Vulture Capital (August Riordan Mystery) [Paperback]

Mark Coggins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2005 | Series: August Riordan Mystery

When venture capitalist Ted Valmont is belatedly informed that the Chief Scientist of NeuroStimix--a biotech firm in which he as invested--is missing, it's not just business, it's personal. Not only is the Chief Scientist an old school chum, but his disappearance jeopardizes the development of NeuroStimix's most important product: a device intended to aid spinal cord injury victims. Since Valmont's twin brother Tim was paralyzed in a college diving accident, finding the Chief Scientist and getting him back into harness is of the utmost importance to both brothers.

Valmont engages private eye August Riordan to assist in the search and the men soon discover that the disappearance is part of a larger conspiracy to use NeuroStimix technology for perverse applications. Terrorism. Prostitution. Slave labor. These are just the beginning. And when a beautiful, mysterious young woman comes onto the scene, it's impossible to say whether the technology will provide the ultimate means to save them all or be the catalyst for tortuous, self-inflicted deaths...

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A trip through the dark satanic mills of venture capital with Chandler or Hammett as tour guide." --Salon.com

"Dry ice sarcasm." --Wall Street Journal

"Truly brings the California private eye novel into the 21st century" --What Do I Read Next?, Gale Group

About the Author

Mark Coggins is the author of two novels featuring private eye August Riordan: The Immortal Game and Vulture Capital. The Immortal Game was nominated for three mystery book awards and was selected for a number of respected "best of the year" lists, including those put together by the San Francisco Chronicle, the Detroit Free Press and mystery maven Otto Penzler. Vulture Capital was recognized as a defining portrayal of the dark side of Silicon Valley. CNBC said of the book, "a truer picture of Silicon Valley can't be found," and Salon.com, "Vulture Capital gives us Northern California in the 21st century, as noir as it ever was."

Product Details

• Paperback: 351 pages
• Publisher: Poltroon Press (September 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0918395232
• ISBN-13: 978-0918395238
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,296,535 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mark Coggins studied creative writing with Tobias Wolff and Ron Hansen at Stanford University and wrote the first story featuring his series character August Riordan in a class taught by Hansen. This story, "There's No Such Thing as Private Eyes," was later published in The New Black Mask, a revival of Black Mask, the famous pulp magazine that thrived in the 30s and 40s.

His books have been nominated for the Shamus and the Barry crime fiction awards and have been selected for best of the year lists compiled by the San Francisco Chronicle, the Detroit Free Press and Amazon.com, among others.

Two of his novels have been translated for foreign markets. RUNOFF won the Next Generation Indie Book Award in the Mystery/Suspense category, THE BIG WAKE-UP won the Independent Publisher Book Award in the Mystery/Suspense/Thriller category and THE IMMORTAL GAME was optioned for a film. His work has been collected for the California History Room by the California State Library and the San Francisco History Center by the San Francisco Public Library.

Mark lives in San Francisco with his wife Linda and their cat Taki.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fine, distinctive, new noir, October 27, 2002

By 

billpz "billpz" (near Berkeley, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vulture Capital (August Riordan Series, 2) (Hardcover)

An extradorinarily fine and distinctive mystery. Noir updated and downloaded. And a savage morality play.
Focused writing. And it has enough secrets that it is easy to be surprised, even when you think you're ahead of the plot.
A cliffhanger, too.
Fans of Coggins' first mystery will enjoy encountering the Riordan / Duckworth team from a different perspective.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Silicon Valley cool, September 3, 2002

By 

David M. Scott "David Meerman Scott" (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Vulture Capital (August Riordan Series, 2) (Hardcover)

Vulture Capital is a well executed, slightly twisted and weird, but completely believable story about the dark side of Silicon Valley's start-up community.

Venture Capitalist Ted Valmont is informed that the brains behind a biotechnology start-up he's funded called NeuroStimix is missing. Without the technology guru, NeuroStimix's future is in jeopardy just as a new product designed to aid spinal cord injury victims is about to come to market. Valmont engages PI August Riordan to help find the missing man and we soon learn that the disappearance is part of a larger conspiracy to use NeuroStimix technology for dastardly purposes. To complicate matters, the missing man is Valmont's buddy and Valmont's own brother, as a spinal injury patient, would benefit from the NeuroStimix discovery.

Co-founder of a failed Internet start-up, Mark Coggins injects lots of local color into his work. Technology-types and dot-com veterans will especially appreciate the Silicon Valley photos and clever quotes, which open each chapter. Settings and situations will be familiar to industry types, but the jargon is not overwhelming. The book is even dedicated to the Pets.com Sock Puppet.

VULTURE CAPITAL is the second in a series featuring August Riordan, a private eye we first met in Coggins' well-reviewed debut THE IMMORTAL GAME (2000). THE IMMORTAL GAME received extraordinary attention for a debut title from a very small press. It was chosen as a Penzler pick and nominated for a Shamus Award. This would only happen because the book was good. Expect similar praise for VULTURE CAPITAL. According to the excellent Vulture Capital Website... we can expect more titles to come in the Riordan series

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Venture adventure that is worth the trip, April 30, 2011

By 

Russ - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vulture Capital (Paperback)

I have read and enjoyed Mark Coggins' three more recent mystery novels that feature the August Riordan private eye character, and finally circled back to read this earlier book. Although Mr. Riordan is merely a hired hand of venture capitalist Ted Valmont in this caper, it's still a captivating and exciting page-turner.

In The New New Thing: A Silicon Valley Story (I think), Michael Lewis describes venture capitalists as ducks huddling together on Sand Hill Road. This image has stuck with me as I read news accounts of venture capitalists frequently chasing the same investment idea until it's beaten to death. In "Vulture Capital," Mark Coggins presents a more Machiavellian image of the venture capital industry; the beatings are ... a bit more than figurative. Anybody who enjoys a good detective yarn should pick this one up, even more so if you have some experience navigating Silicon Valley geography and it's personalities.