''Chameleon'' is a

financial thriller Financial thrillers are a subgenre of thriller fiction in which the financial system and economy play a major role. History The novel '' The Financier'' (1912) by Theodore Dreiser displays elements of a financial thriller and is an early examp ...

novel written by

hedge fund A hedge fund is a Pooling (resource management), pooled investment fund that holds Market liquidity, liquid assets and that makes use of complex trader (finance), trading and risk management techniques to aim to improve investment performance and ...

manager Richard Hains set during the

subprime mortgage crisis The American subprime mortgage crisis was a multinational financial crisis that occurred between 2007 and 2010, contributing to the 2008 financial crisis. It led to a severe economic recession, with millions becoming unemployed and many busines ...

, first published by

Beaufort Books Midpoint Trade Books, Inc. is a Sales, Marketing Marketing is the act of acquiring, satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary components of Business administration, business management and commerce. Marketing is usually co ...

in 2006.

Plot

Promotion

To promote ''Chameleon'', Hains started a contest offering an all-expense-paid weekend to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, where someone could enter by reading the book and answering three questions.

Reception

Chameleon received reviews from publications including ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

,'' ''

Midwest Book Review Midwest Book Review, established in 1976, produces nine book-review publications per month. Organization Midwest Book Review was established in 1976. The editor-in-chief of the organization is James A. Cox. The review puts out nine publications o ...

'', and ''

Herald Sun The ''Herald Sun'' is a Conservatism, conservative daily tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia, published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of the American Rupert Murdoch, Murd ...

''. ''Publishers Weekly'' wrote that "Hedge fund partner Hains's strong suit is insider financial info, but the basic plot, characters and writing are all formulaic. There's a continuing, valiant attempt to heat up the action with a variety of lurid sexual encounters, but even this effort can't lift what's run-of-the-mill into out-of-the-ordinary." ''Herald Sun'' wrote that "the book is an attempt at ''

Da Vinci Code ''The Da Vinci Code'' is a 2003 mystery thriller novel by Dan Brown. It is “the best-selling American novel of all time.” Brown's second novel to include the character Robert Langdon—the first was his 2000 novel ''Angels & Demons''—''T ...

'' meets

Wall Street Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...

." The book was also a finalist for the

National Book Award The National Book Awards (NBA) are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. ...

in the Mystery category.

Film adaptation

film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...

of ''Chameleon'' was planned to be produced and shown at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

. The film was set to be directed by

Richard Gibson Richard Gibson (born 1 January 1954) is an Ugandan-born British actor, best known for his role as the archetypal Gestapo Officer Herr Otto Flick in the BBC hit sitcom series, Allo 'Allo!''. Early life and education Gibson was born in Kamp ...

and produced by Richard Hains and Mark Pennell. As of 2019, a film adaptation has not been released.

References

External links

*
Chameleon
' at

Goodreads Goodreads is an American social cataloging website and a subsidiary of Amazon that allows individuals to search its database of books, annotations, quotes, and reviews. Users can sign up and register books to generate library catalogs and readi ...

{{Authority control American thriller novels 2006 American novels