Montecristo

Montecristo is about a video journalist in Zurich, approaching his 40s, who finds his artistic aspirations in conflict with his involvement in the murky world of corporate interests and Big Money. As a video journalist in Zurich approaching my 40s and finding etc etc, I must admit this all seemed a little close to home. Fortunately, there were a few differences.

Jonas Brand, the hero of this story, is catapulted into adventure by two events: a stockbroker apparently jumping to his death from a train Jonas is on; and, secondly, coming into possession of two hundred-frank notes with identical serial numbers. My train journeys, by contrast, are generally marked by nothing more exciting than a vague uncertainty over whether the girl opposite show more me is wearing a skirt or culottes, while the likelihood of my having CHF200 in cash about my person is so low that duplicate serial numbers are the least of my worries.

This is a decently exciting story and most of the incidental details rang pretty true to me, although there were a couple of minor infelicities in Jamie Bulloch's translation: video journalists do not refer to their cameras as ‘camcorders’, and nor do they generally talk about their films as ‘reportages’. I was also highly amused to read that Jonas, as a VJ who occasionally includes himself in his reports, was recognised twice in the course of five pages, and even secured an apartment rental on the strength of his fame! Ha! I was on television daily for about ten years and was recognised precisely once, by a guy at the Lincoln city dump. I guess I found my audience…

Although a lot of this was good fun to read, and the underlying tale of financial misdemeanours was convincing enough, the whole thing did seem to hinge on a very implausible coincidence, and the pointedly cynical dénouement struck me as unlikely in the extreme. Jonas himself is an amiable central character, and his grizzled old-hack mentor is absolutely true to life; his girlfriend, though, is a sex object straight from central casting, who might have been easier to enjoy if there had been a couple of other more well-rounded women about to compare her with. Like a lot of thrillers (I find), the prose has a lot of weirdly unnecessary detail along the lines of He pushed his '99 Audio Quattro 2.1l into fifth gear and merged with traffic heading southbound on the A3…this one kept dropping into these pointless extreme close-ups during conversation:

With his knife Jonas pushed some sauce onto a fork of risotto, chewed it carefully and took a sip of wine before asking the crucial question: ‘How long does it take…?’

So much busywork in the writing – just get on with it! Still, I'm not going to pretend this is a some big disaster, because it isn't. It reads well, the story bombs along at a good old clip, and the moody descriptions of Zurich do great work in cementing the city's reputation as the home of shadowy elites and dodgy backroom banking. Everyone's in on the conspiracy, and no one can be trusted: certainly if any commuters ever leap to their death from my train to work, I'll be packing this book in an overnight bag and heading straight for the border, ‘camcorder’ in tow. show less

How can a "customer incident" on a train bring down the global economy? That is the basis of Montecristo that delves into the world of media, finance and politics. If you can suspend belief of a statistical improbable occurrence, this subtle thriller opens your eyes as to the possible catastrophic effects of the global economy should it go wrong. How would you decide the fate of the world - choose your conscience or join the conspiracy?
I wasn't left hanging on the edge, but the story gripped me enough to want to read it to the end.

Jonas Brand is a video journalist, somewhat dissatisfied with his career and keen to work on something that is more of a serious intellectual challenge. In particular he aspires to direct his own movie, 'Montecristo', about a man falsely imprisoned in Thailand on drugs charges who seeks revenge on the men who framed him. Then two events occur which send Jonas reeling in a direction he could never have imagined. First, a passenger on his train appears to commit suicide by opening the emergency door and leaping onto the track. Second, Jonas comes into possession of two very unusual banknotes. Are the two events connected? As Jonas asks questions, he finds himself drawn into a world of financial misdeeds and deep conspiracies where his show more freedom, and the stability of the world, are in danger. The conclusion is both frightening and comforting, believable and incredible.

When I first picked up this book, I had my doubts. A thriller set in the world of Swiss banks and high finance wouldn’t normally appeal to me, since I can’t even balance my own chequebook with any degree of accuracy. Plus I had never heard of the author. But any misgivings I had about the book disappeared by the end of the first page or two. The author sets the plot in motion at the very outset and the pace never lets up until the end. There are plenty of twists and surprises along the way, and the tension is constant. I was ambivalent about the ending at first, but I can see that it is a completely realistic ending and things could not have turned out any different. What a great film it would make.

Martin Suter has a keen eye for plot and setting, and his characters are well rounded and completely believable. Despite my initial reservations, I was completely won over and now have to go and seek out more of Herr Suter’s work. The translation is seamless too (kudos to Jamie Bulloch for that) and the original German is rendered into very readable English without any awkwardness.

All in all, a terrific read and well worth the time it takes to read it. show less

Montecristo – Switzerland Suddenly Got Interesting

Montecristo is the latest book by Swiss based author Martin Suter to be translated in to English, a thriller that suddenly makes Switzerland look rather interesting. Montecristo is a thriller that plunges the reader in to the world of money and high society, with a side line in politics and murder. If you like a good old fashioned conspiracy thriller than this may just be the book for you.

Video Journalist and wannabee film director Jonas Brand is on a train from Zurich heading towards Basel when there is an emergency incident and a passenger has thrown themselves from the train. Jonas films the aftermath but does not really think much about it. Especially as nobody would be interested show more in the suicide of a Banker.

In a strange coincidence Jonas comes in to possession of two 100 franc notes with identical serial numbers and thinks this would make an interesting investigation. What he does not expect as he begins his inquiries that his long dead film project is brought back to life and he thinks he needs to put his investigation on the back burner.

He tells a former colleague about the two notes who happens to encourage him to keep the investigation live, which he does to an extent. Everybody around Jonas is telling him he needs to concentrate on the film, while his house is broken in to, he is mugged and while away location hunting all most set up as a drug mule.

While Jonas loves his new world of being a film director he cannot escape the investigation he has started and feels like that he is under observation. As he tries to continue his investigation he is shown a world where money talks, politics and the police seem to support the financial system.

As Jonas Brand investigates throughout this thriller we enter a world little known to many where the web of politics, finance and media are interwoven. The thriller breaks the dream of Switzerland of being the land of money, chocolate and cuckoo clocks, it becomes a place on intrigue where exciting things do happen.

Montecristo is an excellent thriller without all the boring details of finance while being about finance and whether some banks are too big to be allowed to fail. What would the world’s governments really do to protect their economies and whether they would kill to protect the status quo. This is the world Montecristo is based on and helps to make this thriller an enjoyable read, this really is an exciting and entertaining read. show less

I was asked to review this by Real Readers this is due for publication on the 23rd June 2016 by No Exit Press.

This makes an interesting and has a new slant on thrillers as set in the world of high finance and Swiss banks – unusual by works.

The main character Jonas Brand a video journalist who wants more out of life than the career he has at present. He is looking for something to stimulate his intellect. He has this desire to direct his own film- Montecristo, the plot concerns a man falsely imprisoned in Thailand on drugs charges, who seeks retribution on those who have framed him.

For Jonas two events occur – the first whilst traveling on a train jumps out of the emergency door – is this suicide? Secondly Jonas then receives two show more 100 Swiss franc bank notes with the same serial number what is the significance of this.

The story is fast paced in a melting pot of finance, politics and media. There are lots of twists and turns to keep the reader on their toes.

The author has captured the plot well and has created good believable characters. Can see this up there in the top ten for the summer a good airport read and has the makings of a good television drama.

I will be looking out for this author in future well recommended. show less

Gutes Buch. Leider teilweise zu viele Zufälle und das Ende fand ich persönlich etwas enttäuschend.

Ein Journalist kommt durch puren Zufall einer Wahnsinns-Geschichte auf die Spur – doch je mehr er sich hineinbegibt in diese undurchsichtigen Zusammenhänge der Hochfinanz, desto weniger Erfolg verzeichnet er. Dabei ist er durchaus willig, aber die Gegenseite hat einfach die besseren Möglichkeiten. Trotz allem was Jonas Brand unternimmt- und das ist sehr spannend- er kommt nicht weiter, weil niemand möchte, dass er weiter kommt. Es geht um Verbrechen, die eigentlich niemand aufgedeckt haben will. Und diejenigen, die das doch versuchen, werden entweder umgebracht oder anderweitig überzeugt.
Ein tolles, sehr spannendes Buch, in dem Verbrechen eigentlich keine Verbrechen mehr sind, da sie irgendwann keinen mehr show more interessieren.
Übrigens: Wenn man das Buch komplett aufklappt, dann sieht man die verblüffende Ähnlichkeit Suters mit der vietnamesischen Gottheit (Jonas Brands bevorzugem Versteck!) auf dem Cover- das ist doch Absicht, oder? show less