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Zach Abrams
Thrillers.
They share a common theme of power and control but Zach Abrams' two thrillers are very different.
Source: A fast-paced financial crime thriller
A novel investigating financial crime and sabotage within the banking sector
Tom is an accomplished journalist and lead features writer at Global Weekly’s London office. He’s an unhappily married workaholic seeking to advance his career.
Sally is single, ambitious and independent. Visiting from Australia, she’s chasing the same story.
Each is eager to research alleged wrongdoings at Royal National Bank, exposed by a series of whistleblower revelations. RNB is one of the largest and strongest financial institutions in the world, or it was. There have been several incidents within a period of weeks. The effect has rocked the bank to its core, causing its share price to tumble and world stock markets to ripple. International economic stability is at risk.
Both Tom and Sally suspect something or someone must be behind it. It couldn’t just be coincidence. They think it inconceivable for such rapid decline to result from merely incompetence and a series of blunders. It must be sabotage. Yet the timing and diversity of location make it improbable. Has someone been powerful and ingenious enough to mastermind such demise? If so who, and why?
Tom and Sally become reluctantly twinned in the investigation looking for the ”source’ and their trail leads them from London to Glasgow, Manchester, Barcelona and Collioure.
They tread a dangerous path as Tom’s life and wellbeing becomes imperilled by strange and cryptic warnings. Through this, Tom struggles to hold everything together. He’s hoping to restore his crumbling marriage and uncertain personal finances, yet is distracted by an irresistible attraction to Sally.
They feel daunted by the prospect of an unknown enemy, who seems to have unlimited power and connections. With great fortitude, they tackle the most challenging investigation of their lives, facing threats and hostility countering their every move.
Ring Fenced
Ring Fenced is contemporary and deals with events in the life of Benjamin Short, taking place over a period of sixteen days. Benjamin is dysfunctional. He is very intelligent and wealthy but he is also a control freak and a sociopath. He compartmentalises his life having a different character for each section and a variation of his name for each one. He keeps each of his personas separated and the people he mixes with in each one have little or no knowledge of the others. He uses his Blackberry as his control centre enabling him continuity as he switches between his different guises. He is also obsessed with music and his iPod accompanies him everywhere playing music compatible with his predicament.
The initial chapters introduce you to each of his characters while demonstrating his power control and detachment. Benjie Shroot (his original surname) visits his mother and sick father in their orthodox Jewish household each Sunday morning. As Bennie Short he spends most evenings and weekends with his wife and his children. Ben Short works through the weekdays as a powerful City executive and corporate banker. As Benjamin, he writes erotic literature through the night and has become a co-owner of the American based internet company which publishes it. Finally, as Jamie, he gives vent to Benjamin’s wild side where he keeps a separate flat and liaises with his mistress.
As a sequence of events conspires to weaken the divisions between Benjamin's persona, the combination forms an explosive mix.