For my full review please visit The Mystery Bookshelf @ http://wp.me/p6kwu-12f ( )

Why do we love those bad boys?

Silas Cade is the protagonist (Anti-hero?) of Mike Cooper’s debut novel, Clawback. He’s a forensic accountant, of sorts. Early on, he describes his work like this:

“If I had one, my logo might be a green eyeshade crossed by a 9 mil.

It’s a small niche, though a necessary one, especially in economic times as difficult as these. Straightforward accountancy is all well and good. But sometimes you need someone packing a P226, not an HP-12c—if you know what I mean.”

What he means is that he’s a career criminal, a very successful one. And one of the ways that he stays successful is by living almost entirely off the grid. Silas is a smart, paranoid man, with a complex system of ethics. He’s fascinating.

As the novel opens, Silas is just completing his latest job, but when he drives past his employer’s home later that night, he sees cops everywhere. The man’s been murdered. Strangely, it seems there may be a connection between this and the next job he takes on. A powerful investment banker wants him to investigate rumors that several of the most unsuccessful money managers in NY are being murdered. And that would be business as usual, but incredibly an industrious blogger and would-be journalist has connected him to the case. For a man so far off the grid, this is unprecedented. Now she has leverage over him, so they’re working together towards a mutually beneficial goal.

And guess what? They’re a great team! The dialog and interplay between the two is terrific, without being that fake banter that’s always so hard to believe. Blogger Clara Dawson is an upstanding member of society, but somehow she and Silas have great chemistry together that goes beyond romantic tension. In fact, the two seem to genuinely like and respect each other. It’s rare to see an author handle both male and female characters so well. I found the two equally appealing.

So far, we’re got some intriguing and unusual protagonists, and a slew of quirky (and yet again, believable) supporting characters. We’ve got an interesting and not overdone thriller plot. We’ve got strong dialog and clean clear writing. And, oh yes, some really fantastic action sequences. The book moved so quickly that I finished it easily in a day.
It’s clear to me that this is the first of a series. It’s hard to imagine what’s next for Silas and Clara, but I’ll be back to see. Mike Cooper is a great new discovery! ( )

This book was a fun read. It was well written, fast paced and kept the story line moving throughout. There were lots of plot twists to keep you entertained. The book is mostly dialogue driven, which made for an easy read.

For readers that get bored with financial jargon, beware that there is lots of financial terminology throughout the book, but having been in the industry, I enjoyed it very much. Clawback is a nice escape novel, although some of the plot twists may be a bit 007 "Bondish" and a little unrealistic for the average person.

Reader received a complimentary copy from Good Reads First Reads. ( )

Someone is killing all the least successful investment bankers and Silas Cade is hired to find out who it is and stop that person from killing more bankers. This novel fits in with today's society where the bankers are targeted as the ones to blame for our poor economy.

I really liked that this novel started off with some action right away. It hooked me from the start. I'm not one that knows much financial stuff, but this wasn't bogged down with too many terms that would distract from the story (all though there were a couple terms that I didn't understand but it didn't lessen my interest at all). I liked how Silas went from being a part of black ops and then became an accountant (doing mysterious independent consulting work) and how he finds out that those two worlds are more similar than he thought they would be.

I loved the action in this novel. It was fast-paced and made me never want to put the book down. I also loved the relationship between Silas and Clara, it seemed to humanize Silas in my mind.

I thought this was an action-packed book filled with a little bit of romance and a lot of greed. I would recommend this to everyone.

*I received this book from a Goodreads giveaway which in no way affects the content of my review.* ( )