"If I ever needed you, I need you now." Song lyrics

[michael draper]

This novel is influenced by the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme. In this case, Abe Cushman, a former chairman of the NASDAQ Stock Exchange, commits suicide when his Ponzi scheme is unvelied. He takes all of his secrets to the grave.

Patrick Lloyd, a young Wall St. advisor to one of the largest Swiss banks is called to the corporate office and ordered to find Lilly Scanlon and the money she manipulated from the bank when she was a corporate officer - this was in relation to the Cushman Ponzi scheme.

 

Lilly is Patrick's girlfriend and she tells him she's being set up. The money involved is from some of Cushman's clients who are criminals and will stop at nothing to get their money back.

She and Patrick agree to work together and are soon threatened by criminals. Then something from Patrick's background comes to light.

 

This is not only a financial thriller but deals with other important issues. There is a powerful message about a father's love for his children and about the failures in the witness protection program.  It is also a social commentary about the desire of some to obtain money and not care how it's done.

 

The author has captured the naivete of his two protagonists and shown how that innocence can be destroyed in a world of governmental ignorance and corruption.