2 out of 4 stars
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A blackmailer arranges events that cause a worldwide recession. Eventually, one of the people he blackmails realizes the harm he has caused and tries to find the man responsible. This is the premise of the thriller Invisible Influence by Larry R. Moran. The novel is written in the first person, from the point of view of Spencer, a department head at the Census Bureau.
Spencer became the head of the industry section at the Census Bureau, after his former boss died in an apparent accident. As part of his job, he is sent to Paris to attend a conference. On the first day he meets a beautiful woman, they get talking and decide to get to know one another better, rather than attend the conference. After a week of fun times, Spencer has to return to the States and his job.
Shortly after, Spencer is blackmailed into providing the blackmailer information. At first, the information is freely available, and as Spencer is not breaking the law, he readily agrees. Slowly, the blackmailer’s demands become illegal, and Spencer, after originally saying yes, finds it impossible to say no. When the United States goes first into a recession and then into a depression, Spencer realizes that he is responsible for ruining millions of lives.
Spencer decides that the blackmailer has to pay for what he made Spencer do. With very little information to go on, Spencer starts trying to track down the man responsible. His only real clue is the woman that entrapped him in Paris. Spencer travels to Paris and tries to locate her. This leads Spencer into an investigation into an international conspiracy with far reaching consequences.
Larry includes loads of detail in his story; I personally found there was too much detail. It slowed down the flow of the story and wasn’t really needed. It brings to mind the quote “less is more” from “Castle that I think the author needs to follow, as I found the story was too slow. I had trouble keeping going at times. The pace only really picked up right at the end.
The plot for this story is fairly straightforward with almost no twists to it. The characters are well developed and act consistently throughout the story. The best part about Larry’s attention to detail is you always know exactly what the characters and locations look like.
Whilst I was reading this novel, I noticed many grammar mistakes. Most of these are either incorrect tenses or missing words. I found this to be a little confusing in places, and I had to work out what I was supposed to be reading. Add to this a fairly pedestrian plot and I feel I have to give this book a rating of only 2 out of 4 stars. I think this would appeal to anybody who doesn’t want to much depth in their stories. Anybody who is looking for lots of action should give this a miss.
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Invisible Influence
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