Reviewed by: BigAl
Genre: Thriller
Approximate word count: 30-35,000 words
Availability
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on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords
store
Author:
“Anna
Murray grew up as a younger child in a diverse family of nine in rural
Wisconsin. She honed her writing skills as part of a classical liberal arts
education at a small Midwestern college, and embarked on an unusual career path
that included jobs teaching English (British American Institute, Madrid Spain),
editing and training at an educational testing firm, computer programming,
technical writing and training, systems analysis for a Fortune 500 corporation,
and owning an electronic publishing business.”
In addition
to this book, Murray has a series of Western Romances. For more, visit the
author’s blog.
Description:
Web
designer Jane Nelson stumbles onto a plot a desperate Bernie-Madoff-like fund
manager has concocted to send the financial markets into a downward spiral and
make himself a fortune.
Appraisal:
There is a
temptation to lead off this review with “based on today’s headlines,” as parts
of the plot of Takedown seem to be
loosely based on some of the financial scandals of the last several years, most
notably Bernie Madoff’s ponzi scheme and some of the concerns and problems with
algorithmic stock trading. It made for a fast-paced thriller with the outcome
uncertain and a few twists you won’t see coming. The main characters were easy
to like, which in a thriller is needed so you’ll care what happens to them.
Another
thing I always appreciate is when a story takes place in a specific place and gets the details right. Geographic faux pas
are one of my pet peeves. Murray got the details right, not only
geographically, but the culture and attitudes of the people in the Twin Cities
area, where Takedown is set.
FYI:
Mild adult
situations.
Format/Typo Issues:
No
significant issues.
Rating: **** Four stars
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