IRRESISTIBLE LEVERAGE

A business report cum pseudo-thriller set in Northern California during the booming economy of the ‘90s.

In a time of immense technological growth, the staunch old Transcontinental Bank finds it has lost its competitive edge and is lurching towards extinction. Consequently, the bank’s leaders decide to join the modern world and upgrade; they bring back an old “banking legend,” William Redmond, who’s determined to thrust the institution into the digital age. He enlists the help of the savvy, motorcycle-riding vixen Patricia Duncan, whose good looks and intelligence captivate all those around her. Patricia overhauls the bank’s systems and, thanks to her efforts, Transcontinental rejoins the competitive fray. After the 1989 earthquake, Redmond decides to greedily cash in on the ensuing chaos in the region, and embroils the bank in a variety of less-than-legal ventures. Still, success seems assured and investors begin vying for a piece of the profits. Like, for example, Randall Newmann, who owns a construction company and who also happens to be Patricia’s old lover. While others are trying to turn their millions into billions, Luis Santos, one of Newmann’s workers, is just trying to get his life back to normal after being released from prison. While the personal and financial jostling and the unsavory business dealings are meant to be intriguing, Irresistible Leverage reads like a dull annual report. The narrative is loaded with business jargon–those without MBAs or a keen interest in fiscal affairs will be left adrift–and the characters are one-dimensional and bland. A series of menus, strangely interspersed throughout, break up the text and are glaringly incongruent with the rest of the story.

Soporific.