In Memory of Greed, Al Boudreau

This week for your dining pleasure, we are serving up a novel of geo-political intrigue, 'In Memory of Greed'.  Indy author Al Boudreau has dished us up a thriller involving the the movers and shakers in the world of Genetically Modified Seeds, and there are some real bad guys in this frequently violent but always entertaining book!

This tale of greed and moral bankruptcy is based on the premise that (quote)'If you control the seeds, you then control the food and ultimately the world.'  This is not that new a concept but what is new is that someone finally got around to writing a real thriller based on that rather simple concept.

ModAgro is the world leader of genetically modified seeds, and the CEO, Stuart Roth is determined to make it the only source of seeds, ruthlessly destroying small businesses and farmers in a way that is both heinous and abusive. He is thwarted in a takeover bid of his competitor, Haverhill, and decides to have the CEO of Haverhill murdered.  His enforcer, Patrick Keegan makes it so, and frames the perfect patsy. 

Murhkin Mocado is a highly trained former US Navy seal.  He employed by John Haverhill, and is the son of a powerful US Senator, and has been on the fringe of trouble all of his life. He is framed for a crime that he didn't commit, the murder of a man that he liked. This begins a series of events that kept me on the edge of my seat! I could visualize this as clearly as if it were scenes in an action movie. Murhkin ends up being both hospitalized and arrested, but it is there that he meets his love interest, a nurse named Jenn Pratt. 

At the same time that Murhkin is involved in his ordeals, Joelle Barstow, an industrial espionage operative is involved in a series of misadventures which are related to Murhkin's troubles.

Soon Murhkin is taken from his hospital bed, and transported first to Keegan's Ireland, and then to the beautifully drawn country of Kenya. Joelle Barstow is tailing them all the way.

These people are not superhuman, they make mistakes.  The rage that is expressed is human in its intensity with one exception.  Stuart Roth is completely over the top, but I liked that about him. As his empire crumbles he becomes ever more out of control. His self-abusive tantrums lend comedic moments to the roller coaster ride, as do his assistant's dead-pan comments.

There is a twist at the end that left me thinking about the book long after I finished it.  This is an excellent first novel, and while it has received some mixed reviews, most of the reviewers seemed to agree with me that this book was a fun dip into the world of political intrigue.