TRADING REALITY

When his brother Richard, the head of a virtual reality company, is murdered, Mark Fairfax tries to further his brilliant brother's discoveries before the killer succeeds in destroying the company

High tech and high finance make a natural pair, in real life and now in fiction thanks to Ridpath (Free to Trade), whose second novel features desperate characters trading in reality of the virtual kind. Narrator Mark Fairfax, a London bond trader, discovers that his brother Richard has been murdered in Scotland just as Richard's firm, FairSystems, was on the verge of a fundamental breakthrough in virtual reality (VR) technology. As Mark takes charge of FairSystems and tries to fulfill his brother's dreams, it becomes increasingly obvious that the murder has something to do with the breakthrough?and that Richard was not the only victim. Mark has his hands full trying to learn his way around VR while fending off hostile takeovers, cash-flow crises, terrorists and attempts on his life. He also has to deal with being dumped by one lover and finding a new one. Ridpath's pacing is brisk, and his use of largely Scottish settings is a welcome change from the usual American suspense backdrop. His characters are painted in broad strokes but, then, the thrills here lie as much in carefully thought out financial and digital tools as in the humans who wield them. Drawing on classic thriller elements, Ridpath has written a clever, if not very original, story with a trendy spin and a satisfying conclusion that should have readers buying up copies as fast as you can say "Bill Gates." $50,000 ad/promo; UK, translation, first serial, dramatic rights: Writer's House.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

British bond trader Mark Fairfax responds to his brother's call for help, but before Mark can arrive, Richard is murdered. With no day-to-day experience in the business world, Mark is forced to assume leadership of Richard's Scotland firm Fairsystems, whose breakthrough in the virtual-reality field may have been one of the motives behind Richard's murder. As Mark struggles to keep the firm afloat, he simultaneously fends off the hostile overtures of competitors and tries to determine who had motive to kill Richard. Ridpath carves his complex plot with deft strokes, his characters are believably consistent, and the dialogue is a witty mix of earthy threats and tearoom epigrams. He also presents often-cryptic business and high-tech concepts in a style that propels the plot without bogging readers down in useless minutiae. Toss in a bang-up conclusion, and you have a top-notch thriller. Wes Lukowsky

With this exciting, suspenseful novel about skullduggery in the stock market, Ridpath should exceed the success of his first novel, the best-selling Free To Trade (LJ 11/1/94). Mark Fairfax is a bond trader turned entrepreneur when his brother is murdered, and he has to take over his brother's company. He finds that it has a virtual reality product that could make it the next Microsoft, worth billions, and that many people want to steal it out from under him. Its stock is being manipulated, and it is being forced toward sale or bankruptcy. In finding out who is doing this, Mark also learns who murdered his brother. Ranking with the best of Paul Erdman's financial thrillers, this is an essential purchase for popular fiction collections.
-?Marylaine Block, St. Ambrose Univ. Lib., Davenport, Iowa
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.