Final Settlement

by Linda Davies

When love goes wrong, death is the most final settlement of all. Morganna Hutton is a young artist, beautiful and rich. When she falls in love with the devastatingly handsome Archie Edge, she thinks he is the answer to her prayers, until the nightmares begin. But the love of money is the root of all evil, and wickedness, in glamorous disguise, stalks this compulsive book. From the grand houses of Long Island to the wilds of northwest Scotland, we follow Morganna, first in her quest for love and then for justice, as she seeks the one person who has taught her the real meaning of love—her daughter, stolen from her.

-CRITICAL ACCLAIM FOR LINDA DAVIES AND HER NOVELS-

“Enough action, financial know-how and international hokey-pokey to satisfy any reader … we get an idea of the coolness, daring and imagination that go into successful high-voltage trading involving hundreds of millions.” —The New York Times

“Linda Davies pops her debut thriller into the microwave and brings it to a near-instant boil…. THIS BOOK’S A CLASS ACT.” —Glamour

“Davies, herself a former merchant banker, does a terrific job of explaining the inner workings of foreign-exchange markets and of creating a sense of the supercharged atmosphere in which the traders do their deals.” —People

“A STYLISH AND VERY CONTEMPORARY British thriller about international finance…. This first novel by young, gorgeous, etc., former banker Linda Davies feels about as real as a James Bond movie, but it satisfies in exactly the same flashy, fast-moving way.” —Mademoiselle

“FAST-PACED FUN … having worked on Wall Street and in London as a merchant banker, the thirty-year-old writer makes that world sound a whole lot more exciting than most of us give it credit for being.” —Chicago Tribune

“UTTERLY FASCINATING when it deals with the giddy, high-risk manipulations of foreign-exchange traders. —Entertainment Weekly

“PULSE-PUSHING YARN … Davies lobs a female dynamo into the mostly male bastions of international finance and the government agencies that stalk those who prey on the markets…. Her writing style is mellifluous, her understanding of high-stakes currency trading authoritative yet unobtrusive, and her action scenes snap—making this A FINANCIAL THRILLER WITH BULL, NOT BEAR, WRITTEN ALL OVER IT.” —Publishers Weekly

“Davies captures the lure of the [foreign-exchange] game … LOOK FOR THIS ONE TO BE BIG.” —USA Today

“THIS GRIPPING READ reveals a flashy merchant class and a moral void—akin to an upholstered pit in a gambling casino … the game of fast-track money deals is as much an aphrodisiac as power and forbidden sex in this financial thriller.” —Kirkus Reviews

Genres: Fiction

414 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

With the publication of her debut novel, Nest of Vipers, a book that would become a celebrated international bestseller, Linda Davies launched a new genre and a new career. But long before the global book deals and stellar reviews in the New York Times, Linda was logging 80 hour work weeks as one of the first women investment bankers in the City of London. At nights and weekends, she’d squeeze in time working on her first novel.

Born in Scotland and raised in South Wales, Linda inhaled books as child and dreamed of becoming a writer. But she was the daughter of an economist and a homemaker, and therefore, raised to be practical. So she went into investment banking instead. For the next eight years she worked in the City of London where she saved her running away money. One day, to her horror, she figured out a way to commit the perfect financial crime. After considering it for 3 seconds, she opted to instead write a novel about it.

18 months later, she decided to confront reality and test whether it really had been wise to give up her day job. She pitched her book to an agent... A week later he presented her with a stunning book deal that would see Nest of Vipers published in over 30 territories and optioned by MGM Studios. Since publishing Nest of Vipers, Linda Davies has gone on to publish twelve more books, seven for adults and five for children, which collectively have sold millions of copies and won various awards.

She has lived in Peru and the Middle East with her husband and three children. In 2005, in what could have been ripped from the pages of her own books, she and her husband were kidnapped, interrogated and held prisoner in Iran. She went on to write about this experience and what she learned from it in her first work of non-fiction, Kidnapped: The true story of my captivity in Iran.

Linda’s fast-paced page turners explore risk, identity, temptation and who we really are, when the things we value most have been taken away.

Reviews

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book could have easily been called "Beware A Woman Scorned" - as it is totally about revenge. I really enjoyed this book because it is written similiar to books by V.C. Andrews. There are no really big surprises in this book but there are a lot of great charactierization within this book - each character is unique in their own right. Pretty predictable as you read what was coming next, but there was an inner sense that you still wanted to read the next chapter. The heroine survived some horrific experiences - but continued to hold on to her end-goal. If you are looking for a book that you don't have to 'think' a lot - but can use it strictly for entertainment reading - this is a fantastic book.

[Charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my favourite Linda Davies thriller: it begins as a dark, fateful romance, but ends as a bloodcurdling race for survival. I particularly enjoyed the strong reminiscences of Daphne du Maurier's 'Rebecca': not just the glamourous beau monde fooling about in boats, but also the juxtaposition of naive young heroine and (memorably) ruthless older woman. The locations (Cape Wrath in the Highlands of Scotland, the Gatsby-esque mansions of Long Island, pretty Southwold in Suffolk and best of all, a luxurious private suite at the Ritz) whisk you away from the everyday, while the plot and its twists keeps the pages turning...

[Tim O]

I didn’t like it so did not proceed

[Tim Kruijer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Het was aan het begin last om door het verhaal te lezen door de zwakke persoonlijkheid van Morganna. Maar het boek bleef me wel aangrijpen om door te lezen en het personage herpakte zich uitstekend.

[Marfa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pretty good book. Kept me interested and moved quickly - Kind of reminded me of a Hallmark movie. Short note to the author, just because you have an impressive grasp of english, does not mean you have to use your entire repetoire in one book. In the first 5 pages we have: antediluvian, erudite, inimical, and ennobled.

[Wendy Fee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was okay, but not great. Interesting story, although it bordered on predictable at times. Author really should have done some research though into American speech and slang. Considering the main character is American, there were numerous instances where she used British phrases, in spots where they would never fly.

[Kimberly Abbott · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was browsing the book story when I came across this book. It was the dark moody cover page that pulled me in ( different than the one shown here) and the story held me. I loved everything about this story ( yes even Archie’s bitch of a mother )
More than ten years later it still sits on my shelf ready to be re-read again and again.

[Lily C · Rating 2 out of 5]

Shades of Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

[Huub Nollet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Knap geschreven. Spannend verhaal over wat heel veel geld blijkbaar met mensen kan doen. Als tussendoortje begonnen, maar kon het niet echt wegleggen.

[Guyon Essed · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dit boek zat in een prijzenpakket. Niet het soort boek dat je verwacht als je een hoofdstedelijk dictee wint dat wordt voorgelezen door Frits Bolkestein.

[Monika Guttridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book - great story and so easy to read. Fab work!
Once you start reading it, it's very hard to put it down!

[Suzanne Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read, sad when it finished

[Ann Staelens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Meeslepend en vlot lezend boek. Voorspelbaar einde.
Leuke vakantielectuur.