WHERE THE WOLF LIES

In this debut thriller, an American
banker’s business trip to Paris finds him unwittingly entangled in an
embezzler’s deadly revenge plot.

Paul Hart’s boss at Calhoun Capital
in New York, James Hutchens, sends him to Paris to take a closer look at Renard
Industries. CEO Claude Renard is a client at Calhoun, but as his current
holdings are “minimal,” Hutchens wants him to move more money to the American
company. Once in Paris, Hart initially meets Renard’s director of affairs, Clara
Nouvelle, who essentially vets him on her boss’s behalf. Hart is understandably
anxious. He has no strategy for gathering information on Renard Industries, and
Hutchens has even implied that Hart’s career is at stake. But Hart finds solace
in Clara, and he falls for the beguiling, self-assured woman in no time. The
business trip takes an unexpected turn after Clara and Hart head to London for “a
black-tie charity auction.” It’s an opportunity for Hart to meet associates of
Renard’s, including his London banker, Igor Romanski. Hart doesn’t trust Igor,
in part for his apparent smugness and aggressive mannerisms. But readers know
that Igor has been embezzling money and laundering it for quite some time in
London. And he has even bigger plans, including some type of revenge that
includes an attack. As Igor’s scheme soon entails outright murder, Hart is in
imminent danger. He also realizes that someone’s deception has put him in trouble
with the Parisian authorities, and he may have to clear his name, provided he
can stay alive.

Though Flynn’s novel has little
action or suspense, the plot moves at a steady clip. Hart is in Paris
relatively quickly while his romance with Clara is almost instantaneous. The
protagonist’s backstory is captivating: Dating Hutchens’ daughter, Veronica,
led to his Calhoun job. Despite Veronica dumping Hart, Hutchens has continued
to employ him. This makes Hart a vulnerable and sympathetic character, especially
in light of Hutchens vaguely threatening his position at Calhoun. Although Hart
concentrates on and periodically ogles Clara’s physical traits, she is a
resourceful character whose many attributes gradually come to light, especially
in the final act. The author shrewdly keeps the characters to a minimum and the
story largely free of complications, like extraneous subplots. While this
approach produces a clearly defined good guy and bad guy (Hart and Igor),
there’s an overall wariness among other characters. More than one individual,
for example, has been keeping secrets from Hart. Those secrets ultimately
result in several plot twists, though at least a couple are ones readers will
easily predict. Still, that doesn’t hamper the action when it finally arrives
in the form of a shootout, a car chase, and more. Throughout the book, Flynn
rigorously details environments, like scenes in London: “Continuing towards the
Thames, they emerged from the smaller, narrow streets into an open square….Apartments
were being refurbished, and dumpsters and heavy machinery were scattered about,
the old brick buildings surrounding them looking in dire need of repair.”