This is a book review of the novel Currency by L Todd Wood, written by The Banker’s Umbrella, a private banking group in Luxembourg.
We all love a good story right? Something that we can just shut off the “effort” part of the brain, flick on the autopilot and dive into an exciting fast paced book that allows us to escape from the day-to-day.
The thriller; Currency by L. Todd Wood is just such a story. It ticks all the right boxes: Troubled handsome main character, check. Multiple glamorous locations, check. Hot chick character, check. Another hot chick character, check. Baddies with guns, check. Secret operatives with bigger guns, check. Troubled handsome main character getting up close and naked with hot chick character, check. I don’t want to spoil the plot too much so I’ll leave the box checking there. I think you get the idea though. The book has this, that and a bit of the other and all in a good balance.
The thing is, there’s a little bit more than the box checking, two things in fact: First. The clue is in the name: Currency. The plot evolves around the financial world and what L. Todd Wood has done a brilliant job of is explaining the world of finance by interweaving it in to a fast paced thriller. Wood has a strong background in finance and it shows, but there isn’t a trace of the all too common boring explanations of finance.
If telling a story is the greatest way to teach, then Wood does a blinder of a job. While reading the book I couldn’t help but think that this is a book I would give to someone who knows nothing about the financial world as a covert way of teaching them how it actually works. They’ll enjoy the page turning thriller, but once the book is set down and they watch the financial news on CNN, they’ll say “Wow, what happened? I understand what these talking heads are talking about”
People pay thousands for an education like that. You get it for USD 9.99 on a Kindle. How is that not a great deal?
Secondly. There are multiple historical timeframes in the book. This is exciting stuff. The book moves from timeframe to timeframe and back without confusing the reader. Wood’s attention to historic detail is evident and what man doesn’t like a good pirate story?
For those of you who are versed in the world of finance I recommend it to you, since you’ll relate to a lot of the issues raised in the book. For those wanting a good thriller from an author we are sure to hear about more, I recommend it for the exciting page turning story and the free education.
Buy the audio book for yourself here, or a signed copy as a present to family or friends!
Here’s a few review excerpts…of the well over 200 five star reviews on Amazon!
“A Must read for anyone concerned about U.S. economic and national security. A page turner, I couldn’t put it down till I was finished.”
“I love historical fiction and this is one of those that sucks you in from the first chapter. I love books that make me want to go to wikipedia while I am reading because I am asking myself, “Is that really true? Did that really happen?”. Great story line – loved how it took place both in the past and present day. Once I started, I couldn’t put it down. Highly recommended….”
“If you like thrillers that are so well researched, you’d swear that you’re reading tomorrow’s newspaper, you’ll love Currency by L. Todd Wood. In-depth research teams up with extremely well thought out character development to bring a story that will keep you up nights. The only criticism I have on this book is that it wasn’t as long as I wanted it. i could have read this story for another month! Certainly worth the read! i think I’ve found a new favorite author!!”
“Read Currency in 3 days. Didn’t want to put it down. Great suspense and intrigue page after page. Loved the narrative, historical perspective and character and plot development. Great read! Just got Wood’s new book, Sugar. Going to start it tonight!”
“Currency is a great read and so plausible that I found it hard to put down. Many tidbits of truth are intertwined and keeps the story fresh and believable. I highly recommend this book.”
“I received my copy of ‘Currency’ in the mail yesterday. I sat down to do a bit of reading at about 10:30 last night before going to bed. I finally put your book down at about 3:00AM this morning with about 100 pages left, and finished reading it when I got up this morning.”
“Truly scary how close to real life it is.”
“This is the first 300+ page book I’ve ever read in one sitting. I was on an extended international flight and I couldn’t bring myself to put it down. The lead in to the story is completely captivating and I found myself in a whirlpool of increasing intrigue. Yes, a very entertaining book but at the same time…haunting, due to the real world implications concerning the future path of our nation. An easy read and a must read for someone concerned with the path the United States is taking. Amazing value from a relatively new and talented author. Wow!”
“This is the best book I have read so far this year. Frighteningly relevant to the current world climate ! Be prepared to lose sleep. L. Todd Wood is fantastic.”
