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Authentic feeling (which I would expect considering the author) and clever it brings home everything you half guess about what may go on in the higher echelons of power, it is all scarily believable and highly addictive. I'm a big fan of Robert Peston and really enjoyed his first novel, The Whistleblower, so I was really pleased to be offered the chance to read the follow up, The Crash. This was a book that I had seen and it was the author who sparked my interest. Peston is someone I am used to seeing on the news and this book intrigued me. What I found was a book that initially was slower starting, the first section took some time before the actual main story as such started to emerge. In this time, however, it gave me a chance to learn a bit about Gil and also his character. The Crash by Robert Peston is set in the alterative universe that Robert introduced in his previous book, The Whistleblower. An alternative history if you like of New Labour and the early noughties in the UK. Now ten years on and we're seeing how the fiscal crisis of 2007 started. I wasn’t blown away, the story seems fairly basic with desperate journalists trying to uncover the truth and expose power hungry politicians. This has been done many times before and no doubt will be done many times more!
Robert Peston interview on his new book The Whistleblower Robert Peston interview on his new book The Whistleblower
Beginning to think Fic Fac (mix of Fiction and Fact) is the literary answer to Hip Hop. So much of this book resonates as perceived fact, with probable cause, but whatever your feelings on that front this was a book I just couldn’t put down. As a sequel to the Whistleblower I found this book totally absorbing both as a thriller that triggered the imagination and to the extent I was even picturing some real life names in place of some of the “fictional” characters portrayed (good game). Of its type I thought this book was brilliant, would thoroughly recommend and grateful to NetGalley and BonnierBooks ,Zaffre for the ARC. Overall, not the best book ever written, not even the best political thriller ever written but an average one with a well known author. Without his name I doubt it would do so well. I’m sure readers will be trying to work out which politicians have been rewritten in here and to be honest I didn’t care. His former colleague at the Financial Chronicle, Jess Neeskens, is still a close friend and features strongly in this story which starts with Gil discovering problems at Banque de Maghreb, who have to freeze a fund heavily invested in ‘sub prime’ mortgages from US banks (does this ring a bell?). Soon Marilyn Krol, a director of the Bank of England, and on/off lover of Gil, is found hanged and Gill cannot accept the view of Assistant Met Commissioner, Kim Jansen, that it is suicide.
A really good read. I have read the previous book and enjoyed it. This one took me a while to get into - I needed to sort out the characters and the various story lines. It becomes a gripping thriller with insider information on the workings and interweaving of banks, government and television which the reader feels must be supported by the author’s own experiences. Of course, there is no way of telling where fact and fiction collide - but it all makes a good story. The weird thing about being OCD is you can be OCD about some things and not about others. When I was young, my brain was utter chaos. There were just thoughts going everywhere the whole time, it was total noise. I could control it when I was writing, but my book collection was always like the way I thought, everything was everywhere – and still is.
Robert Peston Jewish News meets: Crash, bang, wallop, it’s Robert Peston
The whistleblower by Robert Peston, is his first novel, he has his own politics show and often talks on the news about political matters. Political shenanigans abound in this tale of corruption money and murder and the writing is excellent, keeping you involved throughout and often on the edge of your seat. The crime story is the core of the book and what makes it work. They say write what you know and Peston sensibly creates a tangle of politics and finance, all hiding murder. As someone who studied economics, I had no issues following the more detailed sections, but some readers may be as bored by them now as they were then – hence one of the reasons that there was a crash as no one was interested in mortgage issues for the poor. I'm not the biggest fan of political thrillers, but I made 2021 the year of trying new things, and that also extended to genres of books I had either dismissed a few years ago or never really go in to in the first place. I wasn’t grabbed enough by the story, I wasn’t really bothered about reading on, I just hoped it got better.An economics editor and murder are not the best of bedfellows, but Peston makes it work by having the stakes so high. This is not just company politics, but on a global scale. With banks going bust and businesses up for sale at a cheap price, there is certainly enough money floating around as a motive for murder. The book is set in an alternative 2007. Some of the characters are real, but those that play an important part are also often versions of real people. The likes of Brown, Blair, Murdoch, and a whole host of people are given a facsimile. There are plenty of twists, turns and red herrings in the course of the book and the end does not disappoint.
best recent crime and thrillers – review roundup | Books The best recent crime and thrillers – review roundup | Books
Again, this was really enjoyable for me. Whilst I can be a bit wary of celebs using their profile to step over other novelists, Peston can clearly write, has a brilliant storytelling mind and has the necessary knowledge and experience to make it all feel very real. He readily admits that his characters are fictional , but also largely based on people he has met throughout his career. This legal thriller story takes another turn. Gil is going to find out exactly how this accident happened. It was in fact thanks to the Jewish News’ Justin Cohen that Peston was introduced to the people who run the Goalhanger podcast operation. They had originally been toying with the idea of a podcast on identity in 21st century Britain, but during a meeting with Goalhanger’s co-founder Tony Pastor (alongside football pundit Gary Lineker), the idea for an economics and business podcast emerged. There is great deal of financial information covered in the novel, and indeed this is essential for the storyline, but Peston has been careful to include this content in a user friendly manner - so even this reader could comprehend the details.
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
The Whistleblower by Robert Peston | Waterstones
The author Robert Peston, may have wrote a novel based on what he knows, but he has weaved tragedy into the storyline.The crime genre is huge, and a protagonist can become involved in solving a murder in numerous ways. Being a police officer or PI makes sense, being an elderly lady or vicar less so, but authors still manage somehow – to remarkable success. Another easy option is a journalist. Their job is already to investigate so it makes sense that a roving crime reporter comes across a case of misjustice and wants to settle the score. Crime reporter on the beat. What? Robert Peston’s The Crash is about the Chief Finance Reporter at the BBC solving a murder, but it works. Giving a name to the podcast was easy in Peston’s mind. “I felt very strongly it should be The Rest is Money because money is something everyone can relate to —and it allows us to talk about anything in the broad space of finance and business. It wasn’t. The story plods along and the protagonist Gil is incredibly irritating to spend time with. It’s never a good sign to have to continuously tell your reader that “I know this sounds boring but trust me, it’s REALLY IMPORTANT”. If you find yourself repeatedly writing that than maybe it’s a sign you should find a more interesting scandal for your debut novel.
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