Bazaar

Bazaar by Miles Joyner is a thriller story with a very unique premise. The book is about an online “Bazaar” on the dark web where ordinary people can crowdfund the assassination of important figures like celebrities and politicians. Attention is drawn to the Bazaar when an ex-ambassador named Chiedu Attah finds that his son was assassinated and his death is linked to this online market. The killer of Attah’s son intends to kill Attah next, so he hires a protection team led by a brother and sister named Yemi and Karen.

There are many social commentaries in this book, which are especially relevant today, such as the nature of the Bazaar, where many people come together to do something they individually could not afford to do. The existence of the Bazaar shows a shift in society and arguably class consciousness. 

There are many characters in this book. So many it can be hard to keep track of them all. The killer of Attah’s son is named Aaron and he is a young man from a very humble background. His homelife is troubled and he wants a better life for himself and his mother. A small detail that I found interesting about Aaron is that he is dyslexic. This doesn't come up very often in the book, but it does add a bit of intrigue and make him seem more down to earth. 

Some of Aaron’s family problems tie back to the Covid-19 pandemic. It’s easy to tell this book was written in 2024. There are references to the web browser “Tor” and Aaron 3D prints firearms.

After a series of events Aaron finds himself part of a team with the shared goal of eliminating Chiedu Attah. Despite Aaron and his new friends being assassins, they are given a fair amount of sympathy. I would say the morality in this book is not exactly black and white, as we do see things from both the perspectives of Aaron’s team and Yemi and Karen’s team. These groups are at odds with each other, and we see their motivations behind what they do. The book changes perspective a lot, which allows us as the readers to see many different perspectives to the issues presented. However, this can also make the plot complicated and hard to follow at times. This is somewhat understandable though as the conflict of the story reflects real life social issues, which are very complex and need many different angles to understand.

The social commentaries are usually pretty straightforward. Many of the characters are working class and this is mentioned quite a bit. There was even a mention directly to George Floyd and Breonna Taylor at one point. The dialogue is very modern and organic sounding. There is a fair amount of slang used and a lot of personality in the prose. Some of the scenes even come across as campy or almost seem like satire because of this. One example that came to mind was: “‘My man. One day, you’re going to own this whole block. You get that degree, become the Latino Bill Gates, and make our people proud,’ Merlin laughed as the two exchanged a masculine hug.” 

There is a fair amount of pop culture references littered throughout the book. There is also a lot of profanity. One example(censored) is when the book reads: “‘Of course I’m okay. That Krispy Kreme-eating p!%*# b%!*# didn’t do s!*#. Go check on his fat a#* or something.’ Nick sighed.” 

Occasionally the dialogue is kind of stiff sounding. A character at one point says: “It was a young Salvadoran girl with curves that would break any straight male’s neck if she walked past them.”

There is mention of sexual violence at one point in this book. We’re not shown it in detail but we do see the aftermath so viewers should proceed with caution.

I would say this book is a good choice for readers who enjoy complexity and are prepared for a somewhat more challenging experience. 

Perspective: 3rd Person

Tense: Simple Past

Length: 355 pages

Kindle Unlimited: No

Bazaar - Kindle edition by Joyner, Miles. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.