Follow the Money

Talk about a timely bit of fiction. Former stockbroker Norb Vonnegut (one of Kurt’s cousins) has written a financial thriller, Top Producer, that ticks like a doomsday clock. Advance reviewers are jumping on its bobsled with the zeal of Olympic contenders.

“Vonnegut’s debut meets the gold standard for financial thrillers as it puts the frenzied, cutthroat world of Wall Street’s best stockbrokers (aka the ‘top producers’) on brilliant display,” says Publishers Weekly in a starred review. “Ripples from the bizarre murder of Charlie Kelemen, wealthy hedge fund operator, quickly reach his best friend, Grove O’Rourke. A top producer at the boutique investment bank Sachs, Kidder and Carnegie, O’Rourke tries to help Kelemen’s widow sort out some financial questions. This process leads him deeper and deeper into a labyrinth of deceit. As fallout from Charlie’s death and dealings start to taint O’Rourke, the sharks, inside and outside his own firm, smell blood and begin to circle. O’Rourke won’t go down without a fight, and not all the blood in the water will be his.”

Give it a shot. It will make you double-check your investments.