H.T. Narea

I'm not normally a huge fan of the Tom Clancy sort of thriller, mostly because I don't care much about the gear and I like the political point of view even less. The Fund is a sort-of Tom Clancyish thriller except that military gear is replaced by finance and this makes it more fun.

I didn't learn a lot about finance and economics until I went back to school for my MBA. While there I discovered that lots of this money stuff is actually really riveting and knowing more about how it all works and is measured and interrelated really broadened my perspective. That I did all this during a global economic meltdown made it seem more vital.

Mr. Narea takes advantage of the two big bugaboos of our time - global terrorism and collapsing financial markets. He combines these two big scary things into one big scary thing - global terrorism conducted via manipulation of the global financial markets - not nearly so improbable as we might have thought before 2008 and very resonant at the moment.

This is a fun read, although it stands out only because of its mix of finance and terrorism. I didn't find the characters all that interesting and my own politics diverge from this in many respects. Very entertaining, though, and definitely a page-turner. No, it's not great literature, but it sure is fun.… (más)

The Fund is complicated and, essentially very simple as well. After all, whoever controls the money controls it all, right? Kate Molares has spent most of her life searching the money angles of the world and she has possibly come upon the biggest angle of all. Financial terrorism.
In her travels, she visits an old friend in Cuba who tells her an unbelievable tale – cats chasing dogs! She ultimately sends Kate a sample of “something” and that “something” is a strain of toxoplasmosis which warps the brain into an ultimate soldier – the only pressing thought remaining is to succeed at a mission. Death doesn’t matter. Which is good, because all who take this substance die.
She also runs into Nebibi Hasehm, old lover, current money market genius, and also Al-Quada in hiding. The flame still burns between them; but Nebibi has set himself on another track – to control the world’s financial status – and he just may succeed. Can Kate bring herself to voice her suspicions before it’s too late? Will Nebibi and Kate find what it takes to get them through this deadly crisis?
H. T. Narea knows whereof he speaks. As an international investment banker he has seen enough to make this book believable and totally horrifying. If you didn’t think much about terrorism before, you certainly will after reading this first novel. I hope it isn’t the last as the writing, characters and plot make you feel as though you are standing on Gibralter waiting for Hell to come down upon you.… (más)