Concern: A black-ops investigator uncovers an espionage conspiracy rooted in quantum code

by Christopher Bentley

When a St Petersburg restaurant is ripped apart by a bomb, consulting mathematician Marc Naedorf is dragged back into the shadow world he thought he’d left behind. Once an intelligence analyst, now an outsider with a gift for spotting hidden patterns, he finds himself at the heart of an international mystery where every answer raises new questions.

With MI5 and CIA espionage networks looming in the background, Naedorf follows a trail that winds from the Russian mafia to the boardrooms of multinational corporations. Superpowers are vying for quantum computing supremacy, cyber hackers are breaching global systems, and a covert conglomerate is manipulating markets through rogue AI and corporate conspiracy. From climate change profiteers to ruthless mercenaries, Naedorf must navigate a labyrinth of deception where even allies can’t be trusted. Protecting him from the shadows is the Englishman known only as MYRMIDON — a lethal guardian and black ops specialist whose silence hides deadly intent.

What begins with a single explosion unravels into a high-tech conspiracy with stakes far beyond one man’s survival. Somewhere in the data, buried deep in quantum code, lies an enemy unlike any he has faced before — an enemy that doesn’t think like him.

364 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 7, 2025

About the author

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.

Reviews

[Adrian Nixon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is brilliant. A great read with plot lines I have never encountered before. If you are looking for a thrilling read with real depth that fires your curiosity and engages your mind then this is the one book you must read.