The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of

First there was gold. Then oil. Then technology. Now - who controls the world's rare earths controls the future.

It was supposed to be a simple corporate job. Check out the company, make sure the client was protected and take home a big paycheck. But with Boozy McBain and Boston O'Daniel nothing is ever as it seems. As their investigation draws them deeper into a world of corporate and geopolitical intrigue, they learn that their client's company may hold the key to the competition for power over the world's most vital resources - a battle for global control of rare earth minerals, critical to the future of everything modern society demands, from the green energy revolution to next generation weapons and consumer technologies. To protect the client they must navigate a mysterious array of government agencies and corporations, and go up against a man who is determined to possess the sources of the new wealth of the 21^st century, from Africa to Asia to America - and perhaps the stars. A man of relentless ambition with a reputation for heartlessness in his quest to wrest control of the rare earth monopoly from China and build the empire of the future at any cost. The deeper the detectives dig the more enemies they make, from corporate boardrooms and black tie galas to the hopeless despair of the Congo, and the more personal the search becomes for each, driven by the seductive call of wealth, glamour and exotic danger.

Riley Masters is a writer and financial professional. The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of is the second in a series dedicated to those who uncover financial fraud and pursue those who prey on investors or the trusting and naive. Masters previously worked in the intelligence business covertly collecting information, and has degrees in Economics and International Finance. The author was trained in financial analysis, investments and risk management at one of the few private partnerships left on Wall Street that still taught old school techniques of judging companies and character. Masters has worked in the U.S., Europe, Africa and the Middle East as a financial, economic and management consultant, but spends most of his time in Boston and on Haven Beach.