Drummer in the Dark (Marcus Glenwood Series #2) (Paperback)

by T. Davis Bunn (Author) "Jackie Havilland slipped off the headphones, swiped her hair back into place, and rose in stages..." (more)
Key Phrases: senior trader, buying dollars, Esther Hutchings, Kay Trilling, Wynn Bryant (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Taking its cue from two recent financial disasters (the Emulex story and the Barings collapse), this clever mix of politics, morality and high-tech suspense makes for a riveting thriller about (of all things) financial derivatives. Former high-tech guru Wynn Bryant is tapped by his brother-in-law, the new governor of Florida, to replace Congressman Graham Hutchings, bedridden with a stroke. His single mission: to help defeat Hutchings's pet piece of legislation, something called the Jubilee Amendment. Surrounded by scheming lobbyists, staffers who know more than he does and peers who dismiss him as a stand-in, Bryant's research into Hutchings's amendment puts him squarely in the path of Jackie Havilland, who's been hired by Hutchings's wife to find out who's been smearing her husband, and why. Both Bryant and Havilland find their investigations leading to the same source: infamous financier Pavel Hayek, head of the Hayek Group and mastermind of a secret plan that Hayek calls Tsunami. Since Bryant is ignorant of finance, his education in the details behind Tsunami, which involve the dangers of hedge funds and derivative financial instruments, is our education as well. Bunn (The Great Divide) obviously knows his stuff there's a scary reality behind this fiendishly simple plot, made all the more convincing by virtue of Bunn's financial expertise. And while the novel starts out slow, once the characters start bounding around the world from Rome to Cairo and the violence and danger escalate, the novel takes off. Bottom line: Bunn has crafted an intelligent, fast-moving novel about hedge funds; and if a writer can do that, he can do just about anything. (Aug. 7)Forecast: Originally a Christian Book Association bestselling author, Bunn still maintains a large Christian following. This book, however, fortifies his crossover appeal and cements his reputation as a writer of excellent mainstream thrillers.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist
Wynn Bryant is a rich but unhappy widower whose sister is married to the governor of Florida. The governor appoints Wynn to finish out the term of a congressman who's had a stroke, warning him that he must at all costs stay away from the "Jubilee Amendment." Turns out the congressman was a principled man whose Jubilee Amendment would bring some control to unregulated international currency trading, which destabilizes Third World economies, according to Bunn, and may be a threat to Western countries as well. Disregarding the governor's instructions, Wynn, along with his new girlfriend and a computer hacker named Colin Ready, sets out to bring down the unscrupulous traders, symbolized by the evil Pavel Hayek. In a subplot, Wynn heads to Rome to find his sister, who leaves the crooked governor on a religious quest. A former best-selling author of Christian fiction who has turned to mainstream thrillers, Bunn is a world traveler and knows a great deal about international finance, but he's not at his best here, writing hurriedly in a style that strikes a high tone and then descends into stale slang and shallow characterizations. The evident haste may derive from the pace he's on: this novel follows Kingdom Come, an evangelical effort with Larry Burkett (Thomas Nelson) from earlier this year and last year's The Great Divide [BKL Ap 15 00], Bunn's first, rather more successful attempt at a mainstream thriller. John Mort
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Press (June 4, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425185958
• ISBN-13: 978-0425185957
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 3.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #575,052 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hourglass of Lost Sleep, August 20, 2001

By	Eric Wilson "novelist" (Nashville, TN United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Drummer in the Dark (Marcus Glenwood Series #2) (Hardcover)

T. Davis Bunn keeps getting better. Wow! I thought he'd found his niche with "The Great Divide" (his legal thriller), but this book of political and financial intrigue raises the standard even higher. I'm not a big stocks and funds enthusiast, but Bunn manages to create a suspenseful and well-researched plot that hooked me early on. He works in a credible idea of dealing with Third World debt that I particularly found interesting. Beyond his obvious knowledge of the subject, Bunn creates believable characters and writes with a narrative flair that I personally love. His story is complex and maybe too intertwined for some to delve into, but I couldn't get enough.

As the title of this review suggests, I did lose sleep finishing this book. But the title is stolen from Bunn's own writing. "Jackie's eyelids felt coated with shards from the hourglass of lost sleep." It's writing such as this, passionate and imaginative, that make the political and financial arena come alive. Jackie and Wynn, the two protaganists, are complex characters whom I came to care for. Although the spiritual lessons are muted and few, Bunn works in heartfelt and very real spiritual thoughts without seeming preachy.

With a recent batch of superlative novels by Christian authors("When Heaven Weeps" by Ted Dekker and "The List" by Robert Whitlow, to name a few), I must include "Drummer in the Dark" as one of my favorites.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A gripping political thriller, August 11, 2001

By	Nick Gonnella - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Drummer in the Dark (Marcus Glenwood Series #2) (Hardcover)

Successful businessman Wynn Bryant is approached by his brother-in-law, the governor of Florida, to take over the position of congressman Hutchings, who has recently suffered a stroke. Wynn refuses, but quickly learns he has no choice, and the reason becomes clear...Legislation has recently put together the Jubilee Amendment which is to relieve Third World countries of their debt, and the governor was this squashed, no matter what the cost.

Jackie Havilland is working for a small detective agency when she is approached with a mysterious and unusual request...Esther Hutchings wants Jackie to find out who is behind the smear campaign of her husband, and make sure the Jubilee Amendment is passed.

As Jackie and Wynn become deeper involved in their assignments they realize there is a far reaching conspiracy, one that involves a secret project called Tsunami. Tsunami is the biggest currency scam in history, one that congressman Hutchings was investigating before his stroke. Before long Jackie and Wynn are faced with a deadly race against time with powerful forces. Forces that will kill anyone that gets in the way of their plan to reshape world economy.

`Drummer In The Dark' is a great follow-up to the best-selling `The Great Divide.' T. Davis Bunn has switched gears, and instead of giving us another legal thriller, he has given a fast-paced political thriller laced with intrigue. The plot, while complex, is well written, and easy to follow, with plot twists at every turn, and enough shocks to keep you turning the pages.

T. Davis Bunn is quickly jumping into the forefront of thriller writers, and proving he is a skilled storyteller with a knack for churning out bestsellers.

Nick Gonnella

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Decent White Collar Thriller, July 21, 2005

By	Kara J. Jorges "Avid Reader" (Minneapolis) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book gets off to a slow start, taking a bit too long to let us in on what's going on, but once it gets going, it's not bad.

Wynn Bryant is a man of means who obviously travels in better circles than I do, since at a mere suggestion from his sister, he becomes an interim Congressman. He wanders around DC without a clue until he gets dragged on a journey to Rome and Cairo, and gets pulled into some hefty intrigue.

Jackie Burke is a windsurfer with a crappy job who suddenly gets hired by the wife of the ill Congressman whose place Wynn takes. Jackie realizes something big is afoot when the investigation she has been hired to undertake gets her apartment broken into and trashed. She meets Wynn and feels an instant attraction and kinship when they go to Rome, though most of their relationship throughout the rest of the book happens over the telephone.

Behind all the aforementioned intrigue is financier Pavel Hayek, a billionaire maverick who moved his foreign exchange trading business to Florida from Wall Street. As the author took so much time carefully constructing the plot, it seems unfair to give it away here. Suffice it to say, Hayek is a very bad man with some very big, very bad plans, and it's up to Wynn and Jackie to figure out what they are and stop him.

Once things got moving, it was a fairly compelling read. It was hard to get a fix on Wynn's character, aside from the fact that he had a painful past and a lot of money to blow. The other characters, save one or two, didn't go very deep, either. Jackie was likeable, though. Things wrapped up a little too neatly with a pretty bow on top, and the author relied too heavily on leaving everyone out of the loop-the protagonists and the reader-but getting there managed to keep my interest. All in all, not a bad financial/political thriller.