'Ghost Money: Death in Dubai' by Thierry Smolderen with illustrations by Dominique Bertail is a near-fugure thriller involving tracking money down that funded the 9/11 attack.

A young woman named Lindsey is rescued from a protest by a mysterious woman named Chamza, and their fates are intertwined. Chamza seems to have lots and lots of money, and she is being tracked by the US government. The story moves around the world and features technology that we don't currently have, but may soon, like cornea replacements to spy on people, and futuristic travel.

At 296 pages, this was a long read. It took me a while to finally review it because it just seemed a bit daunting to me. I'm glad I finally read it, but it could have been a shorter story. The art is mediocre and feels a bit muddy at times. The art feels a little gratuitous at times too.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Lion Forge, Diamond Book Distributors, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

What if 9/11 was really a plot for Al-Qaeda to gain money through short-selling stocks and then someone made an action movie about it with sex robots? If you have ever asked this question, then do I have the comic for you!

Pros: interesting idea, international locales, double-crosses and sneakiness abounding!

Cons: Hard to distinguish between some of the CIA operatives (perhaps a consequence of my low-res review copy?), lots of goofy action-movie tropes, written by people who like to draw/look at boobs, i.e.:

https://www.reluctantm.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/dubai1.png

Seriously? She takes off her coat and there they are? WHY ARE YOU NOT WEARING A BRA CHAZMA (that's her name)? With knockers that size, you need a bra.

Here she is a frame before:

https://www.reluctantm.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/dubai2.png

where we can see her coat's furry collar between her head and the dude behind her. And then, next frame, coat off, and:

https://www.reluctantm.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/dubai1.png

gravity-free boob city! Then there are like five more frames after this just so we can stare at her boobs.

(Not even mentioning that this is a surgical suite and she walks in right off the street with her clothes, no sterilization, and then promptly receives non-life-saving (i.e. there was time to properly sterilize and put on a hospital gown) surgery to her face, so why is she topless?)

How long until my blog devolves into just me posting photos from comic books with bad female anatomy? People who write comics, you do understand that there aren't special spacial dimensions that exist solely around breast tissue, right? Right? Because I'm starting to believe that you guys don't understand how breasts work at all.

Or maybe she has implants and they are hard as rocks with steel reinforcements to keep them up. I don't know.

Ghost Money: Death in Dubai by Thierry Smolderen and Dominique Bertail Lee went on sale July 31, 2018.

I received a copy free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

It was an interesting read for a graphic novel. Great to see the LGBTQ being represented in this format. #ghostmoneydeathindubai#netgalley#indigoemployee

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this in exchange for my honest review.

I am always a fan of a good spy thriller and intrigue. This novel reads like a John le Carre novel, I was kept on the edge of my seat most of the reading. There are some scenes that take some suspension of disbelief. Just go with it. Intriguing characters and beautifully rendered. I Definitely recommend if you love some intrigue.

Ghost Money: Death in Dubai by Thierry Smolderen is one of those rare graphic novels that reads like a suspense novel that could have been written by John Le Carre or Frederick Forsyth. Timely and relevant, there is intrigue and suspense that would have the most jaded reader appreciated the art and writing.

Lindsey is a young student in London who is rescued by Chamza from a riot in the streets. They begin a relationship and before she knows it, Lindsey finds herself in a world of wealth and intrigue.
Chamza has ties to political and revolutionary movements throughout the Islamic world. But it is not clear what her agenda truly is and what side her loyalties lay.

A group of US contractors have taken notice of Chamza and believe her vast wealth is a threat to the world economy. These contractors are veterans of the war in Iraq and begin to believe that Chamza's wealth may be the legendary lost treasure of Al-Qaeda, which was supposedly amassed through insider trading prior to 9/11.

Now they have set their sights on Chamza and Lindsey and can the two women survive the next series of events to unfold. Or is this what Chamza has been expecting all along?

This is the cold war for a new generation. While the Middle East and its instability has always played a huge role on the world stage, the actual Arab countries involved has played a minor role. Pawns to be moved about the chess board by the Western countries, those countries that that the Arab countries and their revolutionaries to be weak and too backward to run the table. 9/11 has changed all that and now the world itself has gotten even smaller.

A tense and well scripted thriller with stunning artwork.

A very good read.

This Graphic Novel is a Political Thriller that takes Place in Europe and the Middle East. Lindsey, a young student is rescued by Chamza , a very wealthy Arab woman. As they jet set around the world they uncover secrets of Chamza's wealth and her family. The story is a little disjointed and goes on for way to long. There are lots of characters and subplots. Parts of the story were good but many subplots were unnecessary and violent. The artwork is OK.

I'm always looking for books that are engaging or educating or hopefully both for YA students. Call this one "engaging."

It was interesting story to read. But i guess political graphic novels are not my thing. It was an okay for me.

When you find something listed on Net Galley's 'Read Now' section, you never know if it's there because it's a gem that's been overlooked, or if it's just a bad book that no one is interested in. I like to read 'em because of the gems I find. Unfortunately, this was not such a gem. I had initially thought it might be, because when I started reading it, I was drawn in by the two female characters: Lindsey, a college student in London, and Chamza, a mysterious, exotic, rich girl who charms Lindsey right from the start.

I have to say I thought Lindsey was extraordinarily gullible and Chamza rather suspicious. I let that slide, and started to enjoy the story, but it got ever more confusing and ridiculous whenever the military tough guys joined the story. They were so over the top that they were caricatures and I could not take them seriously. From that point on, it started to go downhill and it became ever more confusing about what was going on.

I could have read 290 pages about Lindsey and Chamza because they were so fascinating, but I could barely stand to read about the back ops guys, they were such a joke. The story went on way too long - perhaps fifty percent too long as it was. I can't stand The Three Stooges either, but I'd rather have read about them than these guys, because these guys, whom I shall refer to as The Three Stogies, were far worse, chewing up the scenery and trying to out-tough each other. After I had read three-quarters of it, skimming the last 25 percent, I gave up on it, because I had no idea what was going on and at the point I could not have cared less.

Dominique Bertail's artwork was really good and I enjoyed it, but when the story went downhill, the art got to the point where it was one violent episode after another, which did not appeal to me. Worse, from my perspective, was the 180° about-turn by Lindsey, who began as a slightly shy, nervous, somewhat passive and retiring girl, and then inexplicably transmogrified into this cigarette-smoking, cocaine snorting, military knit-cap-wearing bad girl which made no sense. Not only was it thoroughly unrealistic, it made me dislike her intensely. It was around then that I quit reading the story because it had gone from a slightly outrageous, but largely believable, and intriguing adventure to a Warner Brothers cartoon. I cannot recommend this at all.

While the spy thriller/political intruigue genre is not my usual go-to subject, this turned out to be a very intruiging read all be it a lengthy one for sure. The artwork was beautiful and very detailed. I wished there would have been a bit more of the (mostly unrequited) love between Lindsey and Chamza.

Decent art and an interesting story line in this graphic novel, Will recommend it to some patrons that like this genre.