ARDENT JUSTICE by Peter Taylor-Gooby

3 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE
On Goodreads HERE

Ardent Justice is a novel that brings to light the corruption in the financial world of the City.  After a brutal rape by a rich financier, tax inspector Ade becomes involved with Paul, an activist who works with homeless people.  Together they become modern day Robin Hoods, determined to expose the fraud within the City and help the poor, fighting the power of money and influence of back-hander paid officials.  The novel is billed as a character-led feminist thriller.  

I found the explanation of how fraud works within the city fascinating, and certainly confirmed much that I suspected; alas, this is how business has been done for hundreds of years, after all, the only difference being that today it is on a much larger scale and has more devastating and widespread consequences.  There is no doubt that the book brings to light societal problems that will be an eye-opener for some, but I'm afraid that, for me, it didn't work as a novel.  The characters were one-dimensional; Ade came over as bitter towards the world rather than feminist, though aside from this she was never more than words on a page for me; I didn't believe the characters as, on the whole, the portrayal of emotion was not convincing, dialogue was unrealistic, and I found the narrative disjointed.

The proceeds of the book will go to Shelter, the charity for the homeless, so I am sorry not to be able to be more postive.