Review: Death and the hope for resurrection in the world of finance
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 19, 2014
Might I call a novel about highly motivated businessmen, complexly layered friendships and realistic sex "beautiful"? Oh yes, you bet your sweet bippy, and I just did. Beautiful.The Prologue. Really. It sets the tone, until it takes the next turn, and the next.After that, this story starts off with a deceptively comfortable, leisurely pace. All the while, a low hum of tension is flowing beneath the surface.I liked Martin right away and that continued throughout the entire story.Josh intrigued me. Alec made me smirk and hold my breath at the same time. Francis was a dark cloud ready to break apart with the lightening of his tightly wound self.A few chapters in, I realized... well, that I had been properly sucked in. And that undercurrent of tension? Ever present and undeniable.The writing feels effortless just as it should. The dialogue realistic and meaningful, nothing superfluous.Let's really get into this:Martin is, frankly, nave at varying levels. He's had his share of hookups and had to work hard to get into uni and get this job, this career, so he's no stranger to working for what he wants. He's just not nearly as worldly when it comes to people: if someone is nice to him, they must have his best interests at heart... right? He's got a lot to learn.Francis is a gold mine, no matter where and for what you may be digging. He's smart, probably technically brilliant. He can read people as if no flesh, no bone stands between him and their inner thoughts. He's so closed off, keeping things ultra-close to his vest, that most of that knowledge he's gained from so much experience remains tucked away. Except... when it comes to Martin. Now and then, Francis shares something of himself with Martin and it's like that first gaping gulp of oxygen when you've broken the surface of the water: refreshingly bright, vital, exhilarating.Alec is a player, no matter the arena. Financially savvy, a business guru and a freelancer... with anything and everything, including himself. The interesting thing is that he sees himself as a romantic, at least when he's with that one person. Talk about a character going through a full arc in the form of peeling layers.Josh is caring, smart and seems to have Martin's number when it comes to their friendship. Josh doesn't take any guff from Martin and he's the one who consistently makes it possible for Martin to feel at ease in his own space. He knows what's best for Martin when Martin refuses to relent and see it for himself. Pretty darn good friend. I could say more on this but it's a wonderful experience watching these two and I don't want to spoil any of that.Carsten. He simply made me smile every time he arrived on the scene. Reliable, intelligent, funny and honestly sort of sweet. Definitely someone you want in your corner, no matter what or when or how. He managed to ease the tension even when it was at its highest levels.The greatest thing about characters that are far from perfect: when we get to learn about them, not just from their own thoughts and actions, but how they react with others and how other react towards them. In this story, that is when I felt the jolt of change or realization, when one of them reacted in an unexpected way towards another.Speaking of unexpected, there are surprises here. And twists. Great and small. And people simply being human. Unpredictable. A story feels real when it's organic, like it's not following a script, when it's careening around the universe the author has created and you feel like you want to buy in 100%. That was me reading this book. Like all of us, these characters make confounding decisions. They have sex with some and in ways that others would outwardly feel compelled to judge, all the while knowing they don't have the right. Expectations are blown to bits, assumptions obliterated. Martin, Francis and Josh are all painted with these messy brushes. On the flip side, they also represent growth that comes from life experience, satisfying and horrifying both. Ultimately, through it all, they're looking for the same things: happiness and security, and maybe even love if they're lucky. Alec is also in this group but for many of the opposite reasons.This story is sexy, erotic, sensual, messy, warm, affection filled and delicious. It's unmistakably set in the financial world of 2008 heading into 2009. No one knew what was going to happen from one day to the next, one hour to the next. It influenced nearly every aspect of life. Mixing desirous attraction, complex business and ever changing goals, both profession and personal, makes for a meaty read. I was left both wanting and completely satisfied. Never enough and yet too much. I felt both excited and quite anxious in revisiting that time. All of the financial world detail made that happen.I love being tied up in complicated knots by talented hands in the form of a storyteller. I'm not at all surprised that it happened here with this author. I still have scars from previous literary rope burns earned from reading the words of Voinov. It may seem odd to say given the subject matter and setting of this book, but I'm going to put it on my comfort read shelf. It feels like coming home.