Iguana

Rating:
Summary: Captivating, provocative and ingenious story-telling
Review: By far one of the best reads I've enjoyed over the past year - and I read mountains as a feature writer - IGUANA is, hands down, a stunning achievement. The characterization is superb, the suspense is uncanny, and the scene shifts and plot twining are masterful. St. James sustains and elevates the supense through neck-snapping scene shifts that leave the reader begging for more. Plot, action, suspense, setting and characterization all conspire to produce a five-star turn-on, and the beautiful and ingenious CIA agent Beatriz Chavez is positively dazzling in this international spine-tingler. Protagonist Rick Pope has everything a young rising star could want: stellar career prospects, a beautiful wife and a high rise condo in the museum district. However, life, as he knows it, is irrevocably changed with one deadly career move. As the new chief financial officer of Quantergy, a company whose exponential growth has positioned it to become one of the leading independent energy companies in the world, Pope uncovers illegitimate sources of offshore seed capital concealed by elaborate chains of ownership that ultimately lead to a global crime syndicate organized by Vicente Giamalva. Unearthing evidence of a conspiracy that would topple key figures in both the underworld and the overworld and linking the murder of a key commission staffer to the Giamalva ring, Pope finds himself and his lovely wife, Mattie, targeted by the syndicate and dogged by the FBI. Theres ostensibly no way out, he has no choice but to play in a high-stakes game, and any next move could prove fatal. Thus mired, Pope must rely increasingly on the retained services of former FBI agent Kurt Braun who is aided by the cunning Chavez. There is a big payout, however, and the Popes must balance that reward against the cost of their lives. Don't bother to find a book mark. This one you will not want to put down.

Rating:
Summary: What's All the Hype about?
Review: I read this book based on recommendations from other readers. Frankly, I don't understand why they love the book. The characters are under-developed and the plot is lacking creativity. I think St. Jude is living his life through the main character. It's an OK read, but not great.