The Bottom of the Sky

The Bottom of the Sky is an aching rags-to-riches family saga that surges from rural squalor into the opulent power chambers of Wall Street and Silicon Valley. The story contrasts the 30-year struggles of an abused sister and brother who seek to reclaim themselves from their abhorrent past. One remains at home, trapped by desecration and addiction. The other escapes and uses uncanny genius and unrelenting ambition to amass staggering wealth. Greed and betrayal power a tense plot involving the FBI, the SEC, and billions of dollars fleeced from brokerage customers and shareholders, while isolation and envy lead to deadly confrontations back home. It is a riveting tale of two disparate worlds joined by one desperate man and his ultimate redemption. This poignant family journey watches dispossessed children become women and men, rising and buckling from their condemnable legacy, craving what they cannot have, loving who they must, hating what they cannot reconcile. The novel deals head on with childhood shame, promiscuity, prejudice and Wall Street’s rape of Main Street. It is a tale of genius, madness, and violence; one of extraordinary sacrifice and discovery. It is a journey of hidden destiny. The Bottom of the Sky is a debut novel written by a native Montanan and former senior executive of a Wall Street giant. It is taut and heart-wrenching…and sometimes funny. It is tender and raw and surprising until the shocking end.

William was born and raised in rural Montana. At 15 he left home. At 16 he dropped out of high school. At 17 he married. At 18 he became a father. He worked as a truck driver, bartender, fry cook, loading dock worker, and broadcast ad-man.

At 21, Bill was hired as a broker with a major Wall Street firm, eventually becoming the youngest Executive VP in the brokerage arm of the largest financial firm on earth. Simultaneously, he was CEO of a private food manufacturing company affiliated with Beatrice Foods. He served a prestigious 3-year appointment with the NASD (now FINRA), the S.E.C.'s partner in creating and enforcing rules and regulations on Wall Street. At 43, Bill became seriously ill and left Wall Street to pursue lifelong goals, the greatest of which was to be a novelist.

Bill took the SATs and earned a slot at Stanford University as the oldest undergraduate on campus. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa with distinction and honors. His thesis received the Annual Reviews Prize in Anthropological Sciences.

In 2007 Bill published his first short story, Saints and Patrons. Since his first novel, The Bottom of the Sky, was introduced in June on 2009, Bill has been featured on NPR affiliates, the PBS-syndicated show Between the Lines, Face the State, Forbes, and a host of local and regional commercial radio and television shows. Bill has been covered by many print publications, and has spoken at literary festivals and bookstores around the country. The Bottom of the Sky has been taught in university literature and creative writing classes.

Bill has used his book sales to raise money for women's and children's charities, including: Community Overcoming Relationship Abuse in SF, The Nevada Women's Fund, the Angel Fund in MT, Reach Out and Read CO, Reach Out and Read AZ, Babcock Elementary in Sacramento, Rafael House in Portland, Montalvo Arts Center in Silicon Valley, and others.

Bill Pack is married with four grown children, and lives in the United States.