This is a debut? There’s no way! Kerr delivers an exceptional maze of twists and turns! Makenzie is a strong female lead. She is a lawyer that is thrown into a murder investigation with the FBI. It was relatable and current, which I loved. I enjoyed the back stories sprinkled throughout and reading all about the world of tech. Thank you NetGalley for allowing me this inside look! I can’t wait until this hits the shelves in order to have a copy of my own, but I am already wishing for more from Kerr! I will say it again, great debut! I am impressed!

A thriller that keeps you turning pages. Though I tend to lean more toward psychological thrrillers, this was a nice change of pace. I was concerned that I might not be able to follow it because it's theme revolves are Silicon Valley, venture capitalists, and the tech-y world. But the author did a fantastic job of explaining the ins and outs of that world without it feeling like "mansplaining", and that is very much appreciated. Oh, some of it probably went over my hed, but I never felt lost. I would definitely read more from Mr. Kerr in the future.

Dead Money is a fast paced murder/mystery thriller that has enough conspiracy theories in it to be entertaining without being very silly. The book is about the "brilliant" founder of a tech start up who is murdered in his office and the venture capitalist who funds him has asked Mackenzie Clyde, his firm's investigator, to team up with the FBI task force who is working on solving the murder.

The story is written non linearly for the most part. Throughout the chapters that advance the plot there are flashbacks to prior points in Mackenzie's life that explain or provide a completely different perspective to what is happening in the present. I enjoyed that because it was like unraveling a puzzle while reading it and finally realizing what was actually happening.

I appreciated the details about Silicon Valley culture and how out of touch many of these ultra rich- or really just ultra rich on paper- tech "visionaries" are. It was funny and on point without leaning too much into stereotypes (and yes, there is a "Sheryl Sandberg" type character who is pivotal to the plot and way cooler than the actual Sheryl Sandberg). I also enjoyed the repeated motif of how Mackenzie slept after (almost) each day on the investigation.

I would definitely recommend this to someone looking for a clever, fun, fast paced thriller.

Many thanks to Random House/ Bantam Books and to NetGalley for this ARC to review. This review is my honest opinion.

I received this book as an ARC through NetGalley. I am a librarian and have read hundreds if not thousands of thrillers in my lifetime. I have to be honest, the name is what caught my attention. I was surprised when I finished that this is Mr. Kerr's first book. The attention to detail is amazing. I was sure I knew what happened in the story, but I was still surprised by the ending. I love the strong female lead in this story. I would have read it in one sitting, but life interfered and it took longer than I wanted to finish it. I will be waiting for future books from Kerr and will tell everyone in the library about this great new author.

I will update soon, so this review rating is subject to change. I want to process my thoughts on it first.

This one started off a little slow for me but picked up about half way through and I couldn’t put it down after that. It is a great story about women coming to power and the hoops they have to jump through to get there. It’s full of deception and kept me wondering. The twist towards the end was perfect and kept me hooked.

One tech genius is murdered, and another is missing in this riveting debut mystery from author Jakob Kerr.

When MacKenzie Clyde, a lawyer turned Silicon Valley fixer, is tasked with finding out who killed billionaire Trevor Cannon, she knows she is in over her head. Soon, as she works with FBI agent Danner, she learns she is also in danger. While they search for Trevor’s killer (and his missing colleague Stan), MacKenzie unravels the truth and learns she is closely linked to what is happening.

This is a fast-paced and suspenseful thriller with well-thought-out twists and turns. The parts that seem more predictable even have elements of surprise within. MacKenzie is a strong narrator; there is a coldness to her, but it works with the story, and the flashbacks to her past are essential to rounding her out as a character. Her motivations behind everything she does become clear throughout.

Author Kerr once worked in the tech industry, and he perfectly captures the ego and drive that can exist in that environment. From self-important founders to ruthless VCs, this is a depiction of the dark side of tech. With intricately woven details and an intriguing protagonist, it is a solid debut mystery with the potential for more to follow. It would be great to have more of MacKenzie and Danner in the future.

Great book and I cannot wait to look for more from Mr Kerr. Starts as a paint by numbers murder investigation but turns into so much more.
I appreciated the character building thru flashbacks too.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This book was fantastic. Many mystery/thrillers struggle to tie up loose ends, or can become overloaded with detail. This book masterfully handles this delicate balance, craftily tying up any loose ends and keeping you hooked through several curveballs. A healthy blend of Silence of the Lambs meets Mind Hunter (just replace Serial Killers with Silicon Valley), Dead Money is an incredible debut novel from Jakob Kerr.

Thank you Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Bantam for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

This was a fantastic book!!. Many thrillers struggle to tie up loose ends, or can become overloaded with detail. This book masterfully handles this delicate balance, craftily tying up any loose ends and keeping you hooked through several twiats

Jacob Kerr writes a sophisticated crime thriller that unveils the shadowy workings within Silicon Valley while keeping the momentum balanced with character development and suspenseful twists and turns.

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House for sharing this upcoming novel. This was an interesting mystery about the murder of a tech bro with some plot twists I didn’t see coming.

4.5 stars
"You only get one life. So get the hell on with it."

This was a great debut novel!
I always want to like murder mysteries, but they always fall flat for me, without fail. They tend to be too corny, too cringy, or too unbelievable.
So this one surprised me; it had a good amount of suspense, action, and mystery. Despite having a handful of theories, I never had a solid guess on where the story was headed.
Silicon Valley, startups, venture capital. It was modern and relevant and kept me on my toes. An easy read... although I did need to lookup how to pronounce apoplectic lol.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

“Dead Money” by Jakob Kerr is a mystery filled with conspiracy, lies and many layers of deception. It takes place in the high stakes world of tech and AI. The story revolves around a female fixer whose boss was brutally murdered in his office. She becomes embroiled in the investigation along with the FBI and the ruthless bad actors in venture capital and high stakes investments. I recommend this debut novel to everyone who is interest in the technology industry and is looking for a fresh twist in the mystery genre.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

"Dead Money" by Jakob Kerr is an impressive debut that immerses readers in the cutthroat world of Silicon Valley. McKenzie Clyde, a fixer for venture capitalists, teams up with FBI Agent Jameson Danner to unravel the mystery behind the murder of a tech startup CEO. The novel is packed with twists and turns, keeping readers guessing until the very end. Kerr's writing is fast-paced and engaging, and the complex, layered plot is filled with conspiracies and surprises. The strong, underestimated female protagonist adds depth to this smart and thrilling story, making it a highly recommended read for fans of technological thrillers and mysteries.

For a debut book, “Dead Money” by Jakob Kerr was quite good. McKenzie Clyde is a fixer for Venture Capitalist in Silicon Valley. When her boss asks her to “investigate” a murder of the CEO of a tech startup, she joins forces with Agent Danner with the FBI.
This novel has lots of smart twist and turns. Am looking forward to the author’s next book…

Dead Money is an engaging murder mystery with Silicon Valley startups, financial puzzles, blood money and a shady underworld. The story contains plots within plots and keeps you guessing until he end.

Friendly advice: do not start this book if you already have plans for the day. I would completely say wait till Friday after work and make sure you do not care about the next day. This is a nonstop thriller about a woman who is considered a problem solver. She is able to investigate information and use her talent of being underestimated. We start off with the challenge of how the body was found, which highlights that the murder was more on track with an Agatha Christie vibe. This is not a simple cozy mystery or anything with very warm characters. This is however a fast-paced thriller using FBI and her to solve the crime. The problem then starts to look in her direction and she has to worry about more than just helping her boss. Every detail really fits well with the next and it was nice to see the characters train of thoughts.

Notes:
It is about a tech company so there will be information about that
It can become a bit dry at times with the wealth of information, but it is still amazing

"Dead Money" has a little bit of everything -- tech startups, venture capitalists, ride sharing/ride hailing apps, money laundering, Russian organized crime and oligarchs, enforcers, murder, the FBI, greed, hubris, tenacious investigators, an overabundance of egos, generative AI, conspiracies, lies, underestimated female characters, etc. Journy, the tech startup in question, has been wildly successful so far but is it sustainable, especially after one of the founders and CEO is murdered in his office.

The story was more complex and convoluted than I expected, with conspiracies inside of conspiracies, and some good surprises as to who knew what and when, and how they capitalized on the knowledge for personal and/or professional gain.

What an interesting first novel for the author! It was very well written overall and kept my interest throughout the whole book. I will say, getting towards the end, I got a little restless with Mackenzie at the outdoor event looking for Stanley. I loved the ending though & how much of a bad as* Mackenzie is. I love when women are written as ruthless.

Here’s the review I wrote on Goodreads:

I can say is what a ride for a debut novel - The CEO of a tech company is murdered & an investigator for the company that funded them is tasked to work with the FBI. The twists and turns throughout the book were definitely good. I can honestly say I saw the end coming, but it was still a good story overall.