The markets are edging closer to a tipping point--like the teetering first domino in a standing row that circles the globe. And when Esther does sound the alarm, she wonders if anyone will take her seriously. But as public support grows for her ideas, so does the desperation of those whose conspiracy of greed she seeks to expose. With global markets on the brink, and her own life in danger, Esther is locked in a race with the clock to avert a worldwide financial meltdown.
This fast-paced suspense novel will make you wonder where the fiction ends and reality begins. . . (Pub Date: Sep 6, 2016)
Honest review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to Bethany House for this opportunity!
This was hard to read although the author did his best to explain what was going on. By the end, I could understand well what the problem was but I still feel as though I missed a lot.
This is also some sort of a Christian book, just a warning if it bothers you. The thematic wasn't too present, aside from a few mentions of the Book of Esther, one character studying Theology and people going to church.
So, Esther works as a risk analyst for a big bank and she knows that the crisis of 2008 taught nothing to the big men. She can even demonstrate through calculations how the world is walking towards a crash thanks to the greed of the the financial institutions. As she finally notices she has friends, she decides to take a stand and blow the whistle. However, the threat might be closer than she thinks.
I have no idea of economics, aside from what I researched for my master's thesis, when the focus was more on extradition of those economic criminals. The book doesn't go the criminal investigation route as I expected, so I had to learn a lot to understand the big issue presented. I mean, understanding "the world is about to enter another crisis" wasn't enough to see Esther's reasons for acting. This made me just nod and wait for more than half of the story.
At least I finally got it. Or some of it.
The main character wasn't very relatable but I won't say I disliked her either. Her feelings were just too abrupt. She often has no time to hear about her brother, whom you know she loves above all, and suddenly she's hugging everyone even though she was a loner for all her life. I couldn't figure her character very well but I liked how she wasn't as stereotypical as I expected from her introduction and she had a good evolution through the story, even if some developments were that sudden.
The romance was far from sappy. Again, I also think it developed too out of the blue. You can see the guy was cast to be her romantic interest. There are no cheesy scenes of them that I can remember of. Unless you count her bonding with his teenager daughters... that was the biggest cliche of all. And yet, I liked how heartwarming the scenes were.
As for the main plot, I wouldn't have started with that big "the world is coming to an end" threat, as I felt it was too big to be really scary. The main issue, which is gradually revealed felt much more interesting though. As the summary mentions, you do wonder how much is truly fiction—so scary. I think the problem was choosing the right way to start, introduce, engage the reader.
Unfortunately, by the time it picked rhythm, I was already too disconnected. Had this been a leisure reading, I might have abandoned the book. On the bright side, disregarding the incessant economics lectures, the writing was very easy to read through—had he opted for a less clean narration, I would have abandoned it even if it meant I couldn't write an apprehensive review.
I feel this book could appeal to those who understand a little more of economics. Also, I kept getting some Michael Crichton vibes. On the other hand, I'm a fan of Crichton's and it still wasn't my thing. At last, I feel this brings good themes for a discussion on the economy and liberalism. In fact, many parts sounded perfect for me to quote in my thesis, albeit this being a fiction read.
Rate: 2 out of 5.
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