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The Consultant
The Consultant, a Scottish mob thriller, follows the misadventures of charming but naïve accountant Ian McLeod as he gets caught up in a murder conspiracy orchestrated by the Glaswegian mafia. Duped into being in the wrong place at the wrong time, MacLeod is falsely accused of murder and though he uses his smarts in an attempt to twist the situation to his advantage, he ends up over his head.
While Scotland Yard investigates the murders, MacLeod is implicated, bewildering his love interest Scotland Yard profiler Kyla Fraser. Kyla refuses to believe that MacLeod is guilty and in spite of the risks to her career and in the face of mounting circumstantial evidence against him, she works behind the scenes in an attempt to solve the murders to exonerate the man she loves.
This action packed thriller takes the reader on a cloak and dagger adventure across Great Britain in a classic ‘wronged man’ tale of good against evil, romance and intrigue.
Ian MacLeod is The Consultant..
While Scotland Yard investigates the murders, MacLeod is implicated, bewildering his love interest Scotland Yard profiler Kyla Fraser. Kyla refuses to believe that MacLeod is guilty and in spite of the risks to her career and in the face of mounting circumstantial evidence against him, she works behind the scenes in an attempt to solve the murders to exonerate the man she loves.
This action packed thriller takes the reader on a cloak and dagger adventure across Great Britain in a classic ‘wronged man’ tale of good against evil, romance and intrigue.
Ian MacLeod is The Consultant..
307 pages, Paperback
First published January 21, 2013
223 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 31, 2013
Liam Muir has taken the classic "scapegoat and/or wrong place wrong time" crime thriller to dizzying heights with the "consultant" Ian MacLeod is a certified accountant (CA) whose life has spiraled into the ultimate rut recently fired from his job as an accountant for a burgeoning technology firm up to his eyeballs in alimony payments the door prize for a 10 year loveless marriage with no job, no marriage and the prospect of spending the rest of his life in a cramped rented flat Ian decides that a change of scenery is in order but with limited financial prospects moving to Bora Bora just isn't going to happen. So he settles for returning to his hometown of Glasgow in hopes of rejuvenating his soul and maybe even finding gainful employment as a freelance consultant.
On the train from London, Ian MacLeod meets two people that will change his life forever. The first being Kyla Fraser, a psychological profiler for Scotland Yard and the second is an old friend from college. By the name of Jordie, an old friend of Iain's from college, who offers him a job as an independent forensic accountant and auditor to investigate accusations of embezzlement for his company. After several weeks of no job prospects Ian reluctantly agrees to look over Jordie’s company books and find the missing money however there is a particularly interesting catch to the assignment Ian must remain completely off book. You will be provided with everything he needs including records. A laptop and camera, and anything else germane to the investigation, however, he will remain completely anonymous and be paid 20,000 pounds in a Swiss bank account, plus a bonus when the job is completed.
Although Ian finds this somewhat suspicious he has used up most of this savings thanks to unemployment and alimony so he finds himself in a desperate situation, financially speaking so he dives into the assignment headfirst while at the same time. Sparks are flying between Ian and Kyla and just as he thinks his life is about to turn around. The other shoe drops during the course of his investigation even discovers that there is no embezzlement occurring at all, but rather a complete side business a top-level executive is dealing in the prostitution of young women and trafficking their services throughout the United Kingdom, Ian knows he should probably stop the investigation and report his findings to the proper authorities. Regardless of what it says in his contract. However, he is too intrigued by the mystery and presses forward with the investigation.
Unfortunately for Ian McLeod there are several players in this illicit operation, and they wish to remain anonymous, by any means necessary. The executive in charge of the company Ian is investigating as an "accident" and falls from the platform waiting for his morning train. And when the cops investigate the executive's death, one thing leads to another and Ian MacLeod becomes the prime suspect in the murder. This then sends Ian McLeod on the run all over the United Kingdom. Trying to avoid the police prove his innocence and solve the mystery all at the same time. Kyla works behind the scenes and uses every forensic trick she knows to try and prove the man that she loves is completely innocent.
This is a fast-paced novel that will entangle you in a web of political and corporate corruption, as well as introducing you to the Glasgow underworld. This is a mile a minute to ride that you will not be able to put down (I didn't I read the entire 307 pages in one-day). This book will become a classic in the British crime genre, guaranteed it is definitely worth the read.
September 7, 2020
I seem to be the odd one out here. So far, everyone has rated The Consultant pretty highly.
One of my least favourite things to do is to give a book a bad review, especially when it comes to a Goodreads Giveaway as I’m always grateful to receive a free copy of a novel. It’s unfortunate, but it got to the point where my mother told me that she couldn’t wait for me to finish the book. It wasn’t because she wanted to read the novel, it was because she wanted my frustrated complaints to stop.
In all honesty, this novel took me a lot longer to read than it should have, and I blame that on the notes I was taking. I ended up stopping every couple of pages to write down something that I didn’t like or something that I felt didn’t fit the story. And by the end of the book, I had 10 pages of notes, but I'll try to keep this review short.
Something that really bothered me was inconsistencies in character choices. One big one was when Ian agreed to do the RIA auditing job, and this was after being told that the client only pays by cash or by transferring money into a foreign bank account. This is a BIG red flag for someone who works in the financial industry.
There is this thing my family says when we come across something in a storyline that is completely illogical. We scrunch up our faces staring at the TV or book trying to figure out why the writer wanted that particular thing to happen. After some thought, with no logical answer, we throw our hands up in the air and say “moves the story forward”. Saying this doesn't make the problem better, but it helps us move past the ridiculousness of it. This is exactly what I did when Ian’s decided to take an obviously seedy job.
Another major thing that bothered me in The Consultant was the relationship between Ian and Kyla. Their relationship felt forced and they fall in love almost immediately. Now, I'm not saying that love at first sight doesn’t exist, but I see so many problems with their “budding” relationship.
Ian met Kyla on a train, and when they parted, he said he would call her. But he didn't. It was weeks later when he next spoke to her after randomly running into her at a coffee shop. When they left the coffee shop, she brought this complete stranger home for an entire weekend.
At the end of their weekend together, they decided to spend the next weekend with each other, but Ian doesn't show.
Kyla is shocked and thinks that it is out of character for Ian to bail and not show up. That was the point when I cried out in disbelief and thought, “Is this girl stupid? I thought she was a profiler?” So far in their relationship, Ian has only shown her this side of himself. That is the extent of their relationship before Ian stands her up, and yet somehow she doesn’t understand why he has randomly disappeared without a word.
There was one scene in the Consultant that I quite enjoyed. It was a flashback telling us the events that pushed Ian to move away from Glasgow shortly after finishing his degree. This scene was exciting.
I wish the characters were a little more consistent in their speech patterns, I found the language didn't always fit the characters. I also found I couldn’t get into the story because there was too much of ‘this is what the character is doing and this is where he is going’ instead of making us feel like we are experiencing these events with the characters. So, more telling than showing. I’m sorry to say that I didn’t enjoy The Consultant.
Edit: After this review was posted, the author wrote a scathing blog post about me titled "The Banality of Artistic Critique"...he seems nice...
One of my least favourite things to do is to give a book a bad review, especially when it comes to a Goodreads Giveaway as I’m always grateful to receive a free copy of a novel. It’s unfortunate, but it got to the point where my mother told me that she couldn’t wait for me to finish the book. It wasn’t because she wanted to read the novel, it was because she wanted my frustrated complaints to stop.
In all honesty, this novel took me a lot longer to read than it should have, and I blame that on the notes I was taking. I ended up stopping every couple of pages to write down something that I didn’t like or something that I felt didn’t fit the story. And by the end of the book, I had 10 pages of notes, but I'll try to keep this review short.
Something that really bothered me was inconsistencies in character choices. One big one was when Ian agreed to do the RIA auditing job, and this was after being told that the client only pays by cash or by transferring money into a foreign bank account. This is a BIG red flag for someone who works in the financial industry.
There is this thing my family says when we come across something in a storyline that is completely illogical. We scrunch up our faces staring at the TV or book trying to figure out why the writer wanted that particular thing to happen. After some thought, with no logical answer, we throw our hands up in the air and say “moves the story forward”. Saying this doesn't make the problem better, but it helps us move past the ridiculousness of it. This is exactly what I did when Ian’s decided to take an obviously seedy job.
Another major thing that bothered me in The Consultant was the relationship between Ian and Kyla. Their relationship felt forced and they fall in love almost immediately. Now, I'm not saying that love at first sight doesn’t exist, but I see so many problems with their “budding” relationship.
Ian met Kyla on a train, and when they parted, he said he would call her. But he didn't. It was weeks later when he next spoke to her after randomly running into her at a coffee shop. When they left the coffee shop, she brought this complete stranger home for an entire weekend.
At the end of their weekend together, they decided to spend the next weekend with each other, but Ian doesn't show.
Kyla is shocked and thinks that it is out of character for Ian to bail and not show up. That was the point when I cried out in disbelief and thought, “Is this girl stupid? I thought she was a profiler?” So far in their relationship, Ian has only shown her this side of himself. That is the extent of their relationship before Ian stands her up, and yet somehow she doesn’t understand why he has randomly disappeared without a word.
There was one scene in the Consultant that I quite enjoyed. It was a flashback telling us the events that pushed Ian to move away from Glasgow shortly after finishing his degree. This scene was exciting.
I wish the characters were a little more consistent in their speech patterns, I found the language didn't always fit the characters. I also found I couldn’t get into the story because there was too much of ‘this is what the character is doing and this is where he is going’ instead of making us feel like we are experiencing these events with the characters. So, more telling than showing. I’m sorry to say that I didn’t enjoy The Consultant.
Edit: After this review was posted, the author wrote a scathing blog post about me titled "The Banality of Artistic Critique"...he seems nice...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 2, 2014
The Consultant by Liam Muir is a riveting page turner, full of intense action and a skillfully woven plot that will keep you gripping the edge of your seat from the start of the journey to the adrenaline fuelled climax.
The protagonist, Ian MacLeod had had a traumatic and abused childhood at the hands of his violent tempered stepfather. A loner with few friends in his teen years, Ian concentrated on his academic studies but some of his friends became embroiled with the Glasgow mob scene and its dark and violent activities.
After escaping Glasgow, Ian became an accountant, but a loveless marriage, job loss and mounting debts made him decide to return to Glasgow after an eleven year absence. A decision that would change his life for ever.
For Ian, meeting two people by chance at the station, one an old friend, Jordie and the other a Scotland Yard psychological profiler, Kyla Fraser, would have far reaching and dangerous consequences.
So we begin a thriller of a read from Liam Muir, a natural and gifted storyteller.
I loved this novel and look forward to more from this author.
The protagonist, Ian MacLeod had had a traumatic and abused childhood at the hands of his violent tempered stepfather. A loner with few friends in his teen years, Ian concentrated on his academic studies but some of his friends became embroiled with the Glasgow mob scene and its dark and violent activities.
After escaping Glasgow, Ian became an accountant, but a loveless marriage, job loss and mounting debts made him decide to return to Glasgow after an eleven year absence. A decision that would change his life for ever.
For Ian, meeting two people by chance at the station, one an old friend, Jordie and the other a Scotland Yard psychological profiler, Kyla Fraser, would have far reaching and dangerous consequences.
So we begin a thriller of a read from Liam Muir, a natural and gifted storyteller.
I loved this novel and look forward to more from this author.
November 20, 2014
I was lucky to win this from Goodreads.
Finished reading The Consultant. It is a thriller which features an accountant as the protagonist. He is hired as a free lance consultant by an accounting firm after being fired from his previous job. He is the perfect patsy to take the fall for some mob murders after being assigned the task of covertly examining the books of the victims. If you like thrillers with a little romance thrown in, you will love this one.
Finished reading The Consultant. It is a thriller which features an accountant as the protagonist. He is hired as a free lance consultant by an accounting firm after being fired from his previous job. He is the perfect patsy to take the fall for some mob murders after being assigned the task of covertly examining the books of the victims. If you like thrillers with a little romance thrown in, you will love this one.
January 5, 2014
Ian McLeod makes bad decisions. He’s a skilled accountant, but for some reason the numbers in life don’t always add up for him. Unwise decisions and miscalculations lead Ian into the deadly world of organized crime. Fortunate for Ian, his charm exceeds his judgment, and he meets a woman named Kyla who tries to keep his bad decisions from killing him. Compelling, suspenseful thriller.
March 1, 2014
I have read probably the finest crime thriller on the market. Mr. Muir draws you into the seedy part of Glasgow. I look forward to the next book.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews