Very Timely!, April 16, 2016
By Simon Levy
This review is from: Foliage: An International Banking Spy Thriller (Kindle Edition)
Ms. Evanoff has written an incredibly timely book, especially given the release of the Panama Papers and the exposure of corruption within the banking and financial services industries. The book is a wonderful combination of non-fiction and fiction, with a heroine who is smart, beautiful, spiritual and complex. The book, which is well-researched (and even has footnotes), is obviously written by someone who knows what she's writing about. It exposes how money moves around the world, who controls it, and how far governments, world leaders, corporations, and the banking industry will go to get their percentage, even if it's illegal. He who controls the money... controls everything. It's a sober reminder that common people, like most of us, are merely ATM machines for those who will go to any length to accumulate wealth and power. We really are naive about how money works in the world! Looking forward to the next adventure.

 

Completed on:

04/14/2016

Review Rating:

5 stars! Download your free 5 Star Seal.

Reviewed By Chris Fischer for Readers’ Favorite

Wow! Just, wow! That's exactly what I thought when I read the last words of Foliage: An International Banking Spy Thriller by debut author Lorraine Evanoff. This book was fun, exciting and a roller-coaster ride of a read pretty much from the very first page. Follow the story of protagonist Louise Moscow, a woman who is pretty much living a dream life: fantastic job, interesting friends, and oh, by the way, living in Paris; it's as if she has all she's ever wanted. But when she stumbles upon evidence of criminal activity at her company, and the FBI and CIA force her to agree to help them, things start to change and quickly. Before she knows it, she's involved in what could be come one of the greatest scandals in banking history. Throw in a little romantic intrigue, and you've got yourself a book you won't be able to stop reading until you've finished every last bit.

I loved Foliage. Loved. It. How's that for a review? Well, it's definitely the way I felt about this book. Author Lorraine Evanoff has done a simply spectacular job in creating intriguing characters that readers will thoroughly enjoy and a story line that just won't stop. Any reader who enjoys mysteries, spy thrillers, or just a great work of fiction in general should absolutely read Foliage just as soon as they can. I highly recommend this book, and I look forward to reading more from the extremely talented and promising author, Lorraine Evanoff, as soon as I possibly can!

Completed on:

04/15/2016

Review Rating:

5 stars! Download your free 5 Star Seal.

Reviewed By Ray Simmons for Readers’ Favorite

I find that women writers do emotions and relationships better than men, while men are great at plot, action, and suspense. Lorraine Evanoff excels at all aspects of writing. In Foliage: An International Banking Spy Thriller, the characters are well rounded, the action is crisp and realistic, and the plot is very believable and moves along at a sharp crisp pace. I found her portrayal of an American living and moving in international circles very accurate, and I have never read a better description of the jet setting lifestyle. But the thing I like most about Foliage is Louise Moscow. I even like her name. I was not really expecting a woman to be the heroine at the center of an international banking conspiracy. I don’t know why it was such a surprise, but it was a surprise, and it turned out to be a pleasant one.

Louise is smart, very smart, and that is something I admire in a character. She needs that intelligence to outmaneuver the players of the international banking world. The bad guys are very well educated, cultured, and charming. They are also as ruthless and dedicated as an Afghan soldier. Foliage is huge in scope and history and some of the most momentous movements of our time go into creating a conspiracy that will shake the banking world. Names of institutions and people plucked from the headlines combine with superb writing to make Foliage and Louise Moscow something you will want to see more of in the future. If you want to know more about what lies behind those BCCI headlines you occasionally run across, read Foliage: An International Banking Spy Thriller.