Undermoney marks the debut of Jay Newman with a unique perspective on political espionage thrillers. Most of the modern ones deal with narratives about moles and large-scale attacks with a healthy amount of action sequences to progress the story. Jay Newman takes a page out of Jason Matthews’ Red Sparrow series of using natural conversations and seductive character interactions to drive the readers through the story. However, Undermoney differentiates itself by casting a bright spotlight on the role of giant finance machines operating behind the scenes of power plays on a global scale.
The story focuses on a team of former US military members who plan the ultimate heist to steal untraceable money from a Middle Eastern warzone. The money is geared towards propelling one of their own into the White House to fundamentally restructure America’s domestic and foreign policies. The problem isn’t pulling off the heist, rather it is making that money clean enough to use in the electoral campaign. This predicament allows the readers to gain mind-blowing insights into the intricacies of cleaning black money and stock manipulation shown in vivid details and realistic timeline as part of the narrative.
The book is packed with fascinating economic tidbits that expose the reader to the vast and epic world of financial operations. As a result, the story feels less like a work of fiction and more like a top-secret account of real people in the current cutthroat socio-economic environment controlled by ruthless spies and unhinged business men. The twists and turns are wonderfully unpredictable and the ending is a dark culmination to a smartly unconventional story that rightfully demands your full attention to understand the nuances of the characters’ motivations and endgames. The narrative does slow down midway, but Jay Newman keeps the entertainment high throughout with informative nuggets of financial wisdom as well as an attractive aura of watching the team game economic sanctions in ingenious ways.
Jay Newman has opened the doors for a potentially superb and creative series with Undermoney and I am eager to see how he continues the story. No doubt this will cause quite a stir as it hits stores early next year!
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