This is the fifth installment of the Joseph O'Loughlin series. Joe is a very minor character in this story. Instead the focus is on Vincent Ruiz, the ex-cop. The story alternates back and forth between two plot lines. In Iraq, journalist Luca Terracini is investigating a string of bank robberies along with UN auditor Daniela Garner. Meanwhile in London, banker Richard North has gone missing. It was a bit confusing at first for me, before I could get my bearings on how these two stories were related. But in typical Michael Robotham fashion, the writing and storytelling kept me engaged. This was a thriller. ( )

In London, ex-cop Vincent Ruiz rescues a young woman from a violent boyfriend but wakes next morning to find that he's been robbed. As he tracks down the thieves, he discovers the boyfriend's tortured body and learns that powerful men are looking for the girl. What did Holly Knight steal that is so important to them? Meanwhile in Baghdad, the bank robbery capital of the world, billions of dollars in reconstruction funds has gone missing and Pulitzer prize-winning Journalist Luca Terracini is trying to "follow the money". The dangerous trail will lead him to London where he teams up with Vincent Ruiz and together they investigate the disappearance of an international banker and a mysterious "black hole" in the bank's accounts. ( )

a thriller in the true sense of the word; unputdown-able. ( )

The international settings are more generic than they should be. The characters are predictably flawed and seem to not understand why they are even in the story. Several of them are thrown away towards the end of the book. The main crimes that start everything rolling are never really solved. All of this means that there's just not much to care about here. ( )

While I don't understand why this is meant to be a part of the series I'm not sure. Just like so many others I've no clue.
But I read it anyway and must say that while it's not what I expected, it was again a great book with an interesting storyline which was written very well. ( )