Payback

Roy Groves #2

by Ray Green

"Ray Green is a master storyteller who pulls you deep into the plot with every stroke of the pen ... Green will not disappoint." - London TV "The master is at his impressive best here..." - Daily Press Roy Groves is the Operations Director of a successful company manufacturing dashboard instruments for luxury cars. A fatal motorway fire is traced back to a fault in the product supplied by Roy’s company. Was it a tragic accident or something more sinister? As Roy and his colleagues battle to establish the cause of the fire, and save the company from bankruptcy, they discover that they have been the victims of sabotage. Eventually it emerges that an old enemy of Roy and the rest of the team has reappeared and is intent on destroying the company and every member of its management team. Once just a business adversary, their nemesis is now so consumed with hatred that he is on the edge of insanity; he resorts to blackmail and even murder in the pursuit of his goal. Payback is a chilling tale of how hatred can twist and corrupt the human soul. Scroll up and grab a copy of Payback today.

306 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 24, 2014

About the author

Ray Green is married with two daughters and lives in West Sussex, England. He graduated from Southampton University with a BSc in Physics and then went on to a career spanning some 30 years in the electronics manufacturing industry. For much of that time, he was operating at Director level in several different companies, and so is well qualified to give an insight into the world of business and corporate politics. Buyout, Ray's first novel, is based on his actual experience of carrying out a management buyout. It is, however, a work of fiction: the companies, characters and much of the plot in Buyout are different from those that figured in the MBO which inspired this story. The sequel, 'Payback', charts the fortunes of the principal characters on 'Buyout' over the next few years.

Reviews

[Rajuda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Undoubtedly one of the best thrillers I read in recent times. Grab it. And believe me, you aren't going to be disappointed.

[Geoffrey West · Rating 5 out of 5]

Utterly compelling page-turner

"Payback" is a sequel to the excellent "Buyout", both thrillers with an authentic and exciting background of the skulduggery and ins and outs of big business and the intricacies of deals and almost deals. But Payback is also a standalone book – you don’t have to read Buyout to enjoy it, because the background is explained clearly.

The story is utterly intriguing. What happens if your company has been making a product for months, then suddenly you find that a fault has developed, and somebody dies as a result? This is the dichotomy facing the board of Romotiv, the newly bought out engineering company that makes car components. Like a detective tale, the story progresses from astonishment to fear, to righteous indignation. Roy Groves and his colleagues wonder, ‘ How can the faulty part have passed the factory’s strict safety checks? The answer is the start of a murky wander into greed, revenge, viciousness, hatred and pure evil. I learnt a great deal about business that I never knew before, and I also got to like Roy Groves and his colleagues and friends even more. This book strikes at the heart of the human spirit: when you’re in trouble, who can you rely on to help? When something happens you can’t explain, how do you find answers? And most crucial of all, how on earth do you handle a massive crisis, that threatens to destroy your life and your future and the future of those you care about?

This is another thoroughly engrossing tale, with plenty of intrigue and double dealing to keep you guessing, a real page turner, jam-packed with entertainment.

Now I’ve read two Roy Groves novels. I can’t wait for the third one, out soon.

[Joel Hames · Rating 5 out of 5]

A host of engaging characters you can’t help getting behind and rooting for. A clear, precise narrative style that throws the reader right into the story and doesn’t let up for a moment. A thoroughly dislikeable villain in the finest tradition. The second Roy Groves novel has everything you liked from the first, with a proper thriller plot driving it to a tense and exciting denouement. A gripping novel from a writer to look out for.

[Shell Swinscoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

great story. explained everything ti do witb the business side of the story perfectly, so even a numpty like me could understand. ...loved it!

[Kamlesh Gandhi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thriller, riveting from the first page to the last. Worthy sequel to the first in the series BUYOUT

[Tom Cunningham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story but poor writing and editing

I enjoyed the story, although I knew what was going to happen in the end about halfway through.

The writing is poor. There are several phrases used a lot. I found more than 5 typos.

Tom Cunningham (too tall)
Napoleon Hill Foundation Certified Instructor
Founder of Journey To Success Radio
International motivational speaker

[Carol Free · Rating 3 out of 5]

I Kept Waiting

For "the plot twist"....but there simply wasn't one. Interesting plot that ended with a whimper......but could have been so much more.

[Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Payback is the sequel to Mr Green’s debut novel Buyout and if you thought that the MBO process was difficult for Roy Groves and his team, it was a doddle compared to what follows!
More than two years have passed since the buyout and the management team are under pressure from the City sharks who control the company to maximise their financial returns, potentially to the long term detriment of the business. As if this wasn’t enough to contend with it soon becomes apparent that the company has been the victim of sabotage. Moreover, someone seems intent on destroying the credibility of the management team by exposing past misdemeanours, and it looks like there is a personal grudge behind it. Roy and his team must identify the culprit, while minimising the damage to the business and placating their investors.

The plot gathers momentum nicely and reaches a nail-biting finish. There are not many writers who can portray with such chilling accuracy the pressures of working for a company backed by private equity, but Mr Green has nailed it. His characterisation of the City slickers is spot on and he handles the conflicting loyalties of the management team with sensitivity and insight.

Payback is much lighter on technical detail than Buyout, and is the better for it, allowing the plot and the characters to take centre stage. I thoroughly enjoyed the book from start to finish and will definitely be reading the third book in the series, Chinese Whispers.

[Jane Cable · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first corporate thriller I've read - probably because I've worked in the corporate world - and I did wonder if some of the corporate background was too technical for a reader with a lay knowledge of business. That said, the central plot was a universal and although the villain turned out to be a little 'pantomime' it kept me gripped and turning the pages to find out what was going to happen next.

[5ngela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love it. Love that in this story we see Nathan vulnerable side. Unfortunately in the third series the author focus the story in China. Based on my experience, book that focus in China tend to be bias because they only know about China from media. Anyway, this is great story.

[Anandh Sundar · Rating 3 out of 5]

very engaging novel—shows what happens when a ‘reports’ culture seeps in replacing an entrepreneurial culture