Even though some of the problems felt a bit far-fetched, the book read pretty well and felt light. Call me a sucker, be my guest, still it's my unprofessional opinion that this is a patently underrated novel.
I have a feeling the author went out of their way to explain how the existing system for AML gets law-abiding citizens to do just that. Makes one wonder how it happened that the system just might be no longer protecting the people. And how come that only one party to bribery got to prison? That would be unusual prosecution practice.
What can I say, the novel definitely felt tight on the DD details thing, which is probably for the best with the people who are not in the business and which will irritate the people who are. A lot. And I definitely want to know how the hell can one legitimize squatting on state property. Too bad the author did not describe that. Reason: I just love to learn in detail about unusual business practices.
BEWARE OF MY SPOILERS FROM THIS POINT ON! Now, you've been forwarned and I can prattle all I want. I'm so evil! Color me a spoilerlord. Or -lady. Whatever.
Worldbuilding irks me. A lot. What can I say? I find it totally stupid on the part of our professional accountant protagonist to take a chunk of cash for bribe (and not even a big one, mind it! sizeable but within limits) and hide it. Under her shoeboxes. And the bank scene? She really an accountant or did she just wing her job, huh?
Really? Even if she couldn't have prevented getting it in the first place, couldn't she have just got rid of it? 1. Give it away for anonymous charity? To some beggar? The net result would have been better anyway. 2. Spend it on that wardrobe upgrade thing, you know? Wear a large chunk of her bribe rather than 'a large chunk of her salary'? 3. Throw it out? Drop it on the street? Burn in her frigging backyard, in the middle of the night, under the stars, skyclad? Gosh! No, it would have been too easy, she had to keep it with her shoes for police to find it. And then she had to say where she got it from, instead of the usual 'it's my savings, get your hands off of my home cash piggybank!' stuff. The sum involved was not staggering enough to be unexplainable. I do understand how things can go south this way and still it all - seems pretty simplistic.
As for the story flow, the author used an instrument of broken timeline (much appreciated by me and all lovers of fast-pacing stories). Basically, instead of describing all the minutiae of daily life transitions, we are given insight into the key points and are left to think of the intermissions. I loved it, wish some of the more languid storytellers used it.
The character building was sketchy at bits, which allowed the story not to become a quagmire of psychology. A relief! Not recommended for all books but some authors actually manage to pull this off. This one definitely did.
I loved how Jenny switched professions. I felt that her relationship with her child was a bit underoverdeloped, if such thing exists. What threw me a bit is that she started off as a dumbsicle in all things AML and winds up a crime advisor incarnate. Though again, a clever gal who spends hundreds of hours behind the bars, would definitely want to learn why the freak she has been put there. This just might lend credibility to where and why she got her updated credentials on this topic.
And as for the personal stuff, she definitely should have gone to the doctor with her troubles from the beginning.
Q: I have to remind myself that we are not looking for problems; we’re here only to demonstrate that we do our job in a reasonably responsible manner.
(c) Yeah, RIP Andersen.
Q: Eric made it quite clear that this visit has to gather the detail to justify our positive report. Landers Hoffman’s fees are conditional on the acquisition going ahead. If a few financial warts are uncovered after the event we only need to make sure they were blemishes we couldn’t have been expected to see.
(c) Uh-huh, and Enron.
Q: It’s a situation that I’ve observed many times before. He asks what he imagines are important questions and expects me to write down the answers. This would be a reasonably efficient way to do business if only he listened to the answers. This failure on his part leads inevitably to him repeating the questions over and over again until I manage to stop him or night falls or the subject dozes off.
(c)
Q: I can see that they are lying, covering up, avoiding straight answers. Paul continues, smiling and accommodating, pretending to be a man of the world in the company of equals.
(c)
Q: There is a cool charm, the air of a man operating in his own element, performing work that he is good at and comfortable with.
(c)
Q: But he’s gone, I can tell by the emptiness in my heart.
(c)
Q: ...a lady whose luminous charms light up any room she enters, together with all the men in it. Poor Paul still quivers like an electrocuted jelly whenever she so much as looks in his direction.
(c) Wherever did she watch electrocuted jelly behaviour?
Q: It has the appearance of a conversation between a magnificent female cat and a male mouse whose hormones have overwhelmed his sense of self-preservation.
(c)
Q: ‘Before we made our proposal, we were well aware of the possibilities of the OFT investigation,’ I reply. ‘As far as we’re concerned the OFT can investigate anyone at any time. Our knowledge of your business and the high standards to which you work give us every confidence that the accusations are unfounded. In practical terms, a large global business has to operate in the context of its markets. From what I’ve seen, the OFT’s chief concern is that some countries operate their commercial activities somewhat differently to here in the UK.’
My reply is couched in what I hope are terms which combine reassurance and knowledge. I’m making it up as I go along but continue anyway. ‘Landers Hoffman will provide professionalism and a pragmatic approach in the event. Together I’m sure we can demonstrate the integrity of the WOS position.’
(c)
Q: A very strange impulse rises inside me and try as I might I can’t get it out of my head. In the midst of the most important professional meeting I’ve had in my whole career, all that I can think of is getting a spray tan. Where I should go, how much it might cost, how deep to have it, whether to get a very light one at first and then gradually build it up over a few weeks. The summer is coming and it would be really nice to have a bit of colour to go with it.
(c)
Q: ‘Look, I love the things you’re telling me, they’re brilliant and really interesting, I could listen to you all night, you’re great to be with, but it’s five o’clock already and you’ll need to be going home soon, won’t you?’
(c)
Q: I look at his unremarkable features and feel a huge ocean of calm energy underneath.
(c)
Q: The rhythmic thump of the bed and the loud groans of its occupants continue for hours at a time, gradually building up velocity as I lie praying for him to climax and let me rest.
(c)
Q: My new-found calm is borne out of the temporary nature of my situation.
(c)
Q: Looking down at the Irwell from Blackfriars Bridge I wonder for an instant what that cold oblivion might taste like, then anger swells up and heats my spirit. I am not finished yet, I tell myself, and start to believe it, at least enough to avoid clambering onto the slippery stone parapet and plunging to my death. There is no joy in my surroundings, the scurrying people hardly glance at my unremarkable figure trudging the streets they use as thoroughfares.
(c)
Q: ‘Listen,’ Gary’s eyes are soft and comforting, ‘things don’t just happen, everything happens for a reason. I’ve been needing someone like you for a long time, someone I can trust, someone who is strong and capable, then you just turn up – no job, no money, nowhere proper to live. Don’t you see, this is an opportunity for both of us, one that is meant to be.’
(c)
Q: My job is to formalise the informal, to account for the unaccountable and to regularise the irregular.
(с)
Q: As far as I’m concerned they should have given her mother a medal for what she rid the world of.
(c)
Q: It’s amazing what clarity of mind can be induced by the simple act of sitting quietly, without distractions.
(с)
Q: Gerard seems to be even older than the clientele he serves. When he potters off to oil a sticking door I half expect never to see him alive again.
(c) Now, that's one cheerful gal.