Julie's Review: Mortal Bonds

Summary: From the author of the extraordinary Edgar-nominated debut novel Black Fridays, a sensational story of murder and financial corruption—and one mans continued search for redemption. William von Becker ran one of the largest privately held investment banks in North America, until the bottom fell out, and the whole edifice was demonstrated to be a fraud. After von Becker dies in prison, financial investigator Jason Stafford is hired by his family. There is still a lot of missing money out there, hes told, and they want Stafford to find it before the Feds do—and certain other parties, some of whom are nowhere near as scrupulous in their methods. Bad things start happening to the people Stafford talks to. Soon bad things are happening to him as well. Making it worse, his treacherous ex-wife has come to town, ostensibly to visit their young son. Stafford suspects theres more to it than that, but even he has no idea how much that visit is about to change all their lives—and send him off to the next chapter of his life. ~powells.com

Review:  No matter how much I like Jason Stafford, I can't deny the fact that he's a convicted felon. This makes him an interesting character and while you are positive he's a good guy now, you know about his past. You see Jason was a white collar criminal, a financial guru who got caught stealing money. So who better to have working on your side than someone who can find lost/stolen money.  Jason is hired by the Von Becker family to find $3B in money that has been hidden. The trouble is that not only is the SEC wondering what you are going to be doing with the money if you find it but then you've got some people that aren't on the right side of the law following you around.

So Jason is knee deep in this case and his ex-wife comes to town. After reading Black Fridays, I have no love lost for Angie but I wonder if she is trying to be a better person. Although she still has no clue on how to handle The Kid and doesn't seem to understand the severity of his issues. The Kid for his part in the relationship with her pretty much has no acknowledgement that she's around.

What I like is that it's obvious that the case Jason is working on is complex but Mr. Sears makes it at least understandable. He acknowledges that this situation is complex by referring to how everyone on Wall Street has a speciality and you might know a little about something but you aren't an expert.

The novel is heart-pounding but it's definitely not all "run and gun". The line between good and bad guys is grey. If you think all government officials are on the up and up, then you will be disappointed to learn that they are not.  Luckily, Jason does have some "friends" in interesting places and they help him out as well.

If you are looking for an intriguing financial thriller than Mortal Bonds is for you. If you haven't read Black Fridays, I do suggest you start there.

Final Take: 4/5

Thanks to Putnam for the ARC of the novel!

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