Brutally Honest Reporting & Steamy Star-Crossed RelationshipsThis book is a game changer in many respects. First, if you have any interest at all in how the world's financial system collapsed in the 2008 era, and want to watch what led up to it in plain, simple English, you will be riveted.Second, if you have any idea how men play sex to get to their desired roosts at the very top of the world's financial tree, you have no idea whatsoever if you think man-on-man plays no role.Third, if you think everyone who was involved in moving and shaking this crisis to come about was incompetent, evil, or just plain greedy, you may have a point. Not everyone, but plenty of them, appear in this book,At the center is Martin David, a nice guy, somewhat closeted but not in denial, who is a mid-level financial grunt at a mid-level corporate raider-leveraged buyout, firm, Skerion. He reports to one of the partners, Francis de Bracy, whom he accompanies on a trip to Dubai where Martin is cruised and eventually seduced and plundered by Alec Berger, an advisor to a major investor sheikh whom Alec is working on to invest in one of Skeiron's deals. After a wild night which Martin cannot fully remember (except there was a third partner in bed along the way), things start happening for Martin, thanks to Alec's tutelage and manipulation.Martin has a crush on his boss, but the nearly ascetic and driven Francis seems to not pay him much attention other than businesslike, so Alec steps in and we go for a tremendously paced, extremely erotic, and sometimes pathetically disappointing journey with Martin, who has desire, talent, but not a whole heck of a lot of self-confidence in himself. When a new partner comes to Skeiron, and Alec brings his sheikh patron to visit the premises, things start moving toward an extremely exciting plotline for Martin and the firm, as well as Martin's relationships with Alec, Francis, the sheikh, his co-worker Ian, and his gym instructor and eventual roommate, Josh (a whole 'nother story altogether).That's as much of a spoiler scenario as you are going to get here. To get to the bottom of this barrel of fish, and to an ending which will shock if not please you, take a walk on the financial wild side with Aleksandr Voinov, an author who can do no wrong in collaborations, and out does himself when let loose on his own. Brilliant, brutally honest, steamy. I think this is Alek's best story to date and I am not just blowing fangirl air. I could see the romance even though it wasn't conventionally done (who decides that crap anyways??)There is some drug use and unprotected sex but these are the least of the guys worries. I would have loved to get more closure on Alec but then again, I am a 'greedy' reader and it is just my sadistic nature wanting to 'see' his downfall. This doesn't fit into any of the boxes. m/m, yes. contemp, yes. thriller, not really sure. I think this was more suspense almost action in the mental sense, not the physical. Romance, not like most readers would classify. I will say I was surprised at how easy it was to read all the financial lingo without rupturing something in my brain. This book was a page turner and if you are looking for a gay novel that is rich in characters and plot, this is one you don't want to miss!
What do You think about Return On Investment (2014)?
I'm really curious about this book. Just waiting for it to show up on Amazon. :)
—lia
Price drop to $0.99 at Amazon US for the rest of the day! 9/22/14!
—yheng
