed with the speed of Finn’s work and offers him an additional task with a sizable bonus. Instead of walking away, as Finn knows he should, he gets more deeply involved with Bishop’s business and thereby puts himself and his family in imminent danger. How he manages to squirm his way out of it makes for a great if violent read.

Possibly my sole problem with this book is that it occurs in Cincinnati. I have a hard time visualizing so much criminal activity and carnage in this nice Midwestern river city with a strong German heritage. I had the same problem when Kim Harrison set her urban fantasy and mystery series with witches, demons, and vampires in Cincinnati. No doubt the fault lies entirely with me.

Otherwise this book is a more than competent thriller with a protagonist who is quite likable except for his occasional flawed judgment calls. When they occur, they are whoppers. Finn appears in two sequels so far, so readers who enjoy this one have more to look forward to.

·         Paperback: 298 pages

·         Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 1st edition (August 26, 2014)

·         Language: English

·         ISBN-10: 1500966975

·         ISBN-13: 978-1500966973

Aubrey Hamilton ©2020

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.