Another
Wall Street Author Weighs In
As the author of Blue Blood & Mutiny: the Fight for the Soul of
Morgan Stanley, a true story that was set in motion by Scott
Sipprelle's bold challenge to the Morgan Stanley board about the
firm's leadership, I read The Golden Dog with particular
interest, and a certain amount of inside knowledge. Scott nails
the culture of vulture investors, idealistic newcomers, and
greedy, cynical manipulators with style and substance. The
Golden Dog is one of the best Wall Street novels written since
Michael Thomas stopped chronicling that world. This is a page
turner, with distinctive characters, a plot full of surprises,
and a theme that is even more timely now than it was when it was
written. Best of all, you don't have to be a Wall Street insider
to enjoy it; all you need is to be interested in human nature,
and have a couple of hours of reading time. You won't want to
put it down once you begin reading.
Patricia Beard (author)
The Golden Dog Can Hunt
The Golden Dog is a riveting page-turner that dives deep into
the fascinating world of Wall Street and the characters that
inhabit it. Sipprelle is an astute observer of the various
forces and personalities that dominate the murky realm of The
Street, and his extensive personal experience (former investment
banker and hedge fund manager) adds unique depth, insight and
clarity to the arcane rules and inner-workings of the stock
market which fuel the narrative.
Nate Perkins is an idealistic kid from Kansas who makes his way to Manhattan in pursuit of a lucrative and exciting career in investment banking. It is 1987 and the market is crashing. A fish out of water in the sea that is Platt Brothers' institutional stock department training program, Nate is quickly forced to sink or swim. A chance encounter (or was it?) with a powerful and enigmatic Wall Street mastermind, Lucas Orr, sets Nate on a journey into the dog-eat-dog financial underbelly of insider trading where seemingly nothing is as it appears.
Orr, the notoriously reclusive head of Tantalus Funds, has blinding ambition and an uncompromising worldview born of a hidden past. Ashton Malpas is an equally inscrutable member of the Tantalus inner-sanctum in charge of maintaining absolute secrecy at the well-guarded 49th floor Manhattan headquarters. Leonard Colesmith is the ex-hippie Wall Street dropout who holds a key piece of the puzzle that becomes Nate's obsession. And Dana Rocca is the beautiful and brilliant co-trainee with her own ambiguous history whose entanglement in the unfolding mystery yields a shocking result. These and the other unique, well-drawn characters surround Nick as he is drawn further into the ruthless and underhanded high-stakes game of his would-be dream job.
The suspenseful plot unfolds on the privileged stages of Wall Street's super-rich and surrounding environs-- opulent Fifth Avenue penthouses, exclusive wood-paneled private dining rooms, Gatsbyesque estates in out-of-the-way New Jersey suburbs, Cape Cod beachfront mansions, the Waldorf-Astoria, New York Public Library and Princeton University. The juxtaposition of these playgrounds for the New York power-elite with Nate's unassuming home in Abilene, Kansas or Dana's small apartment across the Hudson in dreary Hoboken, New Jersey is an apt metaphor for the ongoing inner-struggle between an arguably simpler small-town ethic and existence versus the inevitable moral complexity inherent in the unbridled pursuit of money and power.
Finally, the engaging vignettes that begin each chapter are entertaining and effective in placing today's Wall Street and its power players within the historical context of early Manhattan and the rise (and ultimate fall) of its quintessential self-made businessman and magnate-- Cornelius Vanderbilt. I found myself looking forward to the next "chapter" in this tale almost as much as that of the main storyline.
The Golden Dog is a captivating novel that offers an all-access pass to the shady deal-making and hidden methods of Wall Street. It is an old-fashioned mystery set on the modern stage (with uncanny parallels to the recent economic collapse)that will have you on the edge of your seat and, perhaps, looking into your soul. This first-time author has come out swinging. Highly recommended reading.
Nate Perkins is an idealistic kid from Kansas who makes his way to Manhattan in pursuit of a lucrative and exciting career in investment banking. It is 1987 and the market is crashing. A fish out of water in the sea that is Platt Brothers' institutional stock department training program, Nate is quickly forced to sink or swim. A chance encounter (or was it?) with a powerful and enigmatic Wall Street mastermind, Lucas Orr, sets Nate on a journey into the dog-eat-dog financial underbelly of insider trading where seemingly nothing is as it appears.
Orr, the notoriously reclusive head of Tantalus Funds, has blinding ambition and an uncompromising worldview born of a hidden past. Ashton Malpas is an equally inscrutable member of the Tantalus inner-sanctum in charge of maintaining absolute secrecy at the well-guarded 49th floor Manhattan headquarters. Leonard Colesmith is the ex-hippie Wall Street dropout who holds a key piece of the puzzle that becomes Nate's obsession. And Dana Rocca is the beautiful and brilliant co-trainee with her own ambiguous history whose entanglement in the unfolding mystery yields a shocking result. These and the other unique, well-drawn characters surround Nick as he is drawn further into the ruthless and underhanded high-stakes game of his would-be dream job.
The suspenseful plot unfolds on the privileged stages of Wall Street's super-rich and surrounding environs-- opulent Fifth Avenue penthouses, exclusive wood-paneled private dining rooms, Gatsbyesque estates in out-of-the-way New Jersey suburbs, Cape Cod beachfront mansions, the Waldorf-Astoria, New York Public Library and Princeton University. The juxtaposition of these playgrounds for the New York power-elite with Nate's unassuming home in Abilene, Kansas or Dana's small apartment across the Hudson in dreary Hoboken, New Jersey is an apt metaphor for the ongoing inner-struggle between an arguably simpler small-town ethic and existence versus the inevitable moral complexity inherent in the unbridled pursuit of money and power.
Finally, the engaging vignettes that begin each chapter are entertaining and effective in placing today's Wall Street and its power players within the historical context of early Manhattan and the rise (and ultimate fall) of its quintessential self-made businessman and magnate-- Cornelius Vanderbilt. I found myself looking forward to the next "chapter" in this tale almost as much as that of the main storyline.
The Golden Dog is a captivating novel that offers an all-access pass to the shady deal-making and hidden methods of Wall Street. It is an old-fashioned mystery set on the modern stage (with uncanny parallels to the recent economic collapse)that will have you on the edge of your seat and, perhaps, looking into your soul. This first-time author has come out swinging. Highly recommended reading.
Albert L. Story (top-rated reviewer on
Amazon.com)