“Endgame” is a highly intelligent political thriller which – despite its somewhat dry-sounding subject matter – had me completely hooked. It’s about how a run on a bank could morph from a major financial problem into something akin to the Cuban missile crisis (but with the Chinese taking the place of the Russians). It’s worth reading purely for how convincingly this very frightening scenario is laid out.

But a word of warning - if you are expecting lots of action along the lines of a more conventional, Tom Clancy-style thriller, this isn’t for you. It’s more like “The West Wing”, where the closest you get to the action is generally the White House situation room. Some people may also find the amount of space devoted to the financial aspects of the plot too much to stomach.

Certain other reviewers (e.g. on Amazon) have said that they did not find the characters sympathetic enough to engage them fully – and if you need a particular individual to “root for”, you won’t find it here. That said, I don’t think it’s fair to say that the characters are one-dimensional or fail to develop in the course of the story. For example, the US President doesn’t initially come across as very likeable, being predisposed to a rather hawkishly simplistic view of the world (although he is certainly no George W Bush caricature). But as time goes on you come to see him more sympathetically, because although he makes mistakes, you can see that he is genuinely trying to do the right thing – it’s just that it’s not at all easy to work out what the right thing is.

So this book certainly won’t won’t be everyone’s cup of tea – but if you enjoyed “The West Wing”, it is definitely worth a look (as is Matthew Glass’s previous novel, “Ultimatum”). For a longer review and some thoughts on parallels between “Endgame” and other books (including, rather bizarrely perhaps, “Fiasco” by Stanislaw Lem) see: http://www.paulsamael.com/blog/endgame
… (more)

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Paul_Samael | Nov 9, 2019 |

Ultimatum by Matthew Glass

Best read of 2009. Thank you Economist Book Review. The year is 2032. Newly elected Democratic candidate Joseph Emerson Benton is quickly thrust into a global emergency. I know, cliched, been there, done that, sounds like 9/11, right...? Wrong. An eco-terrorist novel with humanity cast as the terrorist. Mr. Benton grows into the role of what every President should be: informed and courageous. The adversarial Chinese-American dialectic is frightening, engrossing, and completely believable.

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apomonis | 11 other reviews | Jun 2, 2016 |

Trigger Point by Matthew Glass

I have a very ambivalent feeling about this book. First 80% of the novel read as some kind of investigative journalism - that is set in the future, year 2018 - but a very stretched one. It is slow. Many 'quotes' are read like in magazine articles. The pace picked up towards the end, but couldn't make up for the rest of the book. At the same time, the subject - consequences of tight integration of sovereign funds, in particular, Chinese, with US economy- is very interesting. It makes the reader think, whether you agree with the author or not.… (more)

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everfresh1 | 1 other review | Oct 16, 2012 |

Ultimatum by Matthew Glass

It wasn't a good reading. First, it took a long time to get at the bottom of the thread. It was not only boring it was also very confusing and surreal. Furthermore it wasn't catching or gripping it was more a very hard deal to get through the plot. I definitely can't recommend it.

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Ameise1 | 11 other reviews | May 2, 2012 |

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