OnlineBookClub.org

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Basis Points" by Guy Herman.]

Basis Points is a 2014 novel by author Guy Herman, who has authored more than twenty books in just the last few years. The novel is a political thriller that recounts the LIBOR scandal that has rocked the United States and Europe in recent years. While the story itself is fiction, it is based on facts surrounding one of the biggest showings of corruption in the modern world. Basis Points reveals how several law enforcement agencies over three continents had to work together to uncover a scheme designed to literally steal trillions of dollars from the world’s citizens through unregulated banking practices. This is a tale of economic manipulation that makes the Madoff Ponzi Scheme, the Enron accounting books, and even the housing bubble crash look like a walk in the park.

Basis Points centers itself on Jack Dempsey and Henri Marceau, two (presumably) NSA Agents who have stumbled upon strange happenings inside some of England’s biggest banks. A flash drive delivered to them by the mysterious Antoine Davies contains information that, if true, could implicate some of the world’s biggest banks in a rate-fixing scandal worth trillions of dollars. The problem, however, is that the potential culprits are as powerful and connected as they are rich, especially Barclays Bank President Sir Ian Diamond. As Marceau and Dempsey investigate, they discover that not only is the information on the flash drive true, it is just the tip of the iceberg. Furthermore, they realize that their whistle-blower, Mr. Davies, may not be as he appears; to complicate matters, Davies has completely disappeared. To solve the puzzle, Jack and Henri must enlist the aid of INTERPOL, Scotland Yard, and even the Moroccan Police. As the list of players grows larger, from the Iranians to Mossad to even the United States government, Marceau and Dempsey realize they could be in way over their heads…

I love the political world, whether it be fact or fiction. Tom Clancy is one of my all-time favorite authors, and CNN is my reality TV. As such, I was immediately intrigued by Basis Points; I remember the LIBOR scandal, and I simply could not pass up the opportunity to delve into Mr. Herman’s fact-based story. I was definitely pleased with the author’s ability to explain LIBOR (and the scandal surrounding it) from multiple angles without being too lofty for the casual reader. Likewise, I was just as impressed that Mr. Herman could navigate the intricacies of banking law and regulation without drying out the story or boring me to death with statistics and figures. Basis Points breaks down key aspects of LIBOR (its purpose, how it works, and ultimately how it was illegally manipulated) into an easy to understand narrative that serves to push the story ahead, not detract from it. Overall, this is my favorite element of the novel. Also, I give Mr. Herman an honorable mention for his inclusion of a timeline, at the end of the book, showing the facts behind the LIBOR scandal that led to the resignation (or imprisonment) of many high-ranking bankers and government officials.

The problem with Basis Points, and one that ultimately kept me from enjoying the novel, is its atrocious grammar. I merely wince at obvious grammatical or syntactical errors; however, the flaws in this book are overly egregious. Basis Points is rife with run-on sentences; examples include one-sentence paragraphs, some without even a hint of punctuation, which require rereading several times for full comprehension. Furthermore, quotation marks are misplaced throughout sections of complete dialogue that render it almost impossible to discern which character is saying what. Often times, the imagination of the reader must dictate the flow of the conversation, because there is no definite beginning or conclusion of the dialogue. I actually, on several occasions, simply set the book down out of frustration. There is little doubt in my mind that Basis Points was neither proofread nor edited before being published, and that is a shame. Mr. Herman’s poor use of basic grammatical elements came dangerously close to destroying my enjoyment of his book; if not for the relevance and intrigue of the plot, I would not have finished it.

A sharply edited copy of Basis Points would warrant an extraordinary rating; alas, this is not the case. I rate the book 2 out of 4 Stars, and I forced myself not to rate it 1 Star. Fans of Dan Brown’s Digital Fortress or Ian Fleming’s Moonraker will appreciate this novel’s realistic portrayal of high-level greed and corruption. However, a willingness to throw everything learned in Language Arts class out the window is of utmost import, for this novel strays as far from the rules of the English language as the east does from the west. I could not overcome this fatal flaw, and I could not enjoy Basis Points on any level because of it. If you can look past the errors, and you like political/conspiracy theory thrillers, then you will find this book appealing; but you have been warned.

******
Basis Points
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Like jacnthabox's review? Post a comment saying so!

Nice review! A pity about the lack of editing.

Very honest review, jacnthabox. I can easily ignore a grammatical mistake here and there; but if it`s so many of them, well...

Great review, Jack. It must be irritating to find a great story that's poorly written. Edit, edit, edit! I agree that there's a difference between typos/mistakes and poor writing that doesn't come close.

I don't think I'd enjoy this book, because I don't really "get" issues of international economics. I admire the author's body of knowledge! I could never write a book about that!

I enjoyed the review. I especially like the last sentence: "If you can look past the errors, and you like political/conspiracy theory thrillers, then you will find this book appealing; but you have been warned."

"BUT YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED"
I love the warning! I am a grammar freak, so I appreciate a book that has been proofread! And it really irritates me when it is so obvious that this has not happened! I can deal with a typo or two, but that's about all. When there are many typos or, even worse, many blatant grammatical errors, I don't deal with it well.

Great review, jacnthabox. The story sounds really neat, but I'm sorry to hear about all the errors. There are a couple books I'm reading right now that are close to being abandoned, and that takes a lot for me. I hope the author takes your advice and enjoys greater success because of it.

Nice, balanced review. I am glad you were able to appreciate certain parts of the book.

bookowlie wrote:Nice, balanced review. I am glad you were able to appreciate certain parts of the book.

I really did; it's hard to convey that appreciating something doesn't necessarily mean liking it. I believe Mr. Herman definitely displayed a knack for explaining abstract or difficult concepts in his story crafting. However, my opinion is that grammar holds a huge stake in the written word; if there are too many blatant and obvious errors, it becomes clear that the work was hurried or possibly proofread by the wrong person. The material in this story was right up my alley, and I should have been able to enjoy it; alas, the poor use of the rules of language had me plodding from page to page in an attempt just to finish the book.

I do have to give credit where credit is due, though, and say that Mr. Herman does have talent; he needs a team of beta readers or editors to take him to the next level.

Thanks to all for the kind words.

Well said. I find that too many errors make a book seem unprofessional and amateurish. Writing a book is not just about good ideas and creative characters/plot. There should be a polished feel to the writing.