Wall Street Noir (Akashic Noir) [Paperback]

Peter Spiegelman (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Akashic Noir | Publication Date: June 1, 2007

Brand-new stories by: John Burdett, Peter Blauner, Charles Ardai, Henry Blodget, Twist Phelan, Larry Light, James Hime, Jason Starr, Lauren Sanders, Tim Broderick, Reed Farrel Coleman, Jim Fusilli, Mark Haskell Smith, and more.

Peter Spiegelman is the Shamus Award-winning author of Black Maps (Knopf, 2003), Death’s Little Helpers (Knopf, 2005), and Red Cat (Knopf, 2007), which feature private detective and Wall Street refugee John March. Spiegelman is a twenty-year veteran of the financial services and software industries, and has worked with banks, brokerage houses, and central banks in major markets around the world. He lives in Connecticut.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Spiegelman, the ideal editor for the Wall Street entry in Akashic's noir anthology series, assembles a stellar cast of 17 crime genre luminaries, many with financial backgrounds. Standouts include Peter Blauner's The Consultant, in which a pregnant business coach discovers La Donna within as she maneuvers a Bensonhurst-bred Don Corleone wannabe into a war he can't win; Twist Phelan's A Trader's Lot, in which commodities traders strategize on how to profit off a hurricane due to strike the Gulf Coast; and John Burdett's The Enlightenment of Magnus McKay, in which a lawyer representing a crooked Thai-Chinese businessman falls in love with a beautiful prostitute in Bangkok and slips into an opium dream from which he may never wake. Mark Haskell Smith, Jason Starr, Jim Fusilli and Reed Farrel Coleman also contribute fine stories. As this volume demonstrates, Wall Street is no longer restricted to lower Manhattan, but has become a worldwide theater in which greed, volatility and desperation often lead to crime.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Spiegelman is the Shamus Award-winning author of Black Maps (Knopf, 2003), Death's Little Helpers (Knopf, 2005), and Red Cat (Knopf, 2007), which feature private detective and Wall Street refugee John March. Mr. Spiegelman is a twenty-year veteran of the financial services and software industries, and has worked with banks, brokerage houses and central banks in major markets.

Product Details

• Paperback: 382 pages
• Publisher: Akashic Books; 1st Trade Publication edition (June 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933354232
• ISBN-13: 978-1933354231
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,083,649 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lawrence Light, who has won many journalism awards, is a noted financial writer and editor. His business book for Wiley called TAMING THE BEAST, about the evolution of investing, has been published in June 2011.

He has been a Deputy Editor for Personal Finance at the Wall Street Journal. Previously, he was the Senior Editor in charge of money and investing for Forbes magazine and an editor at Business Week.

Today, he is a partner in an important new financial website. He will serve as Editor in Chief of the site that will launch in the summer of 2011.

Under his supervision, reporters have uncovered hosts of Wall Street abuses, in particular mutual fund shenanigans.

Larry Light started his journalism career after graduating from Lafayette College and the Columbia School of Journalism. He also served two years active duty in the Army as a lieutenant. As an Army reservist, he rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel.

In 1993 he published a humor book with his talented and beautiful wife, Meredith Anthony, called 101 Reasons Why We're Doomed. He and his wife live on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, where they give great parties.

He has written thrillers including the Karen Glick series from Dorchester Press. His thriller LADYKILLER was co-authored with his wife Meredith Anthony and was published by Oceanview. His stories have appeared in many anthologies.

Lawrence Light is a member of the Mystery Writers of America, where he currently serves as Executive Vice President, and of the Thriller Writers of America.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Crime Beat Street Blogger review, December 23, 2007

By 

Ana L. Franco "Crime Beat Street Blogger" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wall Street Noir (Akashic Noir) (Paperback)

Wall street noir

I just discovered the Akashic Books' Noir Series and Wow, do I have some reading to do! I picked Wall Street Noir up first because it contained a story by Megan Abbot. I had never read anything by the other authors contained in this anthology of crime stories that revolve around the theme of high finance and corporate transgression, and this was a great introduction to many of them. The wonderful thing about noir short stories as opposed to a novel is that the focus is always on the victims and perpetrators of crimes, not on the investigation that takes place afterward. We never meet any detectives here, just people who are about to wind up dead or in jail. It's a great way to mix up the genre.

By far my favorite story was Five Days at the Sunset by Peter Speigleman, also the books' editor. It takes place about as far as mentally possible from Wall Street only to point out just how far the financial world and its misdeeds can reach. The pace is slow to start but builds to a very surprise ending. Other highlights are Stephen Rhoades' At the Top of His Game with its dead-on descriptions of the nouveau riche's clichéd suburbs and symbols of success; The Consultant by Peter Blauner, the first story I've ever read that casts a pregnant woman as the ultimate con-artist, I mean, consultant...;Richard Aleas's The Quant which humorously explains murder in terms of percentages of financial risk; and The Day Trader in the Trunk of Cleto's Car (Mark Haskell Smith), a story that combines the movie business, day trading, and L.A. gangs into a darkly funny tale of life's last moments.

The only disappointment in the bunch was Lauren Sanders' Everything I'm Not. It has a wonderful build-up but the final conclusion leaves too many interesting storylines dangling; and the would-be ironic ending ends up reading a little dull. I wanted Jen to get caught AND her father end up dead, truly capitalizing on the despair of the situation.

It will take me awhile but I can't wait to read more books in this series!

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wall Stree Noir Adds Up to Something Special, July 27, 2007

By 

pattinase (Detroit, MI) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Wall Street Noir (Akashic Noir) (Paperback)

Now here's a book that tests your business acumen. Mine is sometimes lacking but excellent writing brought the stories across. This volume required its writers to set their stories in the world of finance and most come up winners. A nice addition to a great series.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Several Exceptional Reads, April 13, 2009

By 

Michael L. Slavin "HardBopper" (New Jersey) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Wall Street Noir (Akashic Noir) (Paperback)

I like fast moving short stories. But, with 17 authors it is difficult to find consistency in line with the readers preferences. This was my 8th read in the Noir series. I guess by my ratings I liked Manhattan Noir best followed by Las Vegas, Politics, and Bronx. A bit less Manhattan 2,Queens and New Orleans. This fell in with Vegas,Politics and Bronx. It gets off to a great start with The Top Of The Game by Stephen Rhodes about intrigue, power and deceit. Twist Phelan's A Trader's Lot followed up nicely. About a natural gas trader who bet it all on a hurricane in the gulf. The hurricane changed course. But there was still a way for him to win. Jim Fusilli's A Terrorizing Demonstration continued the roll. This was about a terrorist who sent a message thru an innocent young boy. Town Car by David Noonan was another good read about an executive used to the good life who had an unexpected ride. Part 2 began with The Quant by Richard Aleas where the head of a firm would not allow a key subordinate to quit.Lawrence Light's Make Me Rich was about a financial columnist who played the stocks he reviewed. Rough Justice by James Hime was about a lawyer negotiating a major real estate deal who got caught in the middle between criminals and ethics. The Consultant by Peter Blauner was about a female corporate consultant he played hardball with an executive she had been hired to improve. I would say the preceeding stories were five star caliber. Unfortunately parts 3 & 4, to my taste, deteriorated in quality. Though The Day Trader in The Trunk of Cleto's Car by Mark Haskell Smith about a day trader who laundered money and Five Days At The Sunset by Peter Spiegelman about a derivatives trader who ran amiss were quite good. In part 4 The Enlightenment Of Magnus McKay by John Burdett about a high flying exec who fell for a prostitute in Thailand and Bonus Season by Henry Blodget about risky high trading involvment with Chinese twist, intrigue and pornography. Due Diligence by Reed Farrel Coleman was about a female executive who met her fate checking out a deal in Honduras. Note that by my count ten of the seventeen stories ended in death. I enjoyed 13 of the 17 stories which certainly is good.