Review: Gritty realism you'd expect from a New York Times reporter
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 08 4, 2011
An intellectual thriller with the eye for detail and graceful writing you would expect from a former New York Times reporter. Characters you feel you know or have read about; gritty scenes that expose the underbelly of the world of big money, and suspense that keeps you addicted to the detective's near fatal obsessions. If anything, when you finish this book, you'll want more.Here is how it unfolds. A reporter for small weekly newspaper in Miami has dug up a story that, if he is right, will turn the world of high finance on its head. He just needs to fill in a few more details about an Australian billionaire, the linchpin of the scheme. That's what he's thinking about as he heads to the beach one evening. The police say he died there while surfcasting. His father, who is the brother of the head of an international media empire, says it was murder and hires Jake Scarne, a private detective, to prove him right. The investigation takes Scarne from New York to Miami. Then the detective realizes that, like a spider's web, the financial fraud the reporter was uncovering has entangled victims as far away as Seattle and Antigua. Ultimately, Scarne becomes ensnared as well, falling for the woman who is both the billionaire's girlfriend and enforcer.