Foliage

An International Banking Spy Thriller

Fiction - Historical - Event/Era
244 Pages
Reviewed on 04/14/2016
Buy on Amazon

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Author Biography

Award-winning author Lorraine Evanoff's highly addictive, suspenseful thrillers are perfect for fans of Erik Larson, Jack Slater and Kathy Reichs.

Former Hollywood finance exec Lorraine Evanoff uses classic mystery storytelling to spin complex tales of international finance with a sexy female heroine. Lorraine's best-selling Louise Moscow Novels, FOLIAGE and the newly released PINOT NOIR, are high concept noir thrillers inspired by real-life banking scandals.

Originally from Chicago, Lorraine received a degree in French from DePaul then studied and worked for seven years in Paris and is currently living in Los Angeles with her husband. Lorraine held CFO positions in high tech companies during the dot-com era, and more recently in the film industry, notably as CFO of National Lampoon. She already has multiple IMDB credits to her name and now has a screenplay in development.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Ray Simmons for Readers' Favorite

I find that women writers do emotions and relationships better than men, while men are great at plot, action, and suspense. Lorraine Evanoff excels at all aspects of writing. In Foliage: An International Banking Spy Thriller, the characters are well rounded, the action is crisp and realistic, and the plot is very believable and moves along at a sharp crisp pace. I found her portrayal of an American living and moving in international circles very accurate, and I have never read a better description of the jet setting lifestyle. But the thing I like most about Foliage is Louise Moscow. I even like her name. I was not really expecting a woman to be the heroine at the center of an international banking conspiracy. I don’t know why it was such a surprise, but it was a surprise, and it turned out to be a pleasant one.

Louise is smart, very smart, and that is something I admire in a character. She needs that intelligence to outmaneuver the players of the international banking world. The bad guys are very well educated, cultured, and charming. They are also as ruthless and dedicated as an Afghan soldier. Foliage is huge in scope and history and some of the most momentous movements of our time go into creating a conspiracy that will shake the banking world. Names of institutions and people plucked from the headlines combine with superb writing to make Foliage and Louise Moscow something you will want to see more of in the future. If you want to know more about what lies behind those BCCI headlines you occasionally run across, read Foliage: An International Banking Spy Thriller.

Michelle Stanley

“Money is the root of all evil,” and Lorraine Evanoff’s novel, Foliage: An International Banking Spy Thriller, sprouts many corrupt roots. Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) hires Louise Moscow, a brilliant investment banker to work at their Paris branch. She has a knack for wooing rich clientele and enjoys the lavish lifestyle that accompanies the job. Louise begins to notice discrepancies in the bank’s finances and other illicit activities. Michael, an FBI agent, and Vlad, a CIA operative, both intimidate her to gather evidence against BCCI. When her best friend and co-worker is murdered, Louise knows her life is threatened, but is uncertain which agent she can trust to get her out of the escalating danger of which she is unwittingly a part.

Greed, power, and money form a lethal combination that will always weaken humanity. Foliage: An International Banking Spy Thriller is an extremely intense story filled with romance, mystery, and historical facts. I got a first-hand look at the unscrupulous methods of the banking world and how manipulative its players can be to ensure that the barrier between rich and poor remains. Lorraine Evanoff has written remarkably well, considering that Foliage is her first novel. She gives an in-depth description of the intricacies of BCCI’s operation and her Endnotes provide historical sources for some of the events that actually occurred. The suspenseful conclusion left me curious to know more about the protagonist’s fate in Book 2, another Louise Moscow Novel from Lorraine Evanoff’s remarkable Foliage series.

Chris Fischer

Wow! Just, wow! That's exactly what I thought when I read the last words of Foliage: An International Banking Spy Thriller by debut author Lorraine Evanoff. This book was fun, exciting and a roller-coaster ride of a read pretty much from the very first page. Follow the story of protagonist Louise Moscow, a woman who is pretty much living a dream life: fantastic job, interesting friends, and oh, by the way, living in Paris; it's as if she has all she's ever wanted. But when she stumbles upon evidence of criminal activity at her company, and the FBI and CIA force her to agree to help them, things start to change and quickly. Before she knows it, she's involved in what could be come one of the greatest scandals in banking history. Throw in a little romantic intrigue, and you've got yourself a book you won't be able to stop reading until you've finished every last bit.

I loved Foliage. Loved. It. How's that for a review? Well, it's definitely the way I felt about this book. Author Lorraine Evanoff has done a simply spectacular job in creating intriguing characters that readers will thoroughly enjoy and a story line that just won't stop. Any reader who enjoys mysteries, spy thrillers, or just a great work of fiction in general should absolutely read Foliage just as soon as they can. I highly recommend this book, and I look forward to reading more from the extremely talented and promising author, Lorraine Evanoff, as soon as I possibly can!

tim nunn

wow i absolutely love reading Lorraine Evanoff books she is my most favorite book author, her books makes you wonder whats next and the more you read the more you get into it. i love reading murder mystery spy books , anyone thats not yet read her books youd love them i plan to own all her current and future books.

Andy Cooke

A great first novel for Evanoff, with a brisk story that could be very easily turned into a blockbuster film treatment for a slick espionage tale with a beautiful leading lady, exotic locations and fast-paced action sequences.