December 2017 Lesser-Known Books Group Read: Source #BOM-dec-2017

[Quantum]

Our twelfth group read of 2017 is a financial thriller.

Please join us in reading Zach Abrams's Source

Effects of several incidents have rocked the Royal National Bank to its core, causing its share price to tumble and world stock markets to ripple. International economic stability is at risk.

Tom is an accomplished journalist from London, and an unhappily married workaholic seeking to advance his career. Sally is single, ambitious and independent. Visiting from Australia, she’s chasing the same story. Eager to research the alleged wrongdoings at RNB exposed by whistleblowers, they become entwined in the investigation, and their trail leads them from London to Glasgow, Manchester, Barcelona and Collioure.

But they tread a dangerous path surrounded by cryptic warnings. Timing and diversity of the events make it almost impossible for the events to be coincidence or incompetence. Is someone powerful and ingenious enough to mastermind the demise of the largest financial institution in the world?

Reading Schedule
9 - 15 December
First impressions only. Must use spoiler tags for all content.

16 - 22 December
Discuss chapters 1 - 14. Do not need to use spoiler tags for content in these chapters.

23 - 31 December
Discuss entire book. Do not need to use of spoiler tags at all.

[Kent]

Got my copy. I'll start tonight.

[Eldon]

Got my copy. I'm behind in reading commitments at the moment though so I likely won't make an appearance in the discussion until after the 23rd.

[Kent]

First impressions:

1. Emphasis on narrative and character development early. Not a lot of time spent describing the setting. The only time the narrative gets sidetracked is when the characters are discussing British culture.

2. I am so far mystified by the prologue's utility. Interested to see how it ties in later.

3. Characters are mostly believable.

4. I was hoping for a bit more Scottish vernacular from a few of the characters.

5. Enjoying it overall.

[Quantum]

How's the reading going?

According to the reading schedule, we can discuss chapters 1 - 14 without having to use spoiler tags.

[Kent]

I'm done it. Was waiting until after the 23rd when the whole book could be discussed + Eldon would be able to join in.

[Eldon]

Kent wrote: "I'm done it. Was waiting until after the 23rd when the whole book could be discussed + Eldon would be able to join in."

I've started reading this book today and have some preliminary thoughts on it.

*Sigh* It gets me when authors start books with info dumps. I can't help but ask why? Maybe the familial lineage of the character is important to the story. Maybe. But not knowing any of the characters yet I can assure you it's not important to me. And it certainly doesn't set up a "fast-paced" story.

Then, once you get past the prologue, Abram's spends an unfortunate amount of time describing the minute details of an office. So far I'm left wondering where the fast paced narrative he promised is?

[Eldon]

Sorry guys but I'm out on this one. I gave it 10 percent to gain my interest and it just didn't. Too many info dumps and too much description (a fault I've been guilty of myself) and just not enough plot.

[Kent]

Even after finishing the book, I still don't understand the prologue. The scene described doesn't actually happen in the story. I'd be curious to hear the author's perspective this. What was his intention with the prologue and so on.

One other thing that got me was how long it took to introduce details of the threat to the bank. A number of references were made, but they kept me guessing as to why the journos were going to all this trouble.

I wasn't as put off by the info dumps (not including the prologue). There was enough there in terms of character development to keep me going.

Tom's character seemed fairly realistic. I wasn't a big fan, mind you, but the reactions to family, marital, and work stress were all plausible and well described.

Sally confused me a little bit. I'm still not sure why she was "flirting" (for lack of a better expression) with Tom in the beginning but didn't try to make any further advances. It seemed pretty clear that she would try to do more and, even when given the opportunity, she passed it up. Everything that happened between them after Tom's outburst about her real name was spot on.

The other thing about Sally was how easily she just took a promotion, knowing full well that the villain would still be involved. Surely, she would've been wary that a promotion so soon after the episode ended was too good to be true.

As far the premise, I liked it. Disinformation as a way to destroy a publicly traded company's value is something that is no doubt happening a lot more than we think.

[Zach]

Kent wrote: "Even after finishing the book, I still don't understand the prologue. The scene described doesn't actually happen in the story. I'd be curious to hear the author's perspective this. What was his in..."

Hi Kent

Thanks for reading my book and for your comments.

My intention with the prologue was to give a taster, being a preview of the key characters and their interaction.

The scene is not re-enacted but it does fit into the story - at the start of chapter 23 in the Radisson, Glasgow, after their first success - 'The team's mood was jovial. They were happy with their progress, and the bottle of Cava split between Sally and Tom raised their spirits even further.'

With hindsight, the chapter 1 briefing could have been more explicit about the background to the story they were chasing .

Tom and Sally are shown to have a lively and often risqué banter, not unusual between work colleagues. However, the ‘relationship’ between Tom and Sally is all portrayed from Tom’s perspective. His mind is already in turmoil from work stress and confusion about his marital situation and he’s seen to try to interpret Sally’s feelings based on their interaction. She is depicted as caring for him after the assault, there’s a jocular peck on the train, they briefly snog after a drunken night out and, in celebration, she showers kisses prior to a group hug when they break the case.

The epilogue wasn’t really necessary and was me indulging my dubious sense of humour. That said, having the opportunity of promoted posts ought not to have been unlikely for the team. Having seen what the villain had been capable of, may have made them more cautious but life doesn’t stop.

[Kent]

Hi Zach,

Thanks for your explanations.

I do remember reading the line about splitting the Cava, now that you mention it. I think I decided that it must not have been the same scene because I didn't make the connection between cava and Freixenet. Now it makes sense.

One other question:

Did you ever encounter a scheme like the one mounted against the bank in your career?

[Zach]

I haven't come across the particular scheme but I have seen various attempts to discredit companies either out of malice or market manipulation. It concerns me that the market is so easily susceptible to economic terrorism.

The idea of writing a story based on misuse of power from a ‘Headcount’ organisation came to me after my son’s experience - he worked for a financial institution which was taken over, the new owners hived off his department, then the next new company outsourced all their staffing to a ‘Headcount’ type organisation which transferred all the jobs to India making all previous staff redundant but requiring them to train the new Indian staff while working their notice

[Quantum]

Thank you, Zach Abrams, for allowing us the privilege of hosting your novel as our book of the month read.

For those of you who read his book, I encourage you to leave a review.

[Kent]

Thanks, Zach!

[Zach]

thanks for the opporttunity, also, Kent, thanks for the review