"When City high-flyer Bridget, recently fired from her bank, is found dead outside her high rise apartment, her colleagues assume she's committed suicide. Cityboy Steve Jones is outraged and he and his City workmates decide to take revenge. They hatch an ingenious plan to sabotage her firm and succeed in bringing it to its knees. After wildly celebrating their success, Bridget's boyfriend Fergus insists they take down a much more prominent bank. But soon the gang are being targeted by the police and financial regulators. There must be a rat in their midst but, if so, who? Steve investigates and digging deeper realises he could be on the trail of a murderer. Suddenly there's a distinct possibility that an even bigger revenge is being planned and this time the pay back is heading in his direction..."
I have to say upfront that I didn't like the writing style of this novel - it's mainly written from the point of view of stockbroker Steve and presumably aimed at capturing how he would express himself, with a lot of 'robust' language and sexual references - and I found it difficult to care for Steve and his friends with their drug and drink fuelled life style. Having said that, I soon found myself pulled in by the plot, trying to guess the upcoming twists and turns and figure out who the mysterious man following everyone was. A lot of the story-line depends on understanding how stocks are traded but technicalities such as selling short, trading in futures and bear raids are explained as they occur - I might even have got to grips with them myself at last!
It's not as dark and sinister as Nordic Noir but more of a lightweight sort of holiday-read thriller.
Maryom's review - 3 stars
Publisher - Headline Genre - Adult Crime
Buy Payback Time
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