Widowed for 18 months, Grove O'Rourke, a top producer on
Wall Street, has counted on the loving support of his best
friends, Charlie and Samantha, to get him through the loss
of his wife and daughter. Sam was his wife's best friend.
Everyone loves Charlie. His investment business is rolling
in the dough. His wife Sam has finally accepted the flashy
lifestyle, so Charlie asks Grove for an idea of where to
throw Sam a surprise birthday party. Grove recommends the
Boston Aquarium. He arrives to an immense crowd. The lights
dim and a spotlight centers on Sam up on the stage. A belly
dancer seductively moves around Sam, drawing all eyes to
the stage until one of the guests screams. Five hundred
party guests cannot believe their eyes when they see
Charlie sinking to the bottom of a shark tank tied to a
food cart, then he's attacked and torn apart before their
eyes.
Grove grieves along with Sam. When she comes to him for
help, since Charlie took care of all the money and she has
no idea where the accounts are or how much he has left her,
Grove's friends and co-workers tell him to stay out of it.
He can't; he's promised Sam he would help her. He remembers
how much Sam and Charlie helped him in the last year and a
half. Grove is a sharp guy. He starts checking into some of
the accounts and talks to some of Charlie's clients, also
friends of his, and finds some puzzling discrepancies. He's
intrigued. However, this search takes time away from his
work responsibilities and a tough-as-nails female co-worker
is looking to snatch away one of Grove's top clients right
under his nose.
The police are conducting their murder investigation. Grove
has Charlie's laptop, but doesn't tell the police. The more
he investigates, the more discrepancies he discovers.
Someone doesn't want him investigating. Thugs attack him,
but Grove is resilient. His investigation has opened up a
can of worms. When Grove discovers that Charlie has cheated
a widowed woman with a handicapped child out of her life
savings, he is disillusioned; and then sickened when he
discovers Charlie forged his name on a letter of support
from Grove's company, which convinced people to invest in
Charlie's company. His boss learns of the letter and asks
Grove to take a leave of absence.
Grove's life unravels in front of him as he struggles to
keep his job and his top client from the claws of his
competitive co-worker. As he tries to clear his name, he
works to protect Sam from Charlie's scam of a business.
Grove sadly learns his friends are really his enemies,
while some unlikely enemies can turn into allies.
TOP PRODUCER by Norb Vonnegut is an excellent window
into the workings of Wall Street. He explains part of the
business throughout the story in a compelling voice through
Grove O'Rourke. You will want to know from the beginning
who dumped Charlie into the shark tank. More importantly,
you will move from page to page, anxiously waiting to
discover the reason he was murdered. And the thrilling
discovery will be worth the wait.
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.
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