In Final Demand, Deborah Moggach’s gritty novel of intrigue and suspense, a young woman solves her money woes with a cheque-cashing scam that, to her brash, egocentric way of thinking, is okay because it’s a “victimless crime.” In her early thirties, Natalie Bingham is smart, attractive, and working a boring, dead-end job in the accounts department of NuLine Telecommunications. Chronically dissatisfied, she bitterly resents NuLine and feels the job is beneath her, but she needs the money, desperately. Natalie loves money. She loves material comforts. She loves to buy things and go clubbing. But since Natalie’s slacker boyfriend doesn’t earn very much and her own salary is insufficient to cover expenses, the pressure of living beyond her means is starting to become unbearable. Then a casual remark by a co-worker twigs her to an opportunity staring her in the face. The more she thinks about it, obsesses over it, the clearer it becomes that the plan is perfect. It might be against the law, but if she’s careful the risk will be minimal, no one will get hurt, and she’ll get her revenge on NuLine. When her boyfriend suddenly moves out, Natalie, realizing she’s on the brink of financial ruin, decides to set her plan in motion. But Natalie’s big problem, besides being selfish and shamelessly unprincipled, is that she’s not careful, and it turns out people do get hurt. Moggach spends most of this gripping, swiftly paced novel with Natalie: we witness the scheming, the conniving, and get the excuses and justifications from her twisted young entitled woman’s perspective. But Moggach also shares the stories of Natalie’s victims, people who suffer the misfortune of crossing her path, who fall prey to her scam and suffer life-altering consequences just for being trusting or easily duped, or simply unlucky. In Final Demand Moggach creates numerous indelible characters whose fates matter in the process of telling a sordid tale of irresponsible and callous greed. The book is compelling and memorable if deeply unsettling; despite our repugnance at Natalie’s attitude and actions, we’re drawn into her unscrupulous, self-centred perspective, all the way to the unexpected ending. ( )

When it is explained to Natalie how easy it is to alter the payee on a cheque made payable to, for example, the company in whose accounts department she works (NT), she seeks to marry a man whose last name begins with T. She will then add her last name to the payee line and cash the cheque. This part of the story, while seeming ridiculous, was very entertaining.

Natalie believes by an additional accounting step, she has made her theft a "victimless crime", but carelessness has consequences in the lives of others. The chapters from David and Sheila's point of view were sad, but became rather too much of the narrative; I found the novel stronger when we were inside Natalie's head. The point about there always being consequences was I suppose the "meaning" behind the story, although this was weakened by the fact that Natalie could so easily have avoided her careless mistake.

An interesting read, but it did leave me wondering if it had really been worth my time - I will, however, always be sure to write out the payee in full on my cheques. ( )

Interesting novel about a young woman who figures out how to embezzle from her position in a large telecommunications company. Can there ever be such a thing as a victimless crime? ( )

I didn't much like the beginning of this book as it felt a little predictable. Fortunately I gave it a chance and was pleasantly surprised at what happened. Although the author didn't reveal he main character's thoughts and feelings much, I think this helped to emphasise her selfishness. ( )

This is complete and utter rubbish. Well, the 44 pages I read before invoking Nancy Pearl's Rule were rubbish anyway. Maybe it improves, but life is too short for me to find out.
Moggach has written a story which to me is not only unbelievable in general, but her main character, Natalie,is an insult to women, if not humanity. This passage is typical:
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"...The man took her credit card and swiped it through his machine. 'Oh oh,' he said, 'who's been a bad girl then?'
'What?'
'Won't take it. You've exceeded your limit.'
She paused. 'Can I pay by instalments?'
He passed her the card.'Only if I can look at your tits.'
Natalie's head swam. I'm drunk.
'Let's take a look at those boobies.' He moved to the door. It was one of those up-an-over ones. Grasping the lever he started to slide it down.
'Don't close it,' she said. 'There's nobody around.'
It was freezing. Her fingers fumbled as she unbuttoned her coat. It seemed to take ages. She pulled up her sweater and T-shirt; then she pushed up her bra around her throat.
A moment passed. 'They do you proud,' he said, and turned away.
The concrete floor was stained, as if an ox had been slaughtered there. His face averted, the man blew his nose.
She readjusted her clothing and wrote him a cheque for the first instalment. He opened the car door for her...."

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Natalie's emotions and thoughts are not discussed at all - as though she doesn't have any. If an automotive mechanic asked my daughter if he could see her tits, I expect he would end up on the wrong end of a large heavy spanner, if not the law. What world is Moggach living in? It's certainly foreign to me, and, what's more, I don't want to waste my few remaining days reading about it. ( )