Published by Bantam on January 28, 2025

Dead Money is an engaging whodunit set in the world of venture capital and technology startups. Trevor Canon is the CEO of Journy, a company that seems to combine Lyft-like services with Lime-like rentals. Journy has not yet gone public but is expected to make Canon even wealthier when it does.

Canon is murdered in his office while he’s working late. Shortly before his murder, Canon changed his will to specify that, in the event of his murder, his shares in Journy could not be distributed to other investors in the company until the murderer is convicted.

The company’s executives each own a piece of the company, as does Hammersmith Venture, the venture capital firm that financed Journy’s startup. Journy’s five key executives carried keycards that would have provided access to the elevator leading to the CEO’s office, making them the prime suspects.

Mackenzie Clyde is a lawyer employed by Hammersmith Venture. Mackenzie does not perform traditional legal work. She investigates and troubleshoots problems, reporting directly to the firm’s CEO, Roger Hammersmith. Mackenzie is not impressed by the tech industry, which she describes as “a giant, soulless, self-propelling machine that runs on its own bullshit.” Sounds about right.

Intermittent flashbacks provide insight into Mackenzie’s nature. She grew up feeling freakish because of her unusual height. She took refuge in basketball until a male student who read and copied her essay falsely claimed that she copied his work. School officials knew the kid was lying but his father was rich and important so they suspended Mackenzie (but not the male) from extracurricular activities. That experience might cause some people to resent the privilege that attends wealth, but it motivated Mackenzie to acquire wealth of her own.

Mackenzie’s mother taught her to seize opportunities — specifically, opportunities to become wealthy — because power is the only shield against the powerful. Mackenzie went to law school and accepted a job with a Big Law firm. Before she started, she met Eleanor Eden, a woman who wrote a bestselling book about how women can shatter the glass ceiling. Mackenzie called out the book as bullshit, earning Eleanor’s admiration. Eleanor admits the book was full of nonsense but writing it was an end to a means.

Eleanor advised Mackenzie to ditch Big Law and move to the West, where opportunities for success abound. Mackenzie took a job as in-house lawyer with Hammersmith Venture. How she became Roger Hammersmith’s personal fixer is a mystery I won’t spoil.

In fact, saying much more about the plot would risk spoiling it. It is enough to know that Hammersmith designates Mackenzie as his liaison to the FBI, which takes over the investigation of Trevor’s murder. Mackenzie works closely with Agent Jameson Danner, whose father is a wealthy senator, as they interview the prime suspects and work their way to a reveal of the killer’s identity.

Although three of the four key characters — Mackenzie, her mother, and Eleanor — are morally suspect, they all justify their actions with the conviction that opportunities are meant to be seized, even if others must suffer. This seems suspiciously similar to the philosophies that drive Silicon Valley startups and Big Law, philosophies that Mackenzie seems to find appalling, but Mackenzie’s beliefs are more nuanced (and less admirable) than they first appear.

Danner at least is law-abiding, but he suffers from the usual law enforcement belief that using other people to build a criminal case is always justified — all the more so if the manipulation advances his career. Fortunately, fictional characters don’t need to be morally stalwart to be interesting. Whether they are right or wrong, the characters act consistently with their beliefs. I can’t say I cared about any of the characters by the novel’s end, but I didn’t dislike any of them, and I admired Jakob Kerr’s willingness to take chances with characters who might turn off readers with their unsavory behavior.

I also appreciated an offbeat plot that doesn’t depend on a tough guy saving the day by being tougher than everyone else. Dead Money is carefully constructed to give the reader an opportunity to piece together clues in search of the killer’s identity. The final reveal is surprising and surprisingly believable. A clever reader might guess parts of the answer but I doubt that most will work it out entirely. Kerr nevertheless plays fair by giving the reader a reasonable opportunity to solve the puzzle. Those elements combine to make Dead Money one of the smartest crime novels I’ve read in the last several months.

RECOMMENDED

A fascinating and compelling thriller set in the tech bubble of Silicon Valley. I started this book somewhat uncertain about what I was getting into, but by about halfway through I realized I was utterly sucked in. Mackenzie is a fantastic lead, taking us along the investigation. The twists and turns kept coming throughout, but still made sense rather than being overly disconnected from any potential reality. Kerr is now on my authors to watch list.

Dead Money by Jacob Kerr was a deliciously twisty techno thriller and I really enjoyed it!

The beginning was a little slow burning but very intriguing as a Founder of a major tech company is found murdered. Mackenzie is a “fixer” for a firm who invested heavily in the tech company and teams up with an FBI agent to solve the murder.

Days before the murder takes place, the Founder had added a clause to his will whereby all funds (billions!) will be tied up if he is murdered until the case is solved. This is what’s known as “Dead Money”.

The action ensues as unforeseen twists are unveiled and I loved it all! There were definitely a couple of late nights of reading turning the pages as quickly as possible.

*Thanks so much to partner Random House/Ballantine and to NetGalley for the gifted eARC!*

I agree with all the reviews calling this a twisty, banger of a mystery. It is well written, and the plot moves along quite fast. So much is happening all the time with great characters, especially the strong women. The deft switching of chapters between before and after the murder was well crafted to help understand the motivation of the characters. This is a really good, impressive debut novel. Thank you NetGalley for providing the ARC.

I need more books starring the main character - she was absolutely fantastic. This is a Netflix series in the making, unfolding before us.

This manages to be so rooted in reality (the ways it feels very real and contemporary are almost too well done) while also being so fast paced and escapist that all I wanted was to read this book. Mackenzie's chapters from the past are fascinating and as you follow them the investigation becomes even more interesting. A pitch perfect ending left me really happy with how this entire book went.

Dead Money
By Jakob Kerr

Mackenzie Clyde learned early in life that "fairness" does not exist; only money – whether you have it or not – matters. She learned the lesson, first from her mother, subsequently from her mentor, Eleanor Eden. Both women stressed that, in order to chart your own course in life, you must: work hard to get an advantageous position; have the patience to wait for you opportunity; and recognize and grab it with both hands.

After graduating number one in her class at Georgetown Law, Mackenzie lands a job with a prestigious Manhattan law firm. But after a few years, she quits and heads west at the recommendation of Eleanor. She starts working for Hammersmith Venture Capital as a lawyer. Once again she is becoming bored and disillusioned. However, Eleanor convinces her that she must find a way to bring herself to the attention of Roger Hammersmith, her big boss.

When she achieves this goal, Roger promotes her to being his personal investigator. Hammersmith has invested heavily in Trevor Canon, a tech wunderkind, and his hot startup Journy. But to everyone's shock, Trevor has been murdered in his private office. Roger arranges for Mackenzie to take part in the FBI investigation of the murder.

The "who" and "why" lead the investigators on a merry chase. There are multiple "whos" and "whys". Just when they think they are on the right track, the author introduces yet another set of circumstances. Who are the good guys and the bad guys here?

I really enjoyed this debut novel. I look forward to Mr. Kerr's next book.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC.

This one is dark, gritty, and packed with high-stakes tension. Dead Money pulls you into a world where finance, crime, and power collide—think Wall Street meets noir thriller. The writing is sharp, the pacing relentless, and the morally gray characters keep you hooked.

I loved the way Kerr weaves financial intrigue into the plot without losing the pulse-pounding suspense. That said, some of the financial jargon got a little heavy at times, but overall, it’s a smart, gripping read. If you’re into thrillers with a unique edge, this one’s worth picking up!

This book was fast paced and an edge of your seat thriller. It was hard to put this book down, because I wanted to know what happened next.

I appreciated the deep dive into the tech and startup world. The female main character didn’t come from that world, but she navigated it with ease.

I appreciated the backstory that was intertwined with the current day plot. We never get a different perspective besides the main character - which could have been nice to add more suspense.

This book was a great read - especially being written by a debut author.

Thanks to @netgalley and @penguinrandomhouse for the advanced reader copy.

#deadmoney #jakobkerr #bantambooks

I think I was not in the mood for this one perhaps. There were a lot of characters that I found myself having trouble keeping them all straight at times. I did thoroughly enjoy the twist at the end that I did not see coming. The best part of this book for me was the strong female protagonists.

Enjoyable plot that was at time slow paced and other times fast paced. Characters were believable and likeable. The author kept you reading along to the end to see what happened to the dead man in the beginning.

Thank you very much to NetGalley and Bantam for this advance copy of Jakob Kerr’s debut novel Dead Money in exchange for this honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this one - I definitely like a fun thriller where we’re trying to find something, and this one would definitely appeal to fans that also enjoy police procedural elements, as one of our main leads is an FBI agent. I’ve seen this one compared to Blake Crouch’s style of mixing thrillers with sci-fi(ish) elements, and as a big Crouch fan, I can see the similarities, although you don’t need to know a lot about the tech world to understand what’s going on in this book - I was very worried as I’m very basic in that realm, but I didn’t find myself getting confused at all. For my millennials out there, this whole story reminds me of a movie from the early 2000s called Antitrust with Ryan Phillipe and Rachael Leigh Cook, with elements of doing what it takes to get ahead in the tech world. For thriller fans, I found this to be unique and fun and very easy to read - I wouldn’t go as far as to say the twists were the most surprising I’ve ever read, but you get tidbits of information as the story goes on, so it’s more of a slow trickle rather than a giant reveal.

Thank you again to NetGalley, Kerr and the publishing team for this ARC of Dead Money in exchange for this review - this one is available for purchase today! (And is a February Aardvark selection if you subscribe.)

At the start of this novel, tech CEO Trevor Canon is found murdered in his office. Main character Mackenzie is a lawyer who is an investigator/fixer for a venture capital fund that is the company’s biggest investor, and her boss pulls some strings to have her assigned to accompany the FBI agent who is investigating.

This was such an entertaining mystery that kept me guessing with so many layers to peel back - but yet all made total sense at the end, which is all too rare. Its almost like a throwback to the kind of mystery you would pick up in mass market paperback at an airport, but yet it’s intellectual at the same time, and I mean that in the best, most complimentary way! I really enjoyed every minute of reading it. Could totally see this making a great movie or limited tv series too. Great debut novel and I’ll definitely keep an eye out for what Jacob Kerr writes next!

Thank you Ballantine and PRH audio for the review copies. I really enjoyed Dead Money from Jakob Kerr, I was excited to have a change of pace plot (for me) into something that was indeed a little more tech focused and filled with more twists, and complex plot development, than I expected. I really loved the main character, a smart savvy Mackenzie and her own subplot, I want more about her please, and enjoyed exploring diving into a dark set of tech bro lives (it feels all too timely!!!). There was a lot of solid intrigue and suspense in the book, and excellent voice acting in the audiobook, and both the book and audio (I read and listened) to really captivate my imagination. An impressive debut!

The plot of this book was very intriguing and it's an impressive undertaking for a debut novel. I was engrossed at first but lost interest about halfway through. Maybe I wasn't in the right mindset but I was bogged down by the sheer number of characters introduced, just too many to keep up with. And the high tech stuff doesn't really interest me either. Wasn't for me but others may love it. My thanks to Random House Publishing for providing a review copy via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I often find thrillers and suspense stories entertaining but it’s challenging to be impressed by them. Dead Money delivered though!

This is the story of Mackenzie Clyde, a lawyer and fixer for one of the biggest VC firms in Silicon Valley, Hammersmith Ventures. She does whatever it takes to solve problems for her boss and fund founder, Roger.

When Trevor Canon, the CEO of a buzzy tech startup is found dead, with tons of frozen money in his recently updated will, Mackenzie finds herself in a new role — working with the FBI to solve the murder investigation. Hammersmith Ventures has substantial funding invested in Trevor’s company and with so much at stake, Roger is counting on Mackenzie now more than ever.

Dead Money was dark, twisty, and original. The “whodunnit” and tech industry aspects worked well together. I really liked this story which was engaging from the start.

I had a great time with this one! It’s a fast-paced, twisty mystery set in the Silicon Valley tech world. Mackenzie Clyde, a lawyer-turned-investigator, gets pulled into an FBI case when a murdered CEO’s “dead money” clause locks down his assets until his killer is found. She teams up with an agent who isn’t thrilled to have her around, and from there, the twists just keep coming.

Mackenzie was such a great lead—smart, tough, and flawed in a way that made her feel real. I thought I had the mystery figured out early, but Kerr still managed to surprise me. The story kept me hooked, and I’d definitely read more books with Mackenzie!

Thank you NetGalley & Random House Publishing

Recommended for: crime junkies who love the fast paced thrill of the developing tech world

Summary: The owner, Trevor, of the major tech company, Journy, was found dead in his office. The catch is that his office was only accessible by a special key on a special elevator that only a handful of people had access to. The highest monetary contributor of Journy, Roder Hammersmith, has assigned his top investigator, Mackenzie, to lend a hand in the murder investigation. She teams up with FBI agent Danner to sort through the alibis of all the people who had access to Trevor’s office, and to learn more about Journy’s origin.

Review: I am not the target audience for this book. That being said, it was enjoyable about a third of the way into the story. The backstories were boring, and at times the tech investment information was too complicated. Another small, sort of pet peeve of mine, was that the author would switch between using the characters’ first and last names. I would get confused on who was talking and who they were talking about.

Dead Money by Jakob Kerr is basically a police procedural wherein Mackenzie Clyde was tasked with assisting/advising FBI agent, Jameson Danner. As it turned out Jameson was the son of an influential father, but kept that fact on the low down. The first day was misery, Danner didn’t even speak to her. She finally told him that he wasn’t living up to his end of the agreement and she said it plainly. The next day he came to work with a new attitude. Maybe it was her or maybe it was Roger Hammersmith had said to his boss, she would never know. Roger was a huge shareholder (as a venture capitalist) in the company of Trevor Canon, the murdered man. And Canon had put a dead clause into his will: no one would get any money until someone was being tried for his murder. Motive enough for Hammersmith as he had $5.2 billion invested. From then on, Mackenzie was part of the investigation, beginning with Eleanor Eden, second in command at Journy, Canon’s company, and someone with whom Mackenzie had had a relationship.

Mackenzie was a fixer, and a good one. She took advantage where she was able. She was smart and clever and a good investigator and could speak the tech speak, which Jameson could not. It got complicated. One of the five partners had disappeared and another had recently taken off. None of them was easy to get into a sit down. It was a good investigation with a grand finale. Then, a grander finale. Dead Money was clever and a bit different and well worth the read.

I was invited to read Dead Money by RandomHouse Publishing Group-Ballantine. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #RandomHousePublishingGroupBallantine #JakobKerr #DeadMoney

What a ride this book has been! I could not put it down. This is exactly what I like to see in a thriller - lots of action, great plot, fast-paced, engrossing and a twist at the end. Bonus points for great character development. Looking forward to more books from this author.