The Deal by Tony Drury

Paperback: 248 pages                                                                                                 
Genre:Romantic thriller
Publisher: City Fiction 2012
Source: The author's publicist in return for an honest and unbiased review.
First Sentence: Ascent...yes, ascent, he pondered, as he quietly relayed the melody in his mind.
My Opinion: Having thoroughly enjoyed Megan's Game the debut novel from this author, I was delighted to be given the opportunity to read and review The Deal his second novel.
This is a romantic thriller, a genre appeals to many, an easy read that keeps you turning the pages as the plot builds. The setting in the financial district and a publishing house I found of particular interest.

Précis Courtesy of Goodreads:

The pressure is on for corporate financier Oliver Chatham. As the City languishes in recession, he is under contract to raise two million pounds for a publishing company.
But it’s not only money at stake – if he is successful, Amanda Wavering, woman of his dreams and sister of the publishing house’s chief executive, will consummate their relationship; if he fails, no deal.
As if this wasn’t challenge enough, Oliver’s finance house becomes caught up in a battle of ferocious egos, as new bloods battle with the old guard for the future of the business. While old school boss Charles Harriman fights his own demons and the terrifying kidnap of his child, fearless corporate researcher Sara Flemming takes her reputation – and her life – right to the edge in her bid to expose the dodgy dealings of a Russian mafioso.
Will Oliver get what he bargained for – or will he learn the hard way that you should never mix sex and the City?



Author Profile

Biography in the Author's own words, Courtesy of Goodreads.

I was born in Birmingham and being the son of a Bank Manager I started my career in banking. In the 1960′s job security was very important. I joined the Midland Bank, Kidderminster, where I married the manager’s secretary Judy.

I was transferred to a Birmingham branch and from there my career changed. I joined a Secondary Bank much to the dismay of my parents.

In 1973 I was moved to London and promptly ran into the Secondary Banking Crisis and did well to keep my job I realised I was intellectually limited (ok: thick), so I wrote the text book on Finance Houses. It was published by Robert Maxwell who offered me a job as Managing Director of Waterlow Publishers. A year later he told me to “f**k off”, but he paid my contract.

The next ten years were spent building up a financial publishing company which went onto the stock market. I managed to buy the local squash club as well. I also had partnerships in a print company and a design studio. This experience was all very helpful in my career at the present time.

By now, I had written six financial books, the best being ‘Investment Clubs: the low risk way to stock market profits’, which was sponsored by Barclays Stockbrokers and sold 25,000 copies.

I set-up ‘ProShare’ in the early 1990′s to help shareholders form Investment Clubs.

St. Helen’s Capital was born in 1998 and by 2006 I had built it into the most successful PLUS Markets advisory firm.

I sold out of St. Helen’s in 2006 and promptly walked into the latest recession which virtually wiped me out.

I am still married to Judy (pictured). We have a son Chris and a daughter Emma, a son-in-law Simon (a barrister) and a daughter-in-law, Samantha. Chris and Samantha have now given us our first grandchild, Henry, who is the most gorgeous baby ever and I love him to bits.

I worked hard for the Conservative Party and was an Association Chairman and a County Councillor. I left when David Cameron betrayed the Party by entering into a totally unnecessary Coalition with the Lib-Dems (minority Government was staring him in the face). However, I have now rejoined in support of Andrew Selous, our local MP.

On my 60th Birthday, I decided I needed a new hobby, something a bit less energetic. I started writing fiction, mainly because I’ve spent most of my life telling stories. ‘Megan’s Game’ was my first book, which took five years to write and it was published in May 2012, followed by ‘The Deal’ in October 2012 and then ‘Cholesterol’ in June 2013. Very excited that my fourth novel ‘A Flash Of Lightning’ was released on the 21st November 2013 and most recently, 'The Lady Who Turned' was published in September 2014.

A bit of luck came my way and some producers who had read ‘Megan’s Game’ said they would like to make it into a film……..The script is now written and the film will be released in 2014. The producers loved the locations, Aberdovey in Wales, the City of London and the South of France.

Another film company in London has just bought the rights to my fourth novel 'A Flash Of Lightning' and is currently in development.



Photographs and biographical information courtesy of the following sites.

Tony Drury- Facebook   Amazon Author Profile   Official Author Website - Tony Drury

Twitter Profile   City Fiction Publishing - FB Page    City Fiction Publishing - Website    

 Goodreads Author Profile