An accountant's plan to escape her dead-end job does more damage than she thinks in this novel by the author of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.
The beautiful, bright, and ambitious Natalie should be doing something with her life. But instead, she's stuck in a dead-end job. And instead of improving her place in the world by her own efforts, she takes advantage of the honesty of those around her, ultimately leaving them damaged and broken. Of course, she denies responsibility, even when confronted with undeniable evidence that she is involved. So, when she sees a chance to change her life, she doesn't hesitate to take it, even if it's at the expense of someone else. After all, it's only a minor crime. Nobody's going to get hurt. But Natalie's actions actually do have unforeseen and tragic consequences, and the ultimate question is will she be capable to meet the final demand to own up to what she has done?
Emotionally taut and beautifully written, Final Demand is a cautionary tale about the battle between greed and love, and our own frailty in the face of temptation.
Praise for Final Demand
"Marvelously tricky. . . . While some thrillers tick off a checklist of red herrings on a predictable march to the finish, Moggach's creations, with their layered personalities and shifting motivations, throw more guesswork into the mix. And something to ponder, too: matters of morality, complicity and fate." -Becky Aikman, The New York Times
"Tense and splendid. . . . Moggach, a versatile writer . . . has all the empathetic and stylistic gifts needed to put a reader inside the lives of a dozen disparate characters and make one care about their fates―even that of a callous protagonist who may (or may not) experience a last-minute redemptive epiphany." -Tom Nolan, Wall Street Journal (Best Mysteries of 2017)
"Thought-provoking. . . . A slow-burning novel. . . . Notable for its depiction of how our actions affect others, even as it maintains its spot in a moral gray area. Natalie is a wickedly fascinating character." -Publishers Weekly
"Brisk and neatly plotted, with a full-bodied cast headed by the irrepressible Natalie." -Booklist"
