INDISCRETIONS

by Evelyn Konrad ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 1978

Fraud and sex on Wall Street--moderately intriguing plottings revolving around a thoroughly unengaging heroine, Francesca Currey, ""the first woman to head a corporate finance department in an investment banking firm."" Gorgeous divorcee Francesca meets charismatic tycoon Rod Fitzgerald at a Southhampton beach party, and it's lust at first sight--like From Here to Eternity, complete with ""big warm wave"" and ""volcanic release"" on the dunes. So it's only natural that Francesca should offer to help Rod save his crumbling conglomerate; she'll try to find a new prime lender to pick up Rod's 60 million in unsecured debt. Rod, however, has his own plan for financial recovery: he'll bribe a kinky Arabian princess into helping him land a huge Mideast contract, he'll use his company's pension fund for the $5,000,000 bribe (grand larceny), and he'll use Francesca as a cover for the bribe transaction in Switzerland. All goes as planned, except that Rod's archenemy, mega-tycoon Howard Kempton, sends his handsome aide Greg Coburn to get the goods on Rod, which involves bedding Francesca (lust at first sight again) and leaking Rod's evildoings to a Congressional committee on foreign bribes. Finally, a morsel of suspense is added by the fact that the Arabs intend to kill off anyone who might testify to the detriment of their royalty. Konrad obviously knows her finance, but she doesn't have much knack for making it vividly concrete for the layman. More seriously, there's no one to root for here (aside from a stereotypically sweet, old Jewish accountant led astray by Rod), and Francesca is the most plastic of all--sometimes aggressively feminist, more often just a reaffirmation of all the worst clichÉs about irrational, passionate women. With a stronger leading lady, this could have been a contender; as it is, only so-so.

Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1978

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Dial

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1978

Categories: FICTION