Book Review: The Wreckage

By Sandy Amazeen Jul 7, 2011, 0:42 GMT

An international thriller based on one of the bigest bank heists in history.Billions of dollars are missing from Iraqi banks, and journalist Luca Terracini will risk everything to discover where it is. His Iraqi-American background has made it easier for him to infiltrate the darkest corners of the war, but death of his beloved Nicola in a suicide bombing has made him reckless. He has nothing left to lose. In ...more

This taut, fast-paced financial thriller set in London and Iraq ties together a host of well-developed characters, each with a believable personal history. Iraqi-American Luca Tarracini has been investigating a string of bank bombings working on the premise that they were not acts of terrorism but rather cover-ups for massive cash heists. United Nations representative Daniela Garner, a whiz at sifting through the snarls of hidden bank accounts and buried assets; running into her reinforces Luca’s beliefs about the bank bombings. Meanwhile, Elizabeth North is frantically trying to locate her missing husband Richard, an international banker. Elizabeth’s efforts are largely ignored until Richard is accused of fraud and now both he and his missing notebook is the subject of a serious hunt. Vincent Ruiz has been hot on the trail of small time thief Holly Knight and finds her just in time to save her life from an assassin known as the Courier.

Told through a series of short chapters, all these characters and subplots begin converging like a snowball rolling down a hillside, into a larger tale of greed on a massive scale during a global financial meltdown. Robotham has created the authenticity of today’s headlines while adding a character depth that works. The tension level is maintained throughout the entire story and it is a rare treat watching how everything unfolds, this is a winner.