Gods of Greenwich
“If anybody can turn international finance and hedge funds into a riveting thriller, it’s Norb Vonnegut. The Gods of Greenwich is a pure delight, racing relentlessly from the bedrooms of Manhattan to the boardrooms of Connecticut to the banks of Iceland. Bravo!”
Jimmy Cusack is the tough kid from a blue-collar neighborhood who made good on Wall Street. Well, almost. After a sterling start to his career, things have soured. His hedge fund collapsed. The bank is foreclosing on his condominium. And his wife is two months pregnant. That’s the good news.
When Cusack takes a “must-have” job with LS Capital, a fund impervious to capital market woes, his real troubles begin. Both Cusack and his wife find their lives in jeopardy as they uncover grim secrets that will make you forget Bernie Madoff or Gordon Gekko.
There’s a new villain on Wall Street, and his name is…. A thriller for the post-meltdown world of global finance. (St. Martin’s Press 2011)
PRAISE
“Norb Vonnegut offers a gleeful peek at the world of hedge fund moguls in The Gods of Greenwich, a funny, savvy book that can be as absurd as its title.”
—The New York Times
“The black comedy of life in the fast lanes of high level finance powers a wonderful new thriller by Norb Vonnegut, The Gods of Greenwich, set in the poshest reaches of Connecticut and Manhattan… the secret of how Cy “hedges” is the Gods of Greenwich plot equivalent of what the callow young lawyer in The Firm found out about his too-good-to-be-true Memphis law office — and Vonnegut ratchets up the suspense and the laughs as we are taken deep into “Hedgistan” (i.e. Greenwich).”
—The Connecticut Post
“The pieces of this plot mesh as smoothly as a well executed trade.”
—Bloomberg News
“Vonnegut follows his debut, Top Producer, with another invigorating dip into the shark pool of Wall Street’s hedge fund industry… Vonnegut, a financial professional himself, not only gets the language and tone of Wall Street right but has an instinctive feel for dialogue and action. Especially enjoyable is the rip-roaring finale at the Bronx Zoo.”
—Publishers Weekly
Things go from grim to worse for rising hedge-fund star Jimmy Cusack when his company collapses and the fund that recruits him is targeted for destruction by cutthroat bankers in Iceland and a sheikh in Qatar…. The novel moves at… a fast clip, spilling goods on recession-era wheelers and dealers as it goes.”
—Kirkus
“Vonnegut follows up his debut (Top Producer) with a first-rate thriller set in the world of hedge fund managers during the 2008 financial meltdown…. Vonnegut’s skill at creating characters at risk will make even less wealthy readers root for Cusack to survive his financial debacle with millions intact. This thriller will appeal to fans of Joseph Finder and might serve as a cautionary tale to anyone who envies the seemingly idyllic life of the superrich. But don’t we all like to read about them?”
—Library Journal
“The Gods of Greenwich is a fast-paced and satisfying locomotive of a financial-based thriller, Dominick Dunne meet Barbarians at the Gate. Vonnegut has opened the vaults of Greenwich’s elite, and oh what secrets and schemes pour out!”
—Andrew Gross, #1 bestselling James Patterson co-author
“On the money! This wickedly revealing and terrifyingly authentic financial thriller is clever, timely, and filled with enough insider info to send the feds to your door. Scheming, backstabbing and international intrigue–propelled by Vonnegut’s trademark wit and page-turning plot. Bottom line? Terrific.”
—Hank Phillippi Ryan–Anthony, Macavity and Agatha–winning author of Drive Time
“The Gods of Greenwich is better than most financial thrillers…a page-turner plot. (Serial murders plus the Great Crash of 2008.)…The cast is an unusually motley and enjoyable crew.”
—The New York Journal of Books
“If anybody can turn international finance and hedge funds into a riveting thriller, it’s Norb Vonnegut. The Gods of Greenwich is a pure delight, racing relentlessly from the bedrooms of Manhattan to the boardrooms of Connecticut to the banks of Iceland. Bravo!”
—Jeffery Deaver, New York Times bestselling author of Edge
“Norb Vonnegut offers you a witty, keenly-observed peek into the sometimes-lethal world of very high-stakes gambling politely known as “investing,” and into the rare types who play the game. The Gods of Greenwich is compelling, suspenseful, high-energy, a terrific read!”
—Thomas B. Sawyer, best-selling author of No Place to Run, Head Writer of Murder, She Wrote
“Norb Vonnegut’s The Gods of Greenwich might very well be a harbinger of a new thriller sub-genre: the Financial Thriller. Not only does Vonnegut tell a ripping good yarn, but he makes sense out of the confusing world of hedge funds, stocks, CDOs, and derivatives, and manages to entertain at the same time!”
—Raymond Benson, author of several James Bond novels and co-author of Homefront-The Voice of Freedom
“Vonnegut writes richly and wonderfully, every page sparking with inventiveness and wit. This is way, way beyond just being a fast-paced financial thriller. I’ve not read such a rich portrayal of downfall through hubris since Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire Of The Vanities.”
—Peter James, internationally bestselling author of Dead Like You