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  • Concern by Christopher Bentley
    Concern

    They bet on war. He bet on truth.

    by Christopher Bentley

    When a Saint Petersburg restaurant is torn apart by a devastating explosion, consulting mathematician Marc Naedorf is pulled back into the shadow world he thought he’d left behind.

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    When a Saint Petersburg restaurant is torn apart by a devastating explosion, consulting mathematician Marc Naedorf is pulled back into the shadow world he thought he’d left behind.

    Once an intelligence analyst, now an outsider with a flair for connecting the dots, Naedorf begins to notice strange attractors in global events, from the collapse of climate-tech entrepreneurs to the surge of capital through post-invasion markets.

    As superpowers vie for quantum supremacy and a covert conglomerate pushes the boundaries of corporate espionage, Naedorf is drawn into a widening conspiracy with no clear centre. Protecting him from the shadows is a silent guardian known only as MYRMIDON, lethal, unknowable, and always one step ahead of the threat.

    The deeper Naedorf digs, the more reality refuses to add up, until a trail of ants and a single flash of intuition shift everything he thought he understood.

    Somewhere in the data, he glimpses the mind of the enemy, an enemy that doesn’t think like us.

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“The foreign policy aim of ants can be summed up as follows: restless aggression, territorial conquest, and genocidal annihilation of neighbouring colonies whenever possible. If ants had nuclear weapons, they would probably end the world in a week.”

Excerpt from Concern


One of his bankers said the same thing to him when Marie died, thinking he was passing on timeless wisdom. Daniel thought Nietzsche was just bullshitting. He still did. He turned to the bay window and peered out over the lake.

Excerpt from Concern


That made a kind of sense to Frazer. It seemed likely that whoever was responsible for the attack had been targeting the Operations capability. And that meant the man sitting before him.

Excerpt from Concern


But no progress was ever made in uncovering how the group had been betrayed, EAGLE-5 was still out there somewhere, the Englishman had the worst kinds of enemy all over the globe, and Frazer was distracted by Afghanistan and the Iraq sequel.

Excerpt from Concern


“He was asked to go to Saint Petersburg by an engineer working on a quantum computing project they’re running there. That engineer was also killed in the explosion.”
“And you think it might — stress might — be, what, something to do with industrial espionage?”

Excerpt from Concern

Metal 5 Stars


“CONCERN is a rare gem in the world of technological thrillers that immediately grabs you and refuses to let go.”

Dr Ravi Sundaram, UKQuantum

Review for Concern


“What a ride! Christopher Bentley has written one of the best thrillers I have ever read. Fast paced, fiendishly clever plotting and characters to care about. ”

Adrian Nixon, International Space Elevator Consortium

Review for Concern


“This novel captures our contemporary anxieties and excitement about technology in ways that feel both urgent and prescient.”

Dr Ravi Sundaram, UKQuantum

Review for Concern


“A slick cyber thriller, full of twists and turns – a complete page turner keeping you guessing right to the end. Lots of well researched deep tech and beautifully developed characters. Can’t wait for the next instalment.”

Sarah Wilson, 54 Degrees Project Management

Review for Concern


“For me what elevates CONCERN from merely an excellent thriller to something truly extraordinary is its remarkable technical authenticity. Chris’s treatment of quantum computing is nothing short of masterful — quite simply the most elegant articulation of quantum mechanics I’ve encountered in fiction.”

Dr Ravi Sundaram, UKQuantum

Review for Concern

“Grabbed my attention from the very first page. If you want action there is action, if you want a bit of mystery and suspense there is that, and if you like your books well researched there is that too.”

Rob Whieldon, Nixene Publishing

Review for Concern

“The technical veracity adds to the thrill without ever feeling dry or sacrificing the thriller pacing. Chris Bentley has created something special here, a story that will appeal equally to Silicon Valley insiders and general fiction readers.”

Dr Ravi Sundaram, UKQuantum

Review for Concern

“This is novel in both senses of the word. Refreshingly intelligent writing. Highly recommended.”

Adrian Nixon, International Space Elevator Consortium

Review for Concern

“To say it is a page-turner might be a bit of a cliché, but in my case I was in transit when I read this book and nearly missed my train because I was turning the pages!”

Rob Whieldon, Nixene Publishing

Review for Concern

Author

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About a hundred years ago, give or take, Chris blagged his way into Cambridge to read Natural Sciences and Computer Science. He’s spent much of his career since then in corporate life; a great deal of it in the travel industry. He’s an MBA, with Distinction, and for over a decade he’s written on emerging technologies and corporate strategy for a professional audience. He began studying martial arts when he was eight years old, to get out of piano lessons. He’s still at it, and he still can’t play the piano.

He lives in the Heavy Woollen District of West Yorkshire with his wife, Sue, his Parson Jack Russell terrier, Fudd, and his gravel bike.

CONCERN is his debut novel, and the beginning of a series featuring Marc Naedorf.

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