After a rough couple of chapters that almost caused me to pack it in, this one took off - and kept me flying through the pages until the end. It's the first of what I assume will be a series featuring filthy rich former tech CEO and FBI Special Agent Will Parker, whose ego is exceeded only by his computer savvy. Put another way, he likes himself far more than I liked him (to which, of course, he'd say, so what?)

I'd also caution that if you're a total Luddite, this may not be the book for you. I'm probably somewhere in the middle - relatively undaunted by "everyday" devices like computers and cell phones and at least familiar with most techie jargon - but I admit to being a little confused about some of the finer details here. Basically, as I see it, Will left his uber-successful company and joined the FBI after a coding error resulted in a young woman's death. He can't seem to forgive himself for the error; whether that's because he truly believes he caused her gruesome demise or simply can't deal with the fact that he screwed up is a matter of conjecture, but for the purposes of this review, I'll go with wanting to compensate for the death.

Will gets a call for help when a murder happens at a Comic Con event; no big deal on its own, but the murder seems to be connected to a radioactive quantum computer - known as the Unicorn - that Will's company had sealed the deal to purchase when it went missing in a disaster. Needless to say, Will wants that Unicorn back - partly because it could wreak untold havoc if it fell into the wrong hands and, I presume, partly because his company owns it and would stand to reap substantial profits by bringing it back where it belongs.

At the Comic Con, he works mostly with local homicide detective Dana Lopez, who is (as expected) extremely competent, drop-dead gorgeous and has psychological issues similar to Will as well as FBI agent Thomas Decker, who gets off on being pushy, stubborn and generally a pain in the neck. Will soon learns that the murder victim may have been in possession of the Unicorn - at least, he was trying to auction it off on the Dark Web - and that there are high-stakes bidders who will stop at nothing to win, even if it means other murders and a kidnapping all too similar to the one that prompted him to ditch his company a few years earlier.

Sorting everything out makes for an action-packed chase that comes to an exciting end with more than a few bits, bytes and twists in between - as well as the most on-target words of advice I've read in a while (social media privacy complainers take note here), to-wit: "If you don't pay for the product, you are the product."

All told, I'm intrigued and totally down with trying the next book (well, except for one note to future copy editors: Puleeeze - unless you're British - there's only one "e" in the word "judgment"). That said, thanks to the publisher for offering me a copy in exchange for an honest review and introducing me to a solid new series.

Broken Genius is about Will Parker, a prodigy whose mistake caused the death of a college student in the first chapter. He joins the FBI as a special agent. Parker is called to a Comic Con in Indiana to investigate a death in the convention center. Other FBI agents are also called.
I loved this book because of all the technology involved. We saw how Parker used the hotel security to track the victim before the murder. Parker cracked the password on the victim's laptop. There's a wealth of information about the Comic Con. I learned what a quantum computer and a Faraday bag is.
Great plot and great characters! I want more from this author, Drew Murray! Thanks, Oceanview Publishing.

Fantastic! I was hooked from the first page. Will Parker is a fascinating character - terrific at his job as an FBI agent while also brilliant and informed on the tech side from his previous life. The humor over his wealth and the pop culture references were a delight. I kept reading passages out loud to my husband until he eventually grabbed his phone and ordered the book for himself.

The mystery in this was fantastic - like the layers of a David Rosenfelt novel, but with more action since this is law enforcement instead of trial work. Readers who enjoy Baldacchi or Hurwitz should be sure to check this one out. I want more of these, as soon as possible! (Language, violence, off page sex)

An entertaining and engrossing story, it was a lot of fun to read.
The characters are larger than life, the world building is great and the story is well plotted.
I can't wait to read the next book by this author.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Broken Genius was my pick for my "beach read" for my trip earlier this year.  Unfortunately, cyber security grad school work got in the way of "for fun" reading time, so this book got pushed on the back burner.  But the timing ended up working out pretty nicely, as this book will be officially released next week.  Right up my alley, this book contains coding mistakes (a bit more high stakes than any I have made), cyber security and hacking as well as it all takes place at a Comic Con! 

Our main character is Will Parker - a prodigy, silicon valley guy.  But when a mistake he makes with code costs a student her life and a tsunami in Japan ends up changing his plans to buy a company there he ends up finding himself working with the FBI in the Cyber Division.  When a man ends up dead at a comic con, things start to get very interesting, very quickly.  In his possession was a radioactive quantum computer - a unicorn - created by the company in Japan Will was working with but that seemed to disappear after the tsunami and its after effects.  It turns out the victim knew exactly what he had and had turned to the dark web to try and sell it.  Will this auction bring out a high profile hacker that one of Will's FBI associates has been after for years?

This book seems to be straight forward, but it had so many twists and turns throughout (some that I did see coming and some that absolutely blindsided me) that it was a roller coaster ride to read.  I absolutely loved it.  The front cover says "A Will Parker Thriller" so I am hopeful that this means there will be more books based around him (or maybe they already exist?)  I will have to do some research...

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review, I was not otherwise compensated.

It turns out I really like cyber/techno thrillers and didn’t realise this until I started reading a few more. It is an odd genre choice for an older woman living in a remote area but I am not a Luddite by any means and had no trouble following the story. I even had some understanding of what a quantum computer actually is. And a Unicorn - which would be the tech world’s holy grail.

FBI Special Agent (cyber) Will Parker was a technological whizz kid who started his own software development company in his twenties. When the FBI came to him for help in exploiting a back door on one of his products to catch a killer, a careless mistake led to a woman’s death. Will wallowed in misery for a while then sold his company and joined the FBI. Fast forward to the present - a modest town in the midWest becomes the epicentre of a battle with world changing implications. A man named Roger Caplan has been killed at a Comic con, but what drew the interest of the FBI is the chatter that he was running an online auction on the dark web for the Fukushima Unicorn. The Unicorn is a portable quantum computer that was developed by a company in Fukushima. Will’s company was poised to buy them out and utilise the Unicorn for good of mankind when the earthquake struck and the Unicorn disappeared. Now, it’s back and so are the people who want a stake in it, the race is on! So Will is there for the Unicorn, he is partnered with Special Agent Decker who is after a super hacker known as Dragoniis who is expected to be chasing the Unicorn. They team up with local PD detective Dana Lopez, who is after the killer of Caplan. Then Caplan’s daughter is kidnapped and is being held to ransom for the Unicorn. Everybody wants her safe return. It turns into a race against time and a barrel of wits for all the players. They want to save the girl, catch the killer, catch Dragoniss and capture the Unicorn - but can it be done?

The plot was super interesting and the pace was nice and fast. I loved the chief protagonist, Will, his demeanour and dialogue really reminded me of Andrew Mayne’s computational biologist Dr Theo Cray, whom I also loved as a character. I like that Will was using his brains and his cyber skills to solve these crimes. While the technology may seem far fetched to some readers I am pretty sure it exists and that none of the things described in the book were impossible. But you don’t need to be a total geek to follow and enjoy this book. I found it very relatable. I really hope there is a sequel and that we see Will Parker in another thriller real soon.

A real rock ' em, sock ' em FBI detective story. Lots of fun! Will parker uses his billionaire persona to win the day. A real fun book.

Larger than life main character who will appeal to computer geeks, the Comic Con crowd, and anybody into nerd culture -- as well as those who happen to love a fast-paced plot. An enjoyable read, perfect for staying in.

Jam packed with action and tension, the story starts a little slow but the pace quickly moves into high gear as the characters race to find a deadly computer before it is released to the wrong people. The back story gives the main character more interest as he must stop the sale to prevent a disaster that his past actions contributed to.

I really enjoyed the premise for the book, and I feel that beyond a couple of points that required a suspension of belief, the plot was well thought out and developed. Where, I felt the book was lacking was in terms of the character development, as I felt little to know connection with the main character, and that detracted from my investment in the plot.

This book was so neat! I have not picked up a thriller/mystery novel in a while, so Murray has me on the edge of my seat the entire novel. This is a character-driven plot as it follows a case of an FBI agent. Broken Genius is not difficult to read at all. Because of its character-driven plot, this novel does not drown the reader in FBI vernacular, but stays within the character’s thoughts.

Refreshing and smart , Will's derring do and smarts are deepened by his background error when someone died due to his actions. The set up here is similar and he makes the right choices. Characters are genuine, grumpy and dismissive of Will due to his inexperience in the service. Many of same enemies we read about elsewhere (Russians, Chinese ...) are all in an auction that's still running on dark web after a principal's death .. but the speedy narrative line keeps it all moving along well. Enjoyable!!

A suspense story about the FBI at a Comicon? I've been to those and can picture the characters attending!

Will begins the story with what he calls a terrible mistake. The first chapters really had me hooked. Not being a real tekkie, I did get a bit lost in some of the computer jargon - yet I was able to decipher the gist of the story. After a few chapters, I almost gave up. I'm glad that I did not - this story begins to glue itself together. The "Unicorn" and its' importance is explained and the characters (Dana and Decker in particular) really come to life!

I was not too fond of Will's personality but I tried not to let this hinder me from the scope of the read. Will never showed fear as an FBI agent. (Which also happened quite quickly). The reader may have trouble with Will's character development.

All in all - a good, diverse, suspense story!

Many Thanks to Oceanview Publishing and NetGalley for a good read.

There's nothing like a widget that could be used to rule the world to build a book around.

Look, it wasn't terrible. it just wasn't very good, not to me. Wunderkind Will Parker, formerly the CEO of a tech startup, goes to work for the FBI after he makes a mistake in one of his programs that leaves a young woman dead.

That's my kind-of-unbelievable-thing number one. Number two was the Fukishima Unicorn, the previously mentioned widget that could be used to control everything, which has gone missing after the 2011 tsunami that took out most of Fukishima. I suppose if you're going to go big, you might as well go BIG.

Parker is called in on a case involving a dead guy at a comic convention. Also turning up is Dana Lopez, a detective with the local police department (and who I bet would share a bed with Parker before the book was over). Decker, a buttoned down FBI agent is Parker's partner on the case. Clues start building, and eventually it's discovered that the dead man had (at some point) the Unicorn, which technically still belongs to Parker's old company. But there are other people after it: Russians, a Chinese hacker named Dragoniis, and a couple other mysterious bidders. To up the stakes, the dead man's daughter is taken hostage, which brings in the requisite "guy who failed previously has a chance at redemption" part of the story.

I won't go into a lot of detail about how the teams tracks down the bidders and the killer - pretty standard thriller/mystery story there, with some chases and SWAT teams and hunches.

It was ok. I didn't particularly care for Parker, as I found him a tad too full of himself, and some of his thoughts (repeated "Gross.", for instance) seemed to be more something a teenager would say, versus a billionaire whiling away time working for the FBI in cybercrimes. I think it also bugged me that this is yet another entry in the field of "million/billionaires working for peanuts in law enforcement and who can also use their own resources/money/companies to push the story forward".

Overall, it wasn't unreadable. It sounds like faint praise, but if you're into tech, as I am, you might want to take all the IT stuff with a giant grain of salt and just enjoy a murder mystery/saving the world thriller that takes place at ComicCom.

Two point five stars out of five.

An adequate and sometimes clever mystery, leaning into a thriller only at its climax. The entire story from the narrator's point-of-view revolves around one MacGuffin and one (naturally) highly attractive female detective as his investigative partner. The MacGuffin is known as the "Fukushima Unicorn." By the end, it seems as if "Fukushima Unicorn" had to have appeared on every page of this novel. The phrase "Fukushima Unicorn" was well (as in too much) overdone. The "Fukushima Unicorn" now haunts my lexicon and my dreams.

P.S. "Fukushima Unicorn."

Crime and technological espionage aren't my go-to genre, but this book called to me because it is set at ComicCon. Once I started, it was gripping from page 1 through the end. Will, the main character, is the broken genius the title refers to. Involved in one kidnapping case where the victim dies (not a spoiler, first chapter), he leaves the tech world to work for the FBI in attempt to quiet his guilt. He works through the clues in the case in a style like that of Sherlock Holmes and calls in help from his personal contacts on both sides of the law. The ComicCon connection is enough to engage fans of Cons but general enough not to turn off those who aren't familiar with them. Will is very relatable, and his internal journey is as engaging as the crime story arc. There is a romance sub-arc but it is very down played and believable. I recommend this book.

Broken Genius is a very entertaining read. One gets caught up in the action, which keeps moving so as to prevent asking too many questions such as "how is this possible?" There is a lot of sleight of hand as the author tries to make big things happen. But, so what? If it is entertaining, do I want to quibble? No, I do not. The only real fault then is the sexual relationship between two major characters. It isn't very credible, at least not to me. It seemed as if the author felt a need to spice things up. He needs practice on that!
But kudos, Mr.. Murray. You took on a big story and overall, you made it work. I don't want to deduct a star for bad sex, so five stars from me!
Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC.

If you like Boys' Own action, geeky nerds, sci fi gadgetry and quantum computing then you'll probably love this book. I can visualise the hero Will Parker, exceedingly rich from developing his computer gaming (I think) company and now, apparently, the bright boy of FBI - in his mind anyway. He's way better, smarter than anyone else and tells us so - too often. The sharp suit, the casual flick of dressed hair to impress.... no-one except himself. As far as I got there was the theft of some radioactive wizardry that would answer all world problems, as long as Will was in charge or something, and was now on the DarkWeb market to the highest bidder. Russian and Chinese bad girls and boys, renegade Americans and what seem like a hell on earth Gaming Convention where everyone is dressed up in glittery black dustbin bags/lids with bells. I have little knowledge of gaming and less interest, the hero was just so shallow and teenagerish and the techie stuff not remotely believable. Gave up at about 30%. - New Year's Resolution not to feel guilty about not finishing a book that I got for free. Gamers would probably love this book, if you could tear them away from their screens. Sorry, I don't. Thanks to NetGalley and Oceanview Publishing for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

I was disappointed that I was not that interested in the characters. I think the plot was well thought out but it did not leave me as anxious to find out the answers as I usually like to feel. I would read the author again, but hopefully more character development.