The Domino Effect

September 19, 2016
Bunn (The Patmos Deception) transforms this novel, which begins as a gripping financial thriller, into little more than a flimsy romantic fairy tale, piling unlikely event upon unlikely event. Esther Larsen’s success as a risk analyst for Carolina First Mercantile, an enormous bank based in Charlotte, N.C., has come at the cost of any meaningful interactions with others. Her need for her salary to support her gravely ill brother, Nathan, leads her to stay quiet when her supervisor proposes a risky transaction that could net CFM at least $100 million in just days. Despite her concerns that the bank is engaging in Enron-like ventures, Esther keeps her worries to herself. That changes after she’s fixed up with an attractive divinity student, Craig Wessex, who, in one of the plot’s many coincidences, turns out to be the same man she recently saw sitting by Nathan’s hospital bedside. Esther soon opens her heart to connecting with others while simultaneously becoming a crusader against reckless bankers whose greed threatens the global economy. The author’s ability to make the financial aspects accessible doesn’t compensate for an increasingly cloying story line.

Narrator Gabra Zackman brings the character of Esther into sharp focus with a deliberately emotionless voice. Esther, an extremely introverted risk analyst for a large banking firm, is as aloof as she is brilliant. Craig, an accountant turned pastor, creates the first fissure in Esther's well-armored defenses with his soothing voice, aptly delivered by Zackman. When her unscrupulous boss's shady business dealings position the global financial industry for an international crisis, Esther realizes she must act to prevent disaster. Zackman's restrained tone intensifies the feeling of foreboding, riveting listeners until the last word. C.L.S. � AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine