Gwynn Reznick’s life is shattered when her best friend and co-worker at Wilton Oil & Gas Company dies in a car crash. She doubts it was an accident. Her suspicion is confirmed when a private investigator, Ruben Dordi, shows up at her door. His team has discovered a trail of unusual deaths and disappearances among Wilton employees. To make matters worse, Gwynn is under constant surveillance by … by those responsible for her friend’s death. But that doesn’t deter her from getting involved in the investigation. Danger lurks in every corner of the Wilton Tower. One false move could turn a risky situation into a death trap. As the investigation team digs deeper, they begin to unravel a sinister plot that threatens a catastrophic pipeline disaster. Will they solve the crime before it is too late?
more
This book can be read on so many levels: political, murder, thriller, wonderful characters, current events, and just a very good read.
Corporate corruption is not a new theme, but it’s handled in this book about as well as any I’ve read. And the saying “truth is stranger than fiction?” Who knows, the book may be fictional, but there’s a lot of truth in it.
I have read several of her books in the past, and while I didn’t think it was possible, this is every bit as good, if not better, than her others. Treat yourself. This is one not to be missed!
I simply could not put this down! Highly recommended.
This book opens dramatically with a man being attacked and then thrown to his death from a oil platform. The scene then switches to Julie, an employee of Wilton Gas & Oil, who decides to do a little spying to find out if the company, as she suspects, is planning a merger. She plants bugs in the conference room prior to an important meeting and, later, when she goes to retrieve them, is confronted by a brawny, muscular man who discovered what she was up to. The next day, her best friend and fellow employee, Gwynn Resnick, is shocked to learn that Julie died the night before in an unlikely automobile accident. Gwynn suspects foul play. But who would want to kill Julie?
Thus, begins Gwynn’s journey into a dark world fueled by corporate greed and intrigue. Accompanying her on this voyage, is Ruben, a private investigator of sorts hired by the dead girl’s grandmother. Together, Gwynn and Ruben, along with an assortment of Mission Impossible-style investigators, try sort out what really happened to Julie and, more importantly, why.
The Cost of Crude is a fast-paced thriller that has numerous twists and turns as the reader makes his/her way to the final shocking conclusion. The characters are cleverly drawn and the plot is complex. A real page-turner, this is the exciting start to a new series featuring the aforementioned Gwynn Resnick.
Highly recommended for lovers of corporate intrigue and mystery/thrillers.
Gwynn Reznick is shocked by the auto accident that took the life of her best friend and co-worker at Wilton Oil and Gas. Ruben Dordi, a PI, is hired by the girl’s grandmother to investigate her death. The suspicious circumstances lead Gwen and Ruben to examine other deaths as well as disappearances of Wilton employees. The closer Gwen comes to reveal the truth, the more she feels her own life is threatened, in a corporate world where the chase for money overrides human considerations and people have no qualms to kill for dollars.
In addition to the high-tech contemporary feel and the twists and turns of this gripping thriller, it also reveals an undeniable attraction forming between Ruben and Gwen, and their struggle not to yield to it, so as to keep a cool head. “He pretended to be engrossed in the document, waiting for Gwenn to fall asleep. Tonight, he’d sleep on the sofa since he felt volunerable and didn’t want to take a chance on being tempted by her again.”
When all is said and done, Gwen says, “Being involved in this investigation has spurred something in me that I didn’t know existed. Even when I was scared, I didn’t want it to end.” Reading the book, that was how I felt, too.
Five stars.
What an exciting, fast-paced, wonderfully action-packed this thriller was! I was glued to my Kindle with no option to put it down, worrying about Gwynn and Rubin, and the others. Such strong, courageous, lively characters, with nothing artificial about any of them (Gwynn was my favorite, I must admit, having a thing for strong female characters).
Danger and mystery, twists and turns on every corner, this novel flowed wonderfully easy for me, and I just kept envisioning it on the big screen. It is something about the writer’s style, I suppose, that made the story and characters so alive for me. I highly recommend!