Allreaders.com
Author David Ignatius booklist (click here)

Book Review By David Fletcher
The Bank of Fear by David Ignatius

In London England, Sam Hoffman is an financial investigator for hire, but don't call him a spy. That's what his alcoholic father did for the CIA and he wants no part of that lifestyle. One day Hoffman is approached by Ramon Pinta, a distraught Filipino claiming his wife was murdered by Nasir Hammoud. Pinta and his wife were employed by Hammoud, but Hoffman is skeptical of the story and doubts he can learn much about this man. After some cursory fact checking he learns Hammoud is a very interesting and enigmatic fellow and his company little-known multinational corporation Coyote Investments is even more mysterious. He is able to learn the name of a young woman named Lina Alwan employed at Coyote who may have some information helpful to him.

Hoffman's efforts towards getting Lina to cooperate with his investigation are refused, as she is clearly terrified of speaking out against her well-connected employer. Hoffman has been around long enough to know that when he receives a call from the Philippine Embassy that Mr. Pinta has quietly returned home and no longer wishes for his services, Pinta is dead and someone wants this investigation to go away. Lina has accidentally viewed a secret and sensitive personal file of Hammoud's. Meanwhile Hoffman's attentions toward her have got the top people at Coyote upset. Lina is now under suspicion and her bosses begin making veiled threats about her safety. But it is not until Hammoud tells Lina that her elderly Aunt still residing in Iraq has died suddenly that Lina gets angry enough to help Hoffman to take down Coyote Investments and it's head man.

When the Ruler of Iraq is toppled there is a power struggle. One of the top brass from Coyote is returned to Iraq, and believed dead as the search begins for rumored hidden wealth, some of which has been laundered through Coyote. Lina makes a desperate attempt to gain incriminating evidence against her boss but is detected by the bad guys who seem to always have the upper hand. Lina is roughed up by Iraqi security forces and barely manages to escape with the help of a friend named Helen from college. Helen is a computer whiz who guides Lina through the steps she must take to get to Switzerland and using the Internet, break into the banking computers to unmask the activities of Hammoud and Coyote Investments. What follows is a rapid paced adventure one step ahead of her boss and those now in power in Baghdad looking for what they claim is their money. With Hoffman's help she may just save her life and expose Hammoud's criminal activity before he can hurt anyone else.


Plot & Themes
Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
Time/era of story:
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
descript. of violence and chases - 30 %
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 30 %
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20 %
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20 %
Crime Thriller Yes
Crime plotlets:
General Crime (including known murderer) Yes
Who's the criminal enemy here? - evil corporation/rich guy

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status:
Age: - 20's-30's
Ethnicity/Race

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status:
Motive of antagonist - money/treasure
How sensitive is this character?
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters

Setting
Europe Yes
Asia/Pacific Yes
City? Yes
Misc setting - resort/hotel

Writing Style
Accounts of torture and death? - very gorey references to deaths/dead bodies and torture
Explicit sex in book? Yes
What kind of sex: - descript of kissing
Unusual forms of death - rough sex
Unusual form of death? Yes
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
Back To Main Menu