Lad Lit Book Review: Ugly Americans by Ben Mezrich

If you want the quick review then imagine Wolf of Wall Street in Asia with more edge. If that has tantalized your taste buds then read on.

I first read Ugly Americans about 10 years ago when it first came out. I’d just discovered Ben Mezrich through Bringing Down The House and Busting Vegas, and had become a big fan. This book, whilst perhaps not one of Mezrich’s most well-known books, is one of my favourites.

In 1993 John Malcolm throws himself into the crazy world of stockbroking in Japan. He receives a baptism of fire as the first company he works for loses hundreds of millions in a deal set-up by one of the directors, forcing him out of a job. It's not long before he ends up at Barings Bank, working for infamous rogue trader Nick Leeson who made a $2bn gamble that sent Barings into receivership and Malcolm back to the job centre.

Malcolm ends up working back with the man who brought him to Asia in the first place, Dean Carney, and that is where the fun, fortune and fame start. Malcolm soon starts to rise up the financial ladder, making deals and trades that propel him to become a star in his own right to his fellow expat western traders, before being responsible for what was called "biggest deal in the history of the financial markets."

Millions are made, and then even more millions are made, but for me the real appeal in this book comes from the backdrop of the weird and wonderful fish bowl that is Tokyo. From the downright bizarre back-alley sex clubs and fetishes of local rich businessman, to the sinister side of Japan’s underbelly, namely the Yakuza.

Like all Mezrich books there is a love interest, the daughter of a Japanese mob boss, and through this relationship Malcolm find himself rubbing shoulders with men more cut-throat than those he works alongside on the trading floor.

It's an incredible journey and Mezrich excels once again in telling the story and bringing to life a world crafted from greed, power and unimaginable wealth, held together by danger and risk at every corner.

As the title says, this really is the true story of the Ivy League cowboys who raided the Asian markets for millions.

Lad Lit Book Reviews: Adrenaline by Jeff Abbott

In typical Jeff Abbott form this one not only packs a punch from the opening pages, but it explodes open an almighty 'I'm gonna knock you the f*** out' can of whoop-ass!

Sam Capra's perfect existence in London is about to come crashing down all around him. The American CIA Agent is closing in on an important target when his pregnant wife calls him at work urging him to get out of the building. Within minutes Sam's life is in tatters and everything he holds close is gone. As he steps out on to the street he spots his wife, Lucy, being driven away by a mysterious scar-faced man. Before Sam can give chase he is knocked out from the blow of a bomb ripping through his office.

When Sam awakes he is in a prison cell, told that he is the only survivor from the explosion, and is tortured for information to find out why he has murdered all of his colleagues and why he has turned traitor.Sam needs to act fast and fall back on all of the skills he learned as a CIA Operative if he is to survive and discover the truth about the life he thought he knew so well.

Abbott is fast becoming the king of the thriller genre, and with Adrenaline he has created a character that will become the basis of a series of books, much like Robert Ludlum did with the Bourne character. What that means is that Abbott moves away from the normal everyday 'Joe Bloggs' character from his previous novels, and has created a man more adept to arm-to-arm combat.

The cynic inside me says he has done this with one eye on a movie deal, but it doesn't change the fact that Abbott is very good at what he does, and maybe I'm simply being too hasrh. After all, it's also fair to say that Abbott has shown he is able to turn his hand at being able to write about a different type of character rather than sticking to the tried and tested format which has already worked so well for him.

Abbott effortlessly holds the readers attention with more twists and turns that a Formula One racing track. His books are always cool, slick, and are packed with so much energy that they should come with a health warning. Adrenaline lives up to its name, but be prepared that once you reach the ending there is a strong chance you'll be hooked on the Sam Capra series and will find yourself lining Mr Abbott's pockets with more of your cash to buy the next installment.

Lad Lit Book Reviews: The Ghost by Robert Harris

I can’t help but think I should have enjoyed this book more than I did. Don’t get me wrong – it was a good read, but there were one or two things that hold me back from giving this higher praise than I’m about to.

What I’m about to reveal is a bit of a spoiler. It won’t necessarily ruin you reading the book, but I need to reveal it in order to explain my... discomfort whilst reading this book. So here we go...

For some reason the name of the fictional narrator of The Ghost is never revealed, so let’s just call him Bob. When Bob – a professional ghostwriter – is asked to step in to finish writing the memoirs of former British Prime Minister Adam Lang, he jumps at the chance and jets off to the American resort of Martha's Vineyard.

Lang – who is clearly based on ex-PM Tony Blair (Harris even wrote Blair’s memoirs) – is having a bit of a hard time as he is accused of war crimes. On top of all this, Lang's original ghostwriter has mysteriously died so he is not exactly the happiest of bunnies. In amongst all this we meet Lang’s wife, Ruth. Immediately the face of Cherie Blair sprung to mind, which is not something anyone should have to go through.

So here comes the spoiler – Bob ends up sleeping with Ruth/Cherie, which means that midway through the book I had to endure the image of Cherie Blair bumping uglies. And the fact that when reading a book you put yourself into the shoes of the main character meant that image was of me bumping uglies with Ruth/Cherie.

Now can you see my problem?!

Okay, so this is a piss-poor excuse to give for not giving the book a better review, especially when I actually thought it was fairly decent at the end of the day, so I’ll try to put that sorry incident to one side. On the whole this is a pretty decent read. There are some nice twists and turns, but on the whole I found some parts to be quite slow. And the fact we are basically dealing with a couple like the Blairs who are not about to win any popularity contests anytime soon, doesn’t exactly help you endear to them either.

In terms of the plot, Bob starts to grow suspicious of the death of his predecessor, especially when he finds himself surrounded by a few unsavoury yet very powerful people. But try as he might, Bob can’t walk away and as he delves deeper into the mystery, things begin to unravel that will bring him closer to the truth and danger.

Lad Lit Book Reviews: Run by Jeff Abbott

A few years ago I turned up at the airport ready to jet off to Egypt on holiday with the feeling I’d forgotten something. I racked my brains. Had I locked the door? Check. Had I packed my lucky Speedo's? Check. Had I brought along a damn fine book for the beach? Bollocks.

With my flight being called to the gate, I rushed off the WHSmith to grab myself a book. Hot and flustered, I darted past the latest array of D-list celebrity autobiographies they were trying to flog to holidaymakers and locked eyes on one book on the ‘New Releases’ stand. I made my choice based on the fact I myself was in a rush, and picked up the appropriately named Run. I’d not heard of the author before but the fact it was being hailed on the front cover as a ‘Bourne Identity for the 21st Century’ was good enough for me.

Two days into the holiday I realised what an awful mistake I had made picking up this book.

I should have picked up two Jeff Abbott books! I was tearing through the book as quickly as the main character, Ben Fosberg, was tearing up the pages in his attempts to escape the team of Homeland Security Agents who believed he had something to do with an apparent hit on a businessman who happened to be carrying Ben’s business card in his pocket.

My plans of lying in the sun or splashing around in the pool were slowly overtaken by my need to find out the answers to the questions Abbott throws up. Why was Ben was being hounded by these agents? Who is this mysterious stranger known as Pilgrim who has come to Ben’s aid? Does this have anything to do with the murder of his wife whilst on their Honeymoon two years earlier? Has anyone seen my Speedo's?

So much energy goes into this book from the get-go that you even start to feel the strain yourself such is the pace of the action that explodes with each turn of the page. You are left to keep guessing the reasons behind the scenario the main character finds himself in, with twists and turns along the way that keep you asking wondering all the way through who the bad guys really are in this story.

The comparisons to The Bourne Identity are justified, but Abbott is his own man with his own style of writing. The everyday-man personality of his main protagonist allows you to easily slip into that imaginary role and place yourself at the heart of the thrill-ride that is unfolding. It’s a character pattern that Abbott has followed in the majority of his books that I have read since.

It is surely only a matter of time before this book – along with a whole host of Abbott’s back catalogue – start getting picked up by Hollywood movie producers. If you like your action fast-paced and heart-pounding, then you can do little wrong than grab yourself a copy of this book.

Lad Lit Book Review: Busting Vegas by Ben Mezrich

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! This has surely got to be up there as one of every blokes dream - bleeding Las Vegas dry of its cash, women, and parties! Granted, the excessive threats of violence and beat-downs from the local bad lads is not something that makes an appearance in that dream, but what a ride nevertheless!

In typical Mezrich fashion, he's tweaked the truth a little to make it a little more Hollywood. After all, how excited would you really get about a maths geek showing off his number crunching skills? But who bloody cares! I've grown tired of these reviews I have read about Mezrich's books where people complain that he has bent the truth. He freely admits that at the start of his books, so if you don't like it, don't bloody read his books! It's like complaining that you hate EastEnders, but have a picture of Phil Mitchell as your screensaver (well, sort of!).

Much in the mold of his best-selling novel Bringing Down The House, Mezrich centres his story around those super intelligent kids over at MIT, and this time their ringleader is Semyon Dukach; who became known as the 'Darling of Las Vegas' by the time he was 21 such was his success as a Nevada high-roller.

But unlike the kids in Mezrich's previous escapades of the MIT nerds in Vegas, this bunch took their exploits worldwide, taking down casinos in Atlantic City, Aruba, Barcelona, London, and the jewel of the gambling crown - Monte Carlo; all of them under the noses of unscrupulous people who did not take too kindly to having their money taken from them - legitimate or not!

I think the reason I liked this book a little more than Bringing Down The House was because I really liked Dukach. I'm not too sure how much of the real Dukach was in there, but he's written as a very cool character. Then again, anyone who passes themselves off as a Russian arms dealer has got to have a bit of edge to them!

This is a great summer read, not to be taken too seriously, but certainly if you let yourself go with the flow of the crazy journey Mezrich takes you on to bring this story to life, then you'll hopefully end up lost in this one just like I was!