Thursday, August 27, 2009

Book Review: Trading Reality by Michael Ridpath

Excellent Whodunit-type Thriller

This book can be described as a modern whodunit murder mystery with thriller and technological elements thrown into the plot line.

The brother of a bond trader in London is murdered and the bond trader turns into CEO and entrepreneur when he takes over his brother's company. The company was on the verge of a technological breakthrough in Virtual Reality and this technology plays a major role as the story unfolds. Suspense mounts towards the end as the protagonist has to deal with managing the company, keeping it afloat and learning about the technology, while he also tries to discover who murdered his brother at the same time. His life is not made any easier by attempts at hostile take-overs, attempts on his life and terrorism.

To top it all, he also falls in love with one of his new employees! The author brings the book to a masterful conclusion when all the suspects are gathered in one location, as in true classical whodunit fashion, and the technology is employed to force the murderer to expose him/herself. The story flows well and the book is very difficult to put down.