Publication Date: April 7, 2026
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.
An American journalist faces unexpected challenges chasing down an explosive story in Ghana.
Author Connor Martin serves up an international tale of espionage in The Silver Fish. What seems to be a story about corruption in the oil industry morphs into something much bigger.
Dani Moreau knows the questions to ask, but she never expected to uncover a race between the United States and China to control fiber optic cables. As she gets caught up in the dangerous activities, the question is whether she will live long enough to tell anyone.
The author does an excellent job bringing Ghana to life as the backdrop while providing context about why the U.S. and China would be interested enough to launch secretive campaigns.
Full of double crosses, shadowy figures, and dangerous secrets, The Silver Fish highlights international intrigue.
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.
