Book Review/Giveaway: Broken Trust by Thomas Maurin

BOOK DETAILS

Title: Broken Trust by Thomas Maurin

Category: Adult fiction,  285 pages

Genre: Thriller

Publisher: Cultivating Change LLC

Published: November 2014 

Content Rating: PG-13 (There is only one sex scene and it isn't explicit.)

BOOK DESCRIPTION

This is a story about three smart, successful people who were once fast friends in college and have now been thrust together again in an unlikely, multi-layered investigation with far-reaching international implications and billions of dollars at stake. One is a forensic accountant for the SEC, one beta tests hardware and software for the US Department of Defense and the UK Ministry of Defense, and the third is a wildly successful entrepreneur, software developer and venture capitalist in Silicon Valley.

They get caught up in the hunt for a corrupt Swiss banker intent on finally unloading the last of the gold stolen by his father in World War II; a violent, narcissist leader of a Mexican drug cartel making his move to take over as the head of all cartels in Central America; and the daughter of a murdered Bulgarian arms dealer making the deal that will give her mother financial stability and get them both out of the increasingly unstable arms business.

The plot unfolds as financial crimes committed by insiders put common criminal activities to shame in a world where technology has increasingly insinuated itself into our lives to good and bad effects. 

GoodReads * Amazon

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REVIEW

I'm thinking husband and wife writing teams a GREAT, as I have enjoyed every book I've read that has been written by such a team.  Broken Trust, by Bonnie and Michael Hartley is a grand example of this phenomenon.  I tutored my fellow students and even MBA candidates (as an undergrad) and never has the world of finance looked this exciting!

I enjoyed the evolution of Fitz's and Chas's relationship.  They had known each other years before and broken up.  And eventually, they need the help of a third classmate (who had kept in touch with both of them, unbeknownst to the other).  At first there are some ruffled feathers, but when you're dealing with people who deal in stolen gold, drugs and guns ... you need all the friends you can get!

And when an 'interested party' to the gold deal lives a little closer to home than perhaps Fitz would like, the mystery and intrigue take on a whole new level.

If there ever was a case of "the words have changed, but the song remains the same" Broken Trust shows the veracity of that statement.  Back in the day, the words were molasses, rum and slaves.  'Today' the words read stolen gold, drugs and guns.  Different words, true.  But the song of greed (for money and/or power) remains the same.  And I have to admit that ticks me of in no small degree.

Evil will always be with us, true.  But I can't help but give a little 'fist pump' when greed and the people who practice it get a little of their own back, or their plans get messed up in some other way.  Yeah, I know, not very 'charitable' of me.  I'm working on that one.

For the meantime, I'm just going to revel in the breathtaking ride on Maurin's Broken Trust.

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AUTHOR INFORMATION

Website * Twitter

Thomas Maurin is the pen name of husband and wife writing team Bonnie B. Hartley, Ph.D., and Michael T. Hartley, CFP®. They both write non-fiction books and articles regarding financial and family business topics and have delivered talks on those subjects internationally over the last thirty years.

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GIVEAWAY!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Click on the iRead button to go to the tour page, which features more reviews, as well as guest posts, author interviews and giveaways!

(Disclosure:  I received a copy of Broken Trust by Thomas Maurin from the authors and publishers via iRead Book Tours in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.)

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This book also helps me fulfill the following 2015 reading challenges:

52 Books in 52 Weeks
New to You Challenge - (authors)
Real Book Challenge
TBR Challenge