Because we all want to belong, the human condition nudges most
of us us towards being part of structured organisations, business, State, social,
religious, etc. This means we in effect
sign up to their rules which we usually accept without serious question.
This novel is about the negative consequences or what can
happen when we don’t question the direction or orders we are given, through our
actions or inactions. When the going gets unpleasant, the soft option is to put
one’s head down and go with the flow. But not taking personal responsibility in
these situations can come at quite a high price.
So, A Game of
Consequences is set in a bank in Ireland in the Celtic Tiger boom years.
Everyone is making lots of money, and the bankers want more than their fair
share of the action.
The protagonist Des, a reserved accountant who believes he
is intellectually superior to his wheeler dealer boss Milo, is promoted to the
newly created COO role. Des thinks he can handle it, but hasn’t bargained for
the compromises he must make as the things spiral out of control on the roller
coaster drive for even more profits, and soon finds himself on a slippery
slope.
The narrative tracks Des as he lurches from the calm controller into a
personal crisis, and his struggle to escape from it.
