Bull Street (A White Collar Crime Thriller)

Product Description Bull Street is the story of Richard Blum, a naïve, young Wall Streeter who gives a jaded billionaire the chance for redemption, as they team up to bring down an insider trading ring before they wind up in jail or dead. A Q&A with David Lender Question: In Bull Street it is often hard to know who the bad guys are from the good. Many characters appear to be using similar tactics to different ends. Was this always your intention? Can you tell us a little more about your characters? David Lender: I intentionally wanted to create characters with internal conflicts, questionable ethics and suspect motives. It was part of creating a world where even the good guys use sharp-elbowed tactics, and allegiances can shift from deal to deal. As Jack Grass says at one point, “You need a high tolerance for ambiguity to work on Wall Street.” At its core, the novel is about integrity: keeping it and even redeeming oneself after losing it. Wall Street is a perfect backdrop for such a story, since the characters are entrusted with billions of dollars and are in powerful enough positions to take advantage of that situation. It makes it easy to cross the line. Q: Considering your background and the subject matter of this book, what are your thoughts on the current financial situation in the US? What problems would you fix first and how? DL: As a believer in free markets and our capitalist system, I’m naturally skeptical of regulation. On the other hand, I think one of the things that got us in trouble in the financial crisis was doing away with the Depression-era regulations that separated banks from investment banks. Once we allowed depositary institutions to combine with proprietary trading houses, traders were allowed to make risky bets with depositors’ money. I don’t know if it’s possible to put that genie back in the bottle, but we should. Another issue we need to address is leverage. Too much of it got us into trouble, and new capital rules for banks are partially addressing this. But at the government level it’s a problem, too, and getting worse, as witnessed by the federal budget fiasco and downgrade of US debt in 2011. We need to start living within our means. Q: I have read that you worked for 25 years on Wall Street, what made you decide to start writing? DL: I always wanted to be a novelist. I made up my mind to do it about 15 years ago when my investment banking career was in full swing. I just muscled it into my schedule, getting up at 5 a.m., writing for an hour and then going to my day job, like most aspiring writers. I outlined or edited scenes on planes, in cabs or in hotel rooms. I write because I love it, but also because I got to the point where I could no longer ignore the compulsion to do so. Q: You must draw a lot of inspiration from your time on Wall Street. Where else do you find inspiration? DL: Sometimes it’s someone in my life. Dani North, the protagonist of Vaccine Nation , was inspired by my fiancé, Manette, and her work as a documentary filmmaker. Elmore Leonard is one of my favorite authors, and reading his stuff frequently gives me ideas. Sometimes it’s just throwing ideas around with friends. Q: What kind of books do you read, and what authors have influenced you? DL: Thrillers. What else? Thriller writers who have influenced me are Elmore Leonard, Graham Greene, Frederick Forsyth, John LeCarre, John Grisham (although I don’t think he’s ever gotten close to The Firm again), Robert Ludlum, Ken Follett, and Thomas Harris. Q: What books do you read over and over again? DL: I think F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is the great American novel. I read it every year or so. Elmore Leonard is the contemporary author I most admire. Out of Sight is his best, with Get Shorty a close second. Nobody does dialog or backstory like him. I’ll also never stop returning to Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises , Forsythe’s The Day of the Jackal (it may be the best thriller ever written), Le Carre’s Tinker , Tailor, Soldier, Spy and S miley’s People , and Graham Green’s Our Man in Havana. "The Grisham of Wall Street." - Bloomberg TV "Wall Street bona fides and a flair for zippy narrative." - The New York Times "Lender['s] . . . stories rank him alongside the very best names in thrillers - names like Thomas Harris, Robert Ludlum, Dennis Lehane, John le Carre and Lee Child." - Tracy Riva Books & Reviews “The Grisham of Wall Street.” ― Bloomberg TV “Wall Street bona fides and a flair for zippy narrative.” ― The New York Times “Lender[’s]…stories rank him alongside the very best names in thrillers―names like Thomas Harris, Robert Ludlum, Dennis Lehane, John le Carre, and Lee Child.” ― Tracy Riva Books & Reviews A Note From David Lender I wrote the first draft of Bull Street , my story of Richard Blum, a young investment banker caught up in an insider trading ring, many years ago and put it on the shelf. I was advised to do that by a friend, an award-winning novelist who read it and said it was half memoir, half thriller and half literary novel (he’s bad at math). “Consider it a Master of Fine Arts and move on,” he said. To some extent it was a memoir: it was based on my experiences and emotions in my first years on Wall Street. Despite my friend’s advice, the story continued to haunt me over the years, because it had meaning to me. It captured me as an eager young man anxious to make my way in my new career, confronted by the stark realities of Wall Street. Everyone who read the manuscript sympathized with Richard and rooted for him to succeed. My mother loved the book (this was before I learned that your mother always loves your book). So I never wanted to give up on it, and I knew if could decide what kind of book I wanted it to be, I could make it work. The finance is only part of the setting, the color and ambiance of the Street, just like the characters’ Hermes ties, Italian loafers and custom suits.I hope you like it. When he's recruited by Walker & Company, the most distinguished investment bank on Wall Street, starry-eyed MBA Richard Blum can't believe his luck. Sadly, his fantasy world comes to a crashing end when he learns that some crooks have a taste for Gucci loafers and Saville Row suits. CEO Jack Grass and Mickey Steinberg, head of Mergers and Acquisitions, are running an insider trading ring right under his nose. Even worse, to keep the Feds off their trail, they made sure Richard appeared to be a key player. Richard approaches Harold Milner, the firm's leading client who's sorry he ever got dragged into this mire, and suggests they join forces to clear their names. Together with Kathy Cella, Richard's new love and savvy colleague, they work out a way to put the SEC and Feds on the scent of the real scam artists. Is there time to execute the plan before they're tossed into jail? Or will they be found out and murdered? As the plot intensifies, readers who enjoy suspense thrillers with gritty dialogue and whirlwind action will find this unique tour de force impossible to put down. David Lender is the best-selling author of the thrillers Trojan Horse , The Gravy Train , Bull Street , and Vaccine Nation . He writes thrillers set in the financial sector based on his twenty-five plus year career as a Wall Street investment banker. He draws on an insider’s knowledge from working in mergers and acquisitions with Merrill Lynch, Rothschild, and Bank of America for the international settings, obsessively driven personalities, and real-world financial intrigue in his novels. Lender’s characters range from David Baldacci–like corporate power brokers to Elmore Leonard–esque misfits and scam artists. His plots reveal the egos and ruthlessness that motivate players in the business world, as well as the inner workings of the most powerful of our financial institutions and corporations. More background on David and his writing can be found at davidlender.net. Read more