ULTERIOR MOTIVES

A savvy businessman crafts an intricate Ponzi scheme in Greenberg and Tanz’s novel of trickery and greed.

Ted Casey, “once a successful fiduciary and money manager,” finds himself falling down a dark hole of deception and conspiracy when he decides that his current income is simply not enough for him any longer. Though wealthy and privileged, Ted, observing that his “salary and commissions had become quite stagnant,” decides he needs to make a change “in order to continue the lifestyle to which he has grown accustomed” (said lifestyle is one of designer clothes, fine dining, drinking, and gambling). Ted begins his downward spiral by taking advantage of an elderly woman, acquiring her wealth (via a reworking of her will and a judicious application of poison) and blowing it all in a few wild nights in Atlantic City—this is just the beginning of a descent into madness. Still unsatisfied, Ted resolves to reinvent himself in Florida, where he concocts a Ponzi scheme to make millions. Ted’s journey is full of twists, turns, and trickery, where nothing (and no one) is quite what it seems. Tanz revels in his creation of Ted’s superficial reality; references to pop culture events, popular restaurants, and brand names litter every page. The authors pepper the minimal dialogue with juvenile terms like “bro,” “stud muffin,” and “peeps,” which are either amusing or completely out-of-touch—just like the story’s protagonist, who is almost comically evil. Tanz and Greenberg write with clear intention and a propulsive sense of pace. The narrative is well-plotted, and the authors know their subject well. Some readers will enjoy Ted’s depraved attempts to get rich quick; however, the characters lack depth or any sort of relatability (lacking a feeling of connection, other readers may lose interest). More time is spent describing Ted’s dinners than on any explorations of character motivation.

An intricate tale, by turns compelling and off-putting.