Blown

By: Mark Haskell Smith

Narrated by: Peter Berkrot

Bryan LeBlanc worked his way up into a plum position on Wall Street as the boy genius of the foreign exchange desk. Surrounded by acolytes of the free market, the true believers, the US Marines of capitalism - "the few, the proud, the completely full of themselves" - Bryan soon realizes that being honest at a dishonest job is not the path to success. He decides to give Wall Street a taste of its own medicine and hatches an intricate plan to disappear permanently with just enough misappropriated money - and sailing classes - to spend his golden years cruising the Caribbean.

Bryan quickly learns that being a criminal, even a really smart one, is more complicated than he thought. He finds himself on the run in the Cayman Islands, wanted for murder. On his trail is an irresponsible team of investigators sent by his Wall Street firm, hellbent on reclaiming the millions before their clients notice it's missing: his boss, Seo-yun Kim, who's committed to not only clearing her name but escaping her suffocating fiance and their pending nuptials; the investment bank's collections agent, Neal Nathanson, depressed over a recent break-up with his boyfriend; and an ex-cop from Curaçao, Piet Room, who has traded in his badge for spouse spying as a private investigator. Their efforts are complicated by an Australian sailor begrudgingly circumnavigating the globe to fundraise for breast cancer awareness.

©2018 Mark Haskell Smith (P)2018 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Critic reviews

"Darkly amusing...[Smith] has a fine-tuned ear for witty repartee and a skill for embroiling even his most comically conceived characters in dramas that steer his plot through unpredictable twists and into unforeseeable outcomes. This is a surprising, memorable novel." (Publishers Weekly)

fantastic!

I've listened to about 25 novels set in the Caribbean and this was, by far, my favorite! the story was awesome and completely captivating. I listened to it straight through because I couldn't put it down!

Disappointing ending.

Started off fine. Actually it wasn’t too bad until the ending. All that time reading (listening) then the ending. The lack of a definitive ending.