4.5 stars. Lots of action, a great cast of characters, and an ending that left me wanting more answers—I can’t wait for the next book! I was so sad when the Patrick Bowers books ended, but this new series is exactly what I’ve been missing.

Another amazing thrill-ride from Steven James! This book introduces a new (I hope) series with the main character of Travis Brock, who is a redactor for the department of defense at the Pentagon. Having never read about the life of a redactor before, I found the nuances of his job fascinating, and the things that he knew disconcerting. That was integral to how he fit into the plot line however. When he receives a request for information back-dated a year and a half to the day that of the fire that burned down his house and killed his wife, he takes special interest and follows the clues to Adira Halprin, who is wanted for questioning. A series of events throws them together to uncover the mystery of who actually sent the request and what was the urgency behind it.

This book was kinda like a roller coaster. Though the story started a bit slow as we needed a great deal of background information in order to fully understand the plot, once you get over the top of that big hill and immersed in the story, it's a wild ride until the end. With a great deal of depth and an intricate plot, the action in this story had me turning pages to see what happened next. The characters were wonderful and relatable. There was some great banter between them and I had several laugh-out-loud moments which broke up the intensity. There were some POV switches and a few time jumps (within days or months, not years), but I had no trouble following along and those served to better pad the story. James has that style where he feeds you just a little bit of the answer to the mystery and then adds to the mystery so you keep wanting more. This shone through immensely in this book. The faith thread in this one was subtle, but present - Travis Brock has an eidetic memory and so he recalls scripture that plays into the plot line and learns a bit about God and justice as the story goes on. But there's no plumbing depths of faith in this book. It's a fun action book with a bit of faith mixed in. There are also a few (2-3) instances where some minor swear words are thrown in. Though I read Christian fiction primarily to avoid sex and language, I can abide it when it's so few and far between, but wanted to mention it for anyone whose stance is stronger than that.

This book took a great deal of research and created a scary realistic and really in-depth plot scenario that could easily keep me up at night. And definitely has me wanting more! I've thoroughly enjoyed everything I've read from this author and can't wait to see what happens next in this series. Special thanks to Tyndale House and NetGalley for an advance e-copy of this book. I was under no obligation to provide a review and the thoughts contained herein are my own.

I've been a huge Steven James fan for years and own every last one of his fiction books. When I saw this book was an upcoming release, I raced to request it on Netgalley, and here we are!

This book is definitely a bit different in scope from James' earlier Bowers files. Instead of finding bizarre killers and scratching the underbelly of the worst impulses of mankind, Travis Brock seems much more reserved, quiet, observant, and introverted. James seems to have a thing for dead wives, so Brock is mainly driven by his wife's mysterious death a year earlier. He works as a detractor for the DoD at the Pentagon, and this book deals with the threats against cybersecurity and how that leaves open the door to threats against the American people. The focus and scope here are quite different from the Bowers Files, but the tone and dialogue feel very familiar. The back-and-forth between Travis, Adira, and Gunner is very classic James-banter, and the musings over deeper philosophical problems are also very familiar to Bowers readers. Some of the Christian elements felt a bit more heavy-handed than I'm used to from James, but it was nothing that pulled me out of the story.

I enjoyed this book immensely, and I can clearly see the amount of research that went into it, but part of me does miss Patrick Bowers. I'm eager to read more about Travis Brock and hope to become just as invested in him as a character!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my ARC copy. All opinions are my own.

I would like to start by saying, this book is a good book, just not for me.
Unfortunately I found this book very slow in the middle. I usually read before bed, but this put me to sleep quickly. It was one of those books you felt you needed to finish to see the ending, but it dragged on.
I do think others will enjoy it much more.

I do want to thank the editor, NetGalley and Steven James for the opportunity to read this ARC for my honest feedback.

I had mixed feelings about this book. At times, I really was interested in it and couldn't put it down. Yet at other times, when there was more description and less dialogue, I had a hard time staying interested. But I stayed with it and the ending is fantastic! I never imagined it would have ended that way! I am now looking forward to reading the next book in the series and seeing how it gets solved. I recommend Steven James. I loved his Patrick Bowers' series.

I received this book from the publisher through NetGalley for my honest opinion.

If you enjoy suspenseful and fast paced books, this one is for you. A real page turner.
Travis a pentagon employee and Adira a homeland security agent hook up and together they race against time to try to stop a terrorist attack. Who can you trust is the question? Travis is pulled into a dangerous game of cat and mouse while trying to diffuse a dangerous attack on the US. In the process Travis is also trying to solve the arson that killed his wife.
With a surprise ending this book will keep you guessing till the end. It is set up for a sequel and look forward to continuing the journey. I would highly recommend this book. Thanks to NetGalley and Tyndale House Publishers for an advance ARC copy of this book.

Wow. Just wow. My head is still spinning from that ending!!!

If you’re looking for a good, solid thriller without the creep/horror, this is it! Fast-paced, unpredictable and refreshing! I couldn’t put it down and I loved every second. And it’s SO well-written!! Steven James is such a good writer! I can’t overstate the quality of the writing. It’s so rare to get high quality prose and high quality thrills in the same book, but he has done it here (& does it consistently)!

And that ending!!! I’m still reeling! And that’s so rare!! Colour me super impressed!

Highly, highly recommended!!

Thank you so much @tyndalehouse and @netgalley for the ARC! I was only required to provide an honest opinion in return.

This is an excellently written story full of suspense and surprises, a real threat showing the dangers of our modern times, nice relatable characters and I really liked the relationship between the two main characters. I'll definitely read more from this author.

Pentagon redactor Travis Brock lost his wife in the same fire seventeen months ago that scarred his face. Now he quietly goes to work day in and day out, retaining every government secret in his eidetic memory. One day, someone from DHS sends him a message with a clue about the fire and who was behind it. Meanwhile, an operative named Adira is arrested for something she did not do. When Travis goes to speak to her, they escape two Russian mercenaries. What ensues is their attempt to unravel and stop a plan that would kill thousands of Americans in a story reminiscent of the show 24.
Great book! There were about 50 pages of setting up the plot and it was a little hard to keep track of all the characters as the plot unfurled, but I think that was necessary. After that preparation, it's a thrill ride. I love all the character quirks: Travis and his memory, Adira and her bubblegum, and Gunnar Bane with his horrendous romance novel that should also be considered a threat to society (it does border on uncomfortable with the "throbbing" and "heaving."). I guessed one big surprise (Sienna being alive. Something about "burned beyond recognition" and Lena disappearing made me wonder) and kicked myself for not figuring out one other (Godfrey), but overall, there were a ton of surprises that were impossible to guess. One thing: the colors of a bomb's wires don't actually matter. They mean nothing.

I'm so excited about this being a series!

P.S. the first lamb we ever lost was named Adira. Haven't seen that name since. Gave me warm-fuzzies. Miss that girl.

Broker of Lies is an exciting thriller. The plot is a real edge of your seat page turner. I definitely recommend this book. My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance ebook. This is my unbiased review.

Steven James never disappoints. It is my general practice to know the least amount possible about any of his upcoming novels and experience each of his books with a clean slate. Broker of Lies was no different. Here’s what I knew (or thought I knew): James was going back to thrillers and going back to the confines of “Christian” fiction. His breakout series, and probably what will define him as a fiction writer, remains his Bowers Files series—an incredible series about FBI environmental criminologist Patrick Bowers that started within the Christian fiction realm with Revell, then expanded into the general market with Signet. Since the completion of that series, James has published a YA trilogy, a two-book thriller series, and a standalone spec-fic. But it’s been over three years since his last fiction book released and I didn’t know quite what to expect.

Broker of Lies follows Travis Brock, a Pentagon redactor with an eidetic memory who nearly died in a house fire just over a year prior. The fire wasn’t an accident. His wife didn’t survive. No culprit was ever found. Brock has always blamed himself and his job. When he receives a nonsensical redaction request, it sends him on a journey toward finding out what really happened to his wife—and how that event was only one piece of a much larger puzzle.

The investigator-with-an-eidetic-memory trope has been around for forever and Broker of Lies has to be compared to them. The most popular current series that fits that description is David Baldacci’s Amos Decker series. Baldacci features an investigator whose family was murdered and whose eidetic memory means it’s something he’ll always remember in excruciating detail. If I had to weigh the two characters right now—perhaps not quite fair, as Baldacci’s series is on book seven—I’d have to give Amos Decker the edge. Baldacci does a great job making his character’s memory a focal point of the novel. Travis Brock’s special memory only seems to come into play at plot-convenient points and not in ways that are crucial to the story. The main character has a special talent, but it’s a talent that’s underutilized.

Nonetheless, Broker of Lies is fun and fast-paced and will keep you guessing until almost the end. The final twist…well…it’s the payoff the whole book was building toward and promises that we haven’t seen the last of Travis Brock. While there’s room for improvement—Brock is no Bowers-level character yet—Steven James has me strapped in and I’ll go wherever he takes me.

This political thriller was a little too predictable for me to give it a high rating. I expected the twist well before it unfolded, the characters were stereo-typical, and the pacing was rutted and slow. Sadly, for this Steven James fan, because I devoured the Patrick Bowers series, this thriller was not much of a thriller for me.

ARC was provided by NetGalley and Tyndale House Publishers in exchange for an honest review.

The True Successor To Vince Flynn. That's basically what this entire review is going to boil down to - if you liked Vince Flynn (and particularly if you object to someone else using his name on their books after his death) and have been searching for an author who can tell that type of tale at least as good as Flynn ever did... welcome to Steven James and Broker of Lies. One huge difference here is that while Mitch Rapp almost tends into superhero/ super-soldier status, our heroes here are very skilled... yet also very flawed in their own ways. Ways that enemies can exploit, if they are known. Ways that enemies do exploit here, because our heroes are not as hidden as they would like to think they are. So yes, we get a lot of different (yet fairly plausible) tech - including some fairly scary, yet known for over a decade now, ways to exploit any body scan security -, several car chases, several fight scenes of various forms from extremely up close and personal to more building level, a lot of cat and mouse, and one heck of an explosive revelation at the end that pretty easily sets up at least one more book here. This isn't a short book, clocking in at nearly 420 pages, but that last 20% or so in particular... you're not going to want to put this book down through that stretch at minimum. Very much recommended.

Wow!! This book was a stunning, exciting, and a thrill ride for me!! I can't wait to see if any books follow this one, because I think that would be fantastic!! Very good book! Highly recommend!!

How have I not read a Steven James novel until now?! It makes no sense to me whatsoever, because Broker of Lies by Steven James was everything I wanted and more. “Stop the Terrorists” is probably my favorite genre. I have been reading Vince Flynn (now Kyle Mills) and Brad Thor for years; Mitch Rapp and Scot Harvath feel like members of my family at this point. Thor and Flynn’s characters, however, often face enemies abroad—or international terrorist groups acting on American soil. While Broker of Lies does have national actors, it features other elements I rarely see: a domestic terrorist organization, a believable nuclear threat, and the importance of cybersecurity.

Steven James is a mastermind; it is as simple as that. I am no subject matter expert, but I probably know a bit more about terrorism than the average reader does. With novels like Broker of Lies, I analyze the accuracy of everything. Could this happen? If the answer is no, books often lose their appeal. I imagine it is similar to a lifelong police officer watching a dramatized television show about street cops. You roll your eyes, say “Absolutely not,” and change the channel. Broker of Lies by Steven James was not like that. The circumstances James creates could be real—and that is what makes this novel scary.

Most “Stop the Terrorists” novels feature a “super soldier”-like hero (e.g., Scot Harvath and Mitch Rapp). An unstoppable force of manly strength who is quick and accurate with a firearm. Travis Brock is not that. He has burn scars, wears glasses, works in a basement, and dislikes guns. He is not your average “Stop the Terrorists” hero, and I loved him for it. Broker of Lies does have a couple characters with more of these stereotypical qualities…but I won’t go further into that due to spoilers. They juxtapose Travis Brock flawlessly, and James uses them to provide comedic relief along the way.

Broker of Lies has cyber elements. James is not overly technical, and he never gets into the weeds. He emphasizes cybersecurity without hammering it. I wish, however, that Broker of Lies had more cyber than it did. I never thought I would say that, as cyber is a topic I typically abhor. The only other thing I did not like came close to the end of the novel. The Department of State has a designated list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs). James mentions the FBI designating a group as a domestic terrorist organization. This does not exist for a long list of reasons I will not bore anyone with. Just know that while domestic terrorism does exist, federally designated domestic terrorist organizations do not.

The cover of Broker of Lies says “A Travis Brock Thriller,” and the last chapter of the novel sets up for a sequel. All I have to say is: I CAN’T WAIT. Bring it on, Steven James, because I am on board with my seatbelt buckled. My only regrets: I can’t read Broker of Lies again for the first time…and I undoubtedly have to wait longer than I want for the next book!

The plot twist in this book is at the very end, so if you don’t want to spoil it for yourself, don’t read the last page first! I will predict that the author writes a sequel based on the new information given to the reader at the very end.

The main character, Travis Brock is a redactor for the Pentagon’s Department of Defense. He knows secrets that no one else knows, and is covertly roped into a mystery to save the American people from a homeland terrorist plot. His dealings in the matter begin to uncover a very personal mystery of his own; who killed his wife in a fire started in his own home several years ago.

I highly enjoyed this book! It was a fast paced plot that didn’t leave me bored. The first couple chapters were a bit heavy with government jargon and backstory. This is an appropriate book for teenage readers.

I received a free copy in exchange for this review.

I was some parts totally engrossed but some parts totally uninterested (especially where there were too many details about organisations and projects.) But I love that the main male character has photographic memory and the female main character can tackle and take down a bad man twice her size and while she was handcuffed at that! Can’t wait to read what other adventures these two will encounter next.

I’m mildly disappointed with this title. I know Steven James can write (I’ve read much better.) But I still have high hopes for what looks like will be a series.

4 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tyndle House Publishing for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Steven James' Patrick Bowers series is one of my favorite mystery series and it doesnt get enough attention - its my favorite sleeper hit when I get asked for book recommendations. I was excited to see James branch out with a new thriller series and jumped at the chance to get an early copy.

James is exceptional at effectively layering both plot and characters in his stories and Broker of Lies continued that trend. A government employee who redacts documents for public consumption sounds like a pretty boring job....but in the hands of expert it becomes a compelling launchpad for a great story. Humor abounds as well....an ex Army Ranger trying to write a romance novel provided some pretty hysterical moments.

The technology is well thought and and researched and, though speculative, not outside of reality. I appreciated not having to suspend reality to enjoy the technical details.

Overll this was a very compelling thriller that kept me engaged and wanting to see how it ends. There are a lot of parallel threads but most are wrapped up by the time we get to the surprise ending....only enough is left for the inevitable sequel which I will definitely be seeking out.

Highly recommended, as is everything else by Steven James that I have read.

Broker of Lies is a contemporary novel written by Steven James.

Summary: Travis Brock’s memory is a steel trap. It makes him perfect for his government job, but also the perfect target for those who would use him for their own nefarious purposes.

When a strange missive from Homeland Security crosses his desk, he finds himself pulled into a high-stakes game of cat and mouse. Can he solve the clues before a dangerous attack is unleashed on an unsuspecting public-or will he be too late?

My Thoughts: I liked the premise of this book. There is a shadowy corporate conspiracy, sinister bad guys, plenty of chase scenes and action, and a good mystery too.

I enjoyed the characters as well. They were very quirky and different, which I found refreshing.

The book isn’t one I would re-read, but I did enjoy it, and the author definitely left it open for a sequel that has some interesting possibilities, so that’s fun too.

I would like to thank Tyndale House Publishers for providing me with a free digital copy of this book in exchange for my review. Thank you.

An intense and complicated storyline. It took concentration to get into but worth pursuing to see how the characters were developed. A moving story.