Top Producer (Thorndike Press Large Print Core Series) - Hardcover

Vonnegut, Norb

3.61 out of 5 stars

386 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1410420841 ISBN 13: 9781410420848

Publisher: Thorndike Pr, 2009

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In a world that moves as fast as finance does, top producers have to think three steps ahead and make snap decisions. Theirs is a blurred version of reality, one that conceals moves as much as it rewards the bold ones. All too easily, scams can be disguised as success; plotting can be mistaken for killer instincts. And as Grove Oâ Rourke finds out, â Nothing obscures vulnerability like success. Nothing that is, except for friendships.â

But this book isnâ t about stocks and bondsâ itâ s about people. About Grove Oâ Rourke, top producer at the investment firm of Sachs, Kidder, and Carnegie, and about his best friend, Charlie Kelemen, whose spectacular murder is carried out in front of hundreds of horrified party-goers at the opening of the novel. Itâ s about Charlieâ s widow, who comes to Grove for help after her husbandâ s death, even though sheâ s hiding a dark secret. And itâ s about how moneyâ vast sums of moneyâ can cover up even the most glaring imper fections in relationships, and fool everyone.

Well, almost everyone. With the ease of someone who has lived in the world of top producers, NorbVonnegut has crafted a sharp, dark thriller that will make you thinkâ and then double-check your investments.

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From the Back Cover

TOP PRODUCERS think three steps ahead and make snap decisions. Theirs is a blurred version of reality, one that conceals motives or rewards bold moves. All too easily, scams can be disguised as success; plotting can be mistaken for killer instincts. And it’s all fun and games—until someone gets hurt.

“The gold standard for financial thrillers.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Grove O’Rourke is one such top producer at an elite investment firm. His job is his life. His colleagues are like family. One of them, Charlie, is legend—larger than life both in business and physique, loved by everyone. At least it seems that way, until his spectacular murder is carried out in front of hundreds of horrified party-goers...

“Shockingly accurate.”—Bloomberg on the Economy

Charlie was Grove’s best friend, and he’ll do anything to help his widow. But she appears to be hiding a dark secret... Soon, Grove stumbles upon a web of false statements and forged documents, and learns the truth about Charlie’s dealings—and those clients whose lives drastically changed the instant they signed a dishonest deal. And what he discovers is how money—vast sums of money—can bring out the best and worst in people. And sometimes even drive them to kill...

“An entertaining debut...about the cutthroat world of finance.”
—SmartMoney magazine

About the Author

A NOTE FROM AUTHOR NORB VONNEGUT

A funny thing happened during my 60-hour weeks as a wealth advisor. I discovered the joy of writing. For years my partners and I wrote our clients about investment decisions, why we bought this stock or sold that one. I loved the wordplay and believe our letters woke an inner beast.

They never quite sated my appetite, though. I longed to write stories about Wall Street’s people, the crazy things that percolate through trading floors and broker bullpens. My people, characters that is, hail from the trenches of finance. Brokers. Traders. Sales assistants. There is the occasional CEO, or the bigger than life hedgie. But I am not trying to pluck some legend from the business press and fictionalize that person. My characters find themselves thrust into uncomfortable worlds by forces far beyond their control.

Working on Wall Street’s front lines prepped me to write this fiction. I was a Managing Director at Silvercrest Asset Management, a money management firm where I had the great fortune to work. I spent the previous 14 years on the “sell-side,” industry jargon for brokerages and investment banks, including stints at Morgan Stanley’s Private Wealth Management division, Paine Webber, and Chase Manhattan in Melbourne, Australia. Ten of those years were with a white-shoe brokerage, the place where I began writing Top Producer.

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