The Crash by Robert Peston

My second tour today is for The Crash by Robert Peston in which a banking crisis looms. Big thanks to Tracy Fenton at Compulsive Readers for my invitation and to the publisher for my lovely review copy. 

The Blurb

As the world falls apart, a deadly conspiracy comes together ...

London, 2007. It's summer in the City: the economy is booming, profits are up and the stock market sits near record highs.

But journalist Gil Peck is a lone voice worrying it can't last. Deep in the plumbing of the financial system, he has noticed strange things happening which could threaten the whole economy. But nobody wants to hear it: not the politicians taking credit for an end to boom and bust, not the bankers pocketing vast bonuses, not even Gil's bosses at the BBC, who think it's irrelevant.

When Gil gets a tip-off that a small northern bank has run out of money, everything changes. His report sparks the first run on a UK bank in 140 years. The next day, Marilyn Krol, a director of the Bank of England dies in an apparent suicide.

For Gil, it's personal. Marilyn was his lover: was his scoop connected to her suicide? Or is there something more sinister in her death? Gil is determined to find out.

The more he investigates, the more he is drawn into the rotten heart of the financial system, where old school ties and secret Oxbridge societies lubricate vast and illegal conflicts of interest. The whole economy has been built on a house of cards, and Gil is threatening to bring it down.

When simply reporting the facts can make or break fortunes, Gil has to ask himself: is he crossing the line between journalist and participant? Are his own conflicts of interest making him reckless? And in a world ruled by greed where nothing and no-one is too big to fail, what price will he pay for uncovering the truth?

The Crash is published by Zaffre and out today.

My Review

The Crash is a big chunk of a book, the hardback coming in at close to 400 pages. Gil Peck, a BBC journalist, uncovers a story about a bank that has essentially run out of money, and goes public with it. This sets off a chain of events beginning with the death of his lover then hurtling along to the explosive denouement. 

This is a book you need to pay attention to when you read it, keep your wits about you. It's full of banking terms throughout. They are explained well but it took me a while to get my head around them. But it's worth understanding them as they are key to the story. And the cast of characters is huge, including bankers, journalists and politicians, even the Prime Minister! I loved how Peston features real BBC presenters and programs in the middle of this work of fiction. 

Gil is very driven and work focused, it's all about getting the next story. And, here, that leads to all sorts of trouble and he needs someone to lean on, to support him. Enter Jess, his best friend, also a journalist, but for a financial publication. I loved Jess. She's Gil's anchor, a sounding board, a voice of reason. Gil has a tendency to make everything about him and it's often Jess that pulls him up on it. They make a good team as they work together to get to the bottom of the story. 

The other main players in this story are bankers, investors, and politicians and this is where you need to pay attention to who is doing what and so forth because there is a lot going on! You wouldn't necessarily expect a novel set in the world of banking to be exciting but this one is. The more truth Gil unearths, the more he puts himself in danger. There are people who don't want it all to go public and will do anything to silence Gil. And by association, Jess.

As the story progresses the tension builds as we see Gil peel back the layers to find the true extent of what's happening. But the more he discovers, the more he puts a target on his back. 

The Crash is an intelligent, well written, enjoyable read. There are a few things to get your head around, but once you've done that you'll be swept along with the story, and you'll be rooting for Gil from the get go. I loved his relationship with Jess and the support she  offers him. Everyone needs a Jess in their lives. But I digress. The writing is great and the tension builds well. The denouement was not what I expected (although I'm not sure how else I wanted it to end!) but it works well for the story. I loved the glimpse into the worlds of journalism and TV. I enjoyed it and would happily recommend it.

The Author

Robert Peston is ITV's political editor, presenter of the politics show 'Peston', founder of the education charity, Speakers for Schools (www.speakers4schools.org), and vice president of Hospice UK. He has written four critically acclaimed non-fiction books, How Do We Fix This Mess?, Who Runs Britain?, Brown's Britain and his latest, WTF?, which was described by the Financial Times as 'mandatory reading' for anyone seeking to understand Brexit, Trump and the collapse of confidence in western liberalism. For a decade until the end of 2015, he was at the BBC, as economics editor and business editor, and in the 1990s he was at the Financial Times, as political editor, financial editor and head of investigations. At the BBC he played a prominent role in exposing the causes and consequences of the credit crunch, banking crisis and Great Recession. Peston has won more than 30 awards for his journalism, including Journalist of the Year and Scoop of the Year (twice) from the Royal Television Society. The Crash is his second novel, after 2021's The Whistleblower. 


Author Social Media Links

Blog: itv.com/robertpeston
Facebook: facebook.com/pestonITV
Twitter: twitter.com/itvpeston