Book Review: The Banker’s Wife

THE BANKER’S WIFE | Cristina Alger
07.03.2018 | Putnam Books
Rating: 4/5 stars

In the early morning hours a couple is seen boarding a private plane in London during a storm. News soon hits that the plane has crashed in the Alps and those aboard are believed to be dead. Police arrive at Annabel Werner’s door to inform her that her husband was aboard this plane and she is now a widow. Annabel is forced into a world of confusion. For starters, her husband, Matthew, never told her he was in London and just who was this woman he was flying with? As Annabel digs deeper she learns that her husband, who was a successful banker at Swiss United, a powerful offshore bank located in Geneva, was representing the woman on the plane. A woman whose family has close ties to terrorists. Nothing makes sense.

Family is the most important thing in the world. Everything else is just collateral damage.

At the same time Annabel’s life is crashing down around her, Marina Toureau is questioning her future. She is currently a successful journalist set to end her career quite early in order to accommodate a new life with her fiancé whose father is about to launch his campaign for presidential election. Before she walks away for good, she has agreed to help her boss with one last story. A story about Swiss United. A story about how this bank has a client list of not just your typical powerful executives, but also a link to known terrorists, which is a crime in the banking world. As Annabel and Marianna’s lives become more and more entwined with their investigations into Swiss United they run the risk of losing their lives. Will these two women find out the truth or will they die trying?

Be careful who you trust, Annabel. You are in Wonderland, my friend. here in Geneva, criminals can be your friends and your friends can be criminals. Do you understand me?

THE BANKER’S WIFE is a multi-faceted story about the criminal side to offshore banking. When I first read the synopsis for this book I was worried I wouldn’t understand the topic, as I’m certainly no banking expert, but rest assured, Alger makes everything easy to comprehend. The story is told through alternating storylines where the reader is able to spend time with each of the main characters, which is an element to many recent thrillers that I have come to know and love. That being said, THE BANKER’S WIFE stops being your average thriller here. There is no unreliable narrator trying to convince you that they know who committed a crime or that they aren’t guilty of something. The voices of Annabel and Marianna are those of strong, badass female characters determined to stop at nothing in the quest for the truth. Alger has a gift for writing a quick-paced, thrill ride of a story that sucks the reader in with a plot that will hold your attention until the very end. THE BANKER’S WIFE has all the elements needed to be your favorite thriller of the summer!