The Crash by Robert Peston

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to NetGalley and Zaffre and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Blurb

As the world falls apart, a deadly conspiracy comes together . . .

London, 2007. It's summer in the the economy is booming, profits are up and the stock market sits near record highs.

But journalist Gil Peck is a lone voice worrying it can't last. Deep in the plumbing of the financial system, he has noticed strange things happening which could threaten the whole economy. But nobody wants to hear not the politicians taking credit for an end to boom and bust, not the bankers pocketing vast bonuses, not even Gil's bosses at the BBC, who think it's irrelevant.

When Gil gets a tip-off that a small northern bank has run out of money, everything changes. His report sparks the first run on a UK bank in 140 years. The next day, Marilyn Krol, a director of the Bank of England dies in an apparent suicide.

For Gil, it's personal. Marilyn was his was his scoop connected to her suicide? Or is there something more sinister in her death? Gil is determined to find out.

My Opinion

This is a blend of fact and fiction about the financial crash. This is a political thriller with plenty of twists and turns, but sadly for me it just wasn't gripping. I found that this was easily a book I could just put to one side. This book works as a thriller, and in places it was a real page turner but ultimately I thought that it just missed the mark.

Rating 3/5

The Crash is a tense political thriller from the author of The Whistleblower. Ten years have gone by and Gil Peck is no longer a newspaper journalist but working for the BBC as business editor. It covers the lead up to and causes of the 2008 financial crash, and exposes greed and corruption at the heart of the banking system. I cannot say that I understood all the financial detail, but it did not matter as I got the general idea. Having been the first to break the story, Gil begins to wonder if he has been set up, who had the most to gain, and how far were they prepared to go to cover up their conspiracy.
It is a skillful blend of fact and fiction with thinly disguised portraits of political and media figures of the time, whose identity will be obvious to anyone who lived through this period in British history – we can only hope they have been much exaggerated for dramatic effect. Nevertheless, it is unflinching in its portrayal of the Oxbridge elite behind it all. The excess and entitlement on display are truly mind-boggling.
The story is told entirely from Gil’s point of view, and he is a much more rounded character in this book as we get a glimpse into his family background and life outside of work. Robert Peston is writing about what he knows, and I was fascinated by the behind-the-scenes details of TV reporting. Gil’s descriptions of his clothes and who designed them added a touch of levity to an otherwise fairly serious narrative. Hopefully, there will be more books featuring Gil Peck in the future. Thanks to Zaffre and NetGalley for a digital copy to review.

The second of Robert Preston’s Gil Peck series is every bit as good as the first if not better. Peck has moved on storm newspapers and now works for the BBCand is offered a scoop he cannot refuse. This sets off a chain reaction which leads to violence and death. Many of the characters from the first book play leading parts in this second story and it does not stretch the imagination to see where the inspiration for them has come from. Along the way we’ve rate treated to analysis of the financial world sometimes from a very critical viewpoint. I have been both entertained and educated .
More to come I hope.

This is a book that I didnt finish. I found it hard going and too much about financial terms etc so gave up.
Unfortunately this one was just not of interest to me

Love when a book combines historical events with fiction and this is a really good example..

I found it gripping and enjoyed it more than I thought I would.

Another cracking thriller from Peston, drawing on his extensive experience of financiers and politicians. Full of tension, I found the novel hard to put down. Looking forward to the next one!

I read this ARC for an honest review
All thoughts and opinions are mine

I must admit I requested the book because of the author
I did enjoy this

I felt it was well written and easy to read and get involved in the story

This political thriller picks up several years on from the events of “The Whistleblower”, with Gil Peck now working as the BBC’s Business Editor. What starts as a tip about a funding crisis at a northern bank quickly escalates into one of the biggest scoops of Gil’s career.

However, the situation starts to spiral as two of the people who passed information to Gil are found dead. Gil must use all of his savvy and contacts to get to the bottom of the story, and work out how the many parts of the story fit together.

As with the previous book in the series, “The Crash” is a clever, thrilling story, which blends real events of the period with fiction to create a believable, engaging narrative. I greatly enjoyed learning more about Gil’s personal life in this instalment, and his relationships with his parents, his friend Jess, and her daughter Amy are great.

I look forward to reading more by the author.

My thanks to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for the arc to review.

The Crash by Robert Peston is the sequel to The Whistleblower and didn't disappoint. We rejoin hack Gil Peck who is now working for the BBC, and who foresees the financial crash of 2007/08. Its an excellent pacy thriller with good economic and political detail - rooted in fact but an entirely fictional story.
With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fascinating story about the real stories behind the headlines. It was easy to imagine that the contents of the story could be based on the truth. Some really good. believable, characters and a storyline that had me gripped from beginning to end.

Great pacing and the author clearly knows his subject but I could done with more depth and weight in the writing. It read more like a treatment for a film than a book. And I don't know any reporter who goes for large glasses of wine between live reports...

A fabulously written gripping story that was a pleasure to read. I would absolutely recommend this book, it was brilliant

When requesting an ARC copy of ‘The Crash’, I had no idea this was to be the second instalment in a series featuring fictional former financial journalist Gill Peck. It is testament to political editor Robert Peston’s fictional storytelling aptitude that this did not matter one bit and did not hamper my greedy consumption of the novel. Political journalism and great novel writing require very different skill sets, but Peston commands them both. The novel’s starting point is entirely credible, with reminders of the most recent UK banking crisis: When fictional Gill Peck releases the news story that a well-known bank is in trouble, turmoil in the financial markets gathers pace. In the aftermath, Gill’s lover Marilyn is found dead, and Gill is sucked deeper and deeper into a world of institutionalised greed, organised corruption, cutting edge journalism – and absolute danger. By this point of the novel, reality and fiction have long been melded into an extraordinary read that I would recommend to anyone who remembers the 2008 banking crisis.

I am grateful to the publishers and NetGalley for the free ARC that I received in exchange for the production of this honest, unbiased book review.

The Crash by Robert Peston is the story of banking crisis, subprime lending, stock market skullduggery and death of friends and enemies.
Gil’s friend Marilyn Krol dies unexpectedly, is it murder or suicide?Marilyn Krol was a director of the Bank of England in an apparent suicide but why?
A very detailed look at the London banking crisis in 2007, a look at all the key players , who were they and what did they do. At times it was overwhelming in detail and I had to leave the book and go back and carry on.
I was glad I persevered because the climax of the novel was excellent.
Recommend

Robert Peston, a political expert and fantastic journalist has drawn on his knowledge of journalism and politics to come up with a very believable mystery with murderous overtones. Based upon a banking crash which we've all experienced, the question is whether this was a genuine financial accident or one engineered by big business. Interesting blend of fact and fiction. Despite the characters not being based on real people, some of them definitely reminded me of real people in the news.

Ten years after the death of his sister, Gil Peck is now working for the BBC as an Economics correspondent. With the collapse of a large building society the country is on the brink of financial ruin. However is this ruin being orchestrated by a group of high-powered individuals and was the suicide of Peck's lover connected?
I quite enjoyed Peston's first book about the ambitious and slightly immoral Peck and there are aspects of this one that I also quite liked. The problem was that I kept drawing parallels between the cliched characters and the people they most resembled which made it hard to reconcile this as purely fiction. It's a breathless rush of a book and quite entertaining for all that.

Robert Peston is not only a fantastic journalist but now a fantastic author. Based on a journalistic theme we delve into this world. Highly recommended

I really enjoyed this book.

Robert Peston, political editor at ITV has really used his knowledge of journalism and politics into this book.
Set around the banking crash in 2008 this is a novel that also has a lot of fact entwined which makes it a gripping read. It’s quite descriptive, overly so in parts but well written, fast paced and really enjoyable.
Highly recommend.

I enjoyed Robert Peston's first book and this one also did not disappoint (normally I am wary of celebrity books). He brought all his knowledge to this book but made it exciting and a great read.

I was given an advance copy by netgalley and the publishers but the review is entirely my own.

I enjoyed this second book by Robert Peston and love the way he writes. I must explain that I did not understand a lot of the parts when he talked about subprime mortgages etc but that did not detract from my enjoyment of the story. Gil Pick is the business editor of the BBC formerly writing for a newspaper. Gil is always looking for the next big story and is given a bite of a big story which will bring a Bank to it’s knees and the story gets better from then on. It is set about the Banking crisis a few years ago. The problem is that the people involved do not want the media and public to know as this will stop them from enjoying millions of pounds of profit. A lot happens in the book which puts Gil at severe risk but he continues to chase the story. He needs to follow the story through as his on/off girlfriend dies in strange circumstances and he feels he needs to get to the bottom of that tragedy which he eventually does with the help of Jesse who is also a journalist and likes a big scoop herself. They work really well together and become great together. Eventually he finds the story he wants with pain to himself but he is determined to bring to justice the people. Unfortunately he does not manage to completely do this but the story line was great and ended in a way I thought, well he did his best. As I have mentioned just now I did not really understand some of the book when it got into subprime etc but this did not detract from the story itself which I really enjoyed