The Phoenix Year by David L Blond Review

Escaping into the Underbelly of Corruption and Scandal

I have always loved spy novels, thrillers and gripping political dramas. So it was no surprise that when Wattle Publishing offered The Glass House Book Club the chance to review David L. Blond’s political thriller The Phoenix Year, I jumped at the chance.

The TV show Scandal is one of my guilty pleasures. The crime and corruption that stands behind the political system and the lengths people will go to in order to save or collapse government gets the butterflies in my tummy fluttering. It may be something to do with my background in the Military, my desire to see men in uniform, or simply the idea that most of us walk blindly through life thinking that everything is under control while behind the black curtain of deception (government and secret agencies) scramble daily to keep us safe and alive. The whole idea of it is just thrilling.

Reading is about escapism. About opening a book and diving into its pages, wondering what world you will emerge in. Most will float away to a paradise island where a boy and girl fall in love. Me, I prefer to land heavy-footed on a dirty pavement in a dark alley in the middle of a gritty deception and corruption plot. David L.Blond has a hard task ahead of him – I am not one who appreciates an easy read. I want grit, power, sex, corruption and most of all, intelligence. When you spend most of your life as a mother with children asking questions like ‘what’s for dinner?‘ sometimes you want to escape into a  world where your brain is challenged. The Phoenix Year does not disappoint in that respect.

Grit, true grit is very hard to write, but when it is done well it is something that will pull you in so deep that you won’t want to come up for air.

That is how I felt when reading The Phoenix Year. It is a spy thriller, yes, but it is intelligent. The thinking man’s thriller.

David L. Blond sets out to achieve the impossible; to bring the world of economic theory and formula into a fast-paced plot driven sexy novel. Never, in my wildest imagination, would I have ever believed it possible to put the words economic theory and sexy in the same sentence, but Blond manages it effortlessly.

Genre
The novel has all the building blocks of a successful thriller. Escapism, intrigue, betrayal, vengeance, sex and a diverse cast of international characters. The author has managed to bring together all the best aspects of a thriller and interweave them within the sordid underbelly of politics and economics whilst very much rooted in current affairs; an almost impossible task that he pulls off flawlessly.

Now don’t get me wrong, as much as I love a bit of spy action and corruption scandal, I am a hopeless romantic at heart. What surprised me is that despite the fact that I was not at all expecting even an undercurrent of love, I found myself shocked and pleasantly surprised. Here was yet another string meticulously added to Blond’s novel.

The book is not set in one particular country, but takes the reader back and forth from New York to Asia and then Switzerland whilst telling a story of espionage and global conspiracy. Set against the backdrop of an impending global economic crisis (something we can all now relate to), Blond delves into the minds of the puppet masters behind the situation leaving you on the edge of a precipice wondering just how realistic this plot could actually be!

It is clearly obvious that Blond has done his research with his unique but accurate portrayal of global stock and property markets. Those who have worked in said industries would be hard pushed to find flaws in his portrayal or research.

Characterisation
The characters in the book are written so well you can almost reach out and touch them – so much so, it left me wondering if they are indeed fictional – or maybe the work of insider knowledge. This fictional story about spies and corruption left me wondering if indeed Blond knows of intimate secrets from the inside (ooh… could he himself be a spy?). There goes my inquisitive mind. Blond has sparked just the right amount of questions to leave me wanting to read more and more.

Who would it suit?
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who searches for a plot that will leave their pulse racing and their imagination and intrigue sparked. It is a heavy book – that I cannot deny. It is not an ‘easy read’. It is not a chewing-gum book to read on the beach while sipping mojitos. It is a fast-paced intelligent thriller. It is a snuggle on the sofa with a blanket and the lights dimmed kind of book. A book that will have you asking more questions than you will ever know the answers to and have you looking at politics and economics in a totally different light. Do I recommend this book? Yes – but not to the easy readers. I recommend this to those what want to escape into a world they could never imagine.

The Phoenix Year, by David L. Blond is published by Wattle Publishing.
ISBN: 978-1-908959-28-7