The Lies We Trade is a thriller set in and around Wall Street, which is a new-to-me fiction setting.
Just as Meredith is celebrating the successful launch of her new exchange-traded funds (ETFs), she is also signing a restraining order against her colleague, Betsey. What wasn’t clear to me (and possibly to Meredith) is why Betsey has been ousted from the firm.
I found the beginning a little confusing.
It wasn’t immediately obvious what was happening–at least, not to me, someone who has close to zero knowledge of stocks, shares, options, securities, or trading. I’d never even heard of exchange-traded funds, and that probably meant I missed some of the context (like the significance of ringing the bell on the trading floor in the opening scene).
It’s obvious Kristine Delano has deep insider knowledge of Wall Street, and the business of trading stock and securities. She did her best to find the balance between making the technical aspects intelligible to the lay reader without losing the tension, and to intertwine Meredith’s work and personal lives.
I did find the personal side of the story easier to read and more interesting, probably because having problems with teenage daughters is more relatable.
The Lies We Trade is written in first person present tense point of view.
I’m usually a fan of first person, although it’s more common in genres such as romance or rom-com. I did find the combination of first person, present tense difficult at first, although present tense did give the story a more edgy feel than the more traditional past tense.
Despite the somewhat confusing beginning, I did enjoy The Lies We Trade once I got into the story. The writing was good and the author certainly knows the ins and outs of Wall Street and is able to use that knowledge to craft a compelling thriller.
Recommended for readers looking for something different from a debut author.
Thanks to Tyndale Fiction and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.
About Kristine Delano
Kristine Delano is a former Wall Street executive turned award-winning author of domestic thrillers set in the high-stakes finance world. She hosts the We Talk Careers podcast and mentors women on work-life balance. When she’s not writing or reading, she enjoys scuba diving, playing games with friends, and chasing her family down the ski slopes of western Maine.
Find Kristine Delano online at:
About The Lies We Trade
A high-powered Wall Street career, a beautiful family in a quiet suburban neighborhood―she seems to have everything. Which means she has everything to lose.
Meredith Hansel should be having the best week of her life. After establishing herself as a portfolio manager at a prestigious Wall Street firm, she’s in the national spotlight for the innovative funds she created. But as Meredith prepares to celebrate, the plates she’s kept spinning for years begin to crash: Her strained marriage reaches a breaking point. Her conscientious teenage daughter acts out under mysterious pressures. Someone vandalizes her home with disturbing graffiti. And Betsey, her most trusted ally at the financial firm, goes rogue, and Meredith is forced to sign a restraining order against her.
Then her worlds collide when she receives a thumb drive and a cryptic note from Betsey threatening to reveal a secret that could have devastating effects on Meredith’s family . . . unless she can figure out what Betsey wants and deliver it in time.
As Meredith begins to dig into the data, however, she begins to suspect that it’s no coincidence her life is crumbling. That maybe what’s happening to her family is connected to what’s boiling beneath the surface at her investment company. Soon Meredith realizes there’s only one way to avoid taking the fall, and it all hinges on Betsey’s true motives. Was she really threatening Meredith or trying to warn her?
