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Tangled Wires: Secrets that Bind
With a fragmented memory and a grim future, Raz only feels confident about two hacking computers - and that people can't be trusted. However, with her best friend missing and the head of the Russian mob hot on her tail, Raz must quickly decide if FBI agent Emet Shultz is the exception rather than the rule, and whether he can find her friend before another falls victim to her treacherous past. As the mystery of her missing memory begins to unravel and becomes inextricably linked to the present, one thing becomes clear- nothing is as it seems. Sometimes lies are easier to stomach than the truth.
552 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 11, 2025
3 people are currently reading
3 people want to read
About the author
D.M. Foyle
1 book2 followersD.M. Foyle is a cyber-security professional by day- but a writer by life. In both reading- and writing, D.M. has tackled genres from High-Fantasy to Crime Thrillers-- subverting genre conventions since she started querying her first novel at the age of 15.
When she isn't writing- you can often find her in the garden, playing an RPG- or dinking around with some new technology (or throwing it out the window, it's about a 50/50, really).
You can follow her on Bluesky (@foyle-writes) or Twitter (@foylewrites)
When she isn't writing- you can often find her in the garden, playing an RPG- or dinking around with some new technology (or throwing it out the window, it's about a 50/50, really).
You can follow her on Bluesky (@foyle-writes) or Twitter (@foylewrites)
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 1, 2025
Tangled Wires: Secrets That Bind by D.M. Foyle is a technothriller that follows twenty-six-year-old Raz. She’s a professional hacker and is paranoid about everyone. As the story opens, she’s entering a coffee shop a little after five in the morning and ordering four coffees. She’s supposed to be meeting with Russian mob boss Ivan Planchenkov, or one of his cronies. While waiting and scanning the shop for anyone who looks like they might be acknowledging her, she’s hacking accounts and discovers the FBI is hacking her. A mysterious elderly man passes her a note that says to meet at the park. She quickly gets caught up in a chase by the FBI that lands her in cuffs, bruised, and dragged in for interrogation.
Little do they know that Raz is doing as Ivan ordered to save her friends, Tyson and Nadia. Ivan is holding Nadia for collateral, as it seems, and he’s had her for six months. Raz reluctantly agrees to work with the FBI to bring Ivan down, after they reveal that they know she’s hacked their system and gained access to data raids and changed prison information that let two high-profile mobsters out ahead of being executed. As a condition, Raz only wants the information she has to be delivered to Emet’s boss, Daniel Estes. The story continues to pick up momentum as Emet and Raz are pressed for time to execute a rescue mission to save Nadia, protect Tyson, and finally get the drop on Ivan.
Foyle writes with intensity that makes every scene in this story feel real and dangerous. You can feel time ticking away. You can feel Raz’s pain and the near-fainting spells. When she has nightmares about the fire that almost took her life when she was eight, I could feel the smoke in my lungs and the heat from the flames licking at my skin. You cannot help but feel sorry for Raz and her fractured memory. All she knows for sure about her life is that she suffered third-degree burns from this fire. But she can’t be too sure of her citizenship, her age, or anything else. What is interesting is that in her nightmare, she’s speaking Russian or another language from Eastern Europe. Emet, the FBI agent, notices the branded numbers on her body, indicating that she is Ivan’s property, and he’s known for human trafficking, among other illegal activities.
The writing is authentic, especially in digital forensics and computer-science terminology. Foyle takes extra care to include footnotes that clarify technical concepts without interrupting the flow of the narrative. These touches not only educate but also bring readers deeper into Raz’s world. Even terms like PB, or petabyte, become meaningful. The dynamics between Raz and Emet become the emotional backbone of the story. Emet seems sincere, concerned, and nurturing. This is a very sharp contrast to Raz’s deep distrust of the FBI. She views them as no different than the mob. They demand everything and give little to nothing, as she views it. The push and pull between Emet and Raz adds tension that is psychological in the beginning, but further along in the narrative, it becomes romantic. Meanwhile, the very mention of Ivan, who wears disguises in public, so no one knows how he looks except Raz, injects fear into the story. When he tortures Nadia for Raz’s defiance, it just makes the stakes skyrocket. I held my breath at the very description of her blood-curdling scream. It also shows just how tightly Raz is trapped in Ivan’s web.
The pacing never lets up. Each chapter builds on the next, allowing readers to feel like they are experiencing what’s happening over the course of the days and nights right along with the cast. The atmospheric sequences and settings make me think of Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, yet Foyle’s version feels uniquely intimate. It pulls readers directly into the terror Raz experiences, her slow-building trust for Emet, and her jumpiness when someone reaches out to touch her. She’s had to rewire herself to live in defense mode all her life. When the romantic elements arise between Raz and Emet later in the story, I was surprised because this woman has gone through a series of traumas. Yet, she let her walls down just a little bit, but she still had a certain level of coldness about her. But the romantic element of the story was so well balanced that it did not detract from the central premise or mission: cutting the head off the serpent, as Emet puts it. Instead, it humanized Raz a bit, or at least enough to show what’s at risk if she fails.
D.M. Foyle’s Tangled Wires: Secrets That Bind is sharp and absorbing. It’s one of those thrillers that does a great job blending technology, trauma, and trust seamlessly. Readers who enjoy morally complex characters, tense FBI-Criminal dynamics, and sophisticated technology will find this story equally intriguing. It similarly has the cyber-espionage tension of Mark Russinovich’s Zero Day.
Little do they know that Raz is doing as Ivan ordered to save her friends, Tyson and Nadia. Ivan is holding Nadia for collateral, as it seems, and he’s had her for six months. Raz reluctantly agrees to work with the FBI to bring Ivan down, after they reveal that they know she’s hacked their system and gained access to data raids and changed prison information that let two high-profile mobsters out ahead of being executed. As a condition, Raz only wants the information she has to be delivered to Emet’s boss, Daniel Estes. The story continues to pick up momentum as Emet and Raz are pressed for time to execute a rescue mission to save Nadia, protect Tyson, and finally get the drop on Ivan.
Foyle writes with intensity that makes every scene in this story feel real and dangerous. You can feel time ticking away. You can feel Raz’s pain and the near-fainting spells. When she has nightmares about the fire that almost took her life when she was eight, I could feel the smoke in my lungs and the heat from the flames licking at my skin. You cannot help but feel sorry for Raz and her fractured memory. All she knows for sure about her life is that she suffered third-degree burns from this fire. But she can’t be too sure of her citizenship, her age, or anything else. What is interesting is that in her nightmare, she’s speaking Russian or another language from Eastern Europe. Emet, the FBI agent, notices the branded numbers on her body, indicating that she is Ivan’s property, and he’s known for human trafficking, among other illegal activities.
The writing is authentic, especially in digital forensics and computer-science terminology. Foyle takes extra care to include footnotes that clarify technical concepts without interrupting the flow of the narrative. These touches not only educate but also bring readers deeper into Raz’s world. Even terms like PB, or petabyte, become meaningful. The dynamics between Raz and Emet become the emotional backbone of the story. Emet seems sincere, concerned, and nurturing. This is a very sharp contrast to Raz’s deep distrust of the FBI. She views them as no different than the mob. They demand everything and give little to nothing, as she views it. The push and pull between Emet and Raz adds tension that is psychological in the beginning, but further along in the narrative, it becomes romantic. Meanwhile, the very mention of Ivan, who wears disguises in public, so no one knows how he looks except Raz, injects fear into the story. When he tortures Nadia for Raz’s defiance, it just makes the stakes skyrocket. I held my breath at the very description of her blood-curdling scream. It also shows just how tightly Raz is trapped in Ivan’s web.
The pacing never lets up. Each chapter builds on the next, allowing readers to feel like they are experiencing what’s happening over the course of the days and nights right along with the cast. The atmospheric sequences and settings make me think of Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, yet Foyle’s version feels uniquely intimate. It pulls readers directly into the terror Raz experiences, her slow-building trust for Emet, and her jumpiness when someone reaches out to touch her. She’s had to rewire herself to live in defense mode all her life. When the romantic elements arise between Raz and Emet later in the story, I was surprised because this woman has gone through a series of traumas. Yet, she let her walls down just a little bit, but she still had a certain level of coldness about her. But the romantic element of the story was so well balanced that it did not detract from the central premise or mission: cutting the head off the serpent, as Emet puts it. Instead, it humanized Raz a bit, or at least enough to show what’s at risk if she fails.
D.M. Foyle’s Tangled Wires: Secrets That Bind is sharp and absorbing. It’s one of those thrillers that does a great job blending technology, trauma, and trust seamlessly. Readers who enjoy morally complex characters, tense FBI-Criminal dynamics, and sophisticated technology will find this story equally intriguing. It similarly has the cyber-espionage tension of Mark Russinovich’s Zero Day.
June 21, 2025
[Review Coming]
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews