Top Producer by Norb Vonnegut
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(Hardcover)
- Pub. Date: September 2009
- 352pp
- Sales Rank: 15,536
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Product Details
- Pub. Date: September 2009
- Publisher: St. Martin's Press
- Format: Hardcover, 352pp
- Sales Rank: 15,536
- ISBN-13: 9780312384616
- ISBN: 0312384610
Synopsis
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 O’Rourke finds out, “Nothing obscures vulnerability like success. Nothing that is, except for friendships.”
But this book isn’t about stocks and bonds—it’s about people. About Grove O’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. It’s about Charlie’s widow, who comes to Grove for help after her husband’s death, even though she’s hiding a dark secret. And it’s about how money—vast sums of money—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 think—and then double-check your investments.
Publishers Weekly
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. 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. Vonnegut, himself a veteran fund manager, handles the arcane terminology and slang of Wall Street with aplomb, never letting it get in the way of the story. 100,000 first printing. (Sept.)
More Reviews and RecommendationsBiography
A NOTE FROM AUTHOR NORB VONNEGUT
Customer Reviews
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Predictable Storyline and Plotby koji
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October 26, 2009: This book has a gripping opening and hook, but it gets lost in its own complexity mid-way through. The author really goes to some length to add extraneous detail to every scene. It's almost obnoxious.
I didn't mind reading the book because the subject matter - hedge funds, Wall Street, corruption - seems so compelling. Whether the author is a Vonnegut or not, the book could have been written within 250 pp.There's more exposition about stock regulation than page-turning action. The suspense gets solidly redundant as the book tries to build up the plot. Investor #1 wants her money back, investor #2 wants her money back, etc. I might have enjoyed the book more had there been more character development. The story essentially revolves around the main character without much attention to anyone else. The book could have used a little more action as well to make it a 4 star book.Reading the book, I almost got the sense that author Norb Vonnegut wanted to create a character he could live through vicariously. This made the character and the storyline one-dimensional and predictableTop Producer's Stock Soars!by SwellesleyGrad
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October 19, 2009: Top Producer is a mystery/thriller set against the high streets of finance and the back alleys of corruption. That itself should be enough to scare you!
If considering a "hedge fund" in the past, this reader's thought patterns would go towards money put away for purposes of purchasing and installing new landscaping. Understandably, I never quite followed how people made such a killing (no pun intended) on hedge funds. Yet I found the explanations of "Wall St. speak" in this book easy to follow, even for a financial feather brain such as myself. In fact I think I even learned a thing or two about the investment business while completely caught up in the story of Grover O'Rourke.In a world where even goldfish are sharks, Grover (a financial adviser at Sachs, Kidder and Carnegie) and his team are the angel fish of the aquarium. Who would think that a financial adviser had a heart, much less a sense of morality? (My first adviser churned my account while I lived overseas, my last one is currently facing 12 - 25 years on SEC charges.) Proving the old adage that "no good deed goes unpunished", the renegade hero wades in over his head to help the widow of a friend murdered in a freakishly public display - and the waters are not safe for swimming. Nonetheless, Grover O'Rourke battles the current - managing by willpower, luck and considerable effort to keep his head above water.The humor, vivid imagery and story line made for reading into the wee hours of the morning. I rooted for the unlikely hero and his small, undervalued school of accomplices. I feared the sharks circling the tank. I never saw what was coming, the red herrings were too tasty. I'll be looking forward to more works from Norb Vonnegut.
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