Source: A Fast-Paced Financial Crime Thriller

By: Zach Abrams

Narrated by: George Ellington

Length: 9 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's Summary

The world is on the brink of economic collapse.

Tom is an unhappily married journalist from London, seeking to advance his career. Sally is single, ambitious and independent, visiting from Australia. They're both chasing the same story.

After several incidents rock the Royal National Bank to its core, its share price tumbles and world stock markets begin to ripple. International economic stability is at risk.

Eager to research the wrongdoings at RNB exposed by whistleblowers, Tom and Sally follow a trail of leads from London to Glasgow, Manchester, Barcelona and Collioure. What they don't realize is that the path they tread is dangerous, and surrounded by cryptic warnings.

Timing and diversity of the events makes it impossible for them to be coincidence or incompetence. But who could be powerful enough to mastermind the demise of the largest financial institution in the world?

©2015 Zach Abrams (P)2020 Zach Abrams

Solid plot, complex characters

I enjoyed this book overall. It had characters I grew to love and hate. It had a few that were a bit superficial too. It had plot twists, although many of them were just too short lived to be real twists.

It is set up as a classic whodunnit sort of mystery. But the villains and potential villains were far too vaguely introduced for me to feel they were anything but thrown in during the reveal step... several missed opportunities to build tension.

Also... the theme was vaguely related to financial crime, but very little about the financial world was even touched upon. So, if that was putting you off, rest assured, no knowledge of banking or finance is necessary (or even helpful!)

I received this audiobook for free in exchange for a review.

"No sleeping on the job."

The title suggests that this will be a story which concentrates on the investigation of financial shenanigans and, although this is present, for this reader the crime solving took second place to the potential relationships between the lead journalist, Tom,at with his wife and children and his desire for his colleage, the lead feature writer from the Australian branch. The financial trail never seemed realistic, the games played more like something imposed to draw in the reader than a genuine part of the investigation. Narration by George Ellington was easy to listen to, though, if a little flat. Good intonation, and although the voicing s are not very memorable, the differentiation is there.

My thanks to the rights holder who freely gifted me a complimentary copy of Source, at my request, via Audiobook Boom. The story and writing were not bad, just bland, without the anticipated intensity: it felt too contrived to be plausible. I probably expected too much.