HEIRS ON FIRE

An entitled energy-company scion struggles to hold onto his firm as it spins out of control in this satirical sequel.

In Pepper’s follow-up to A Turn in Fortune (2018), Robbie Crowe, chairman of the Crowe Power Company and a certified jerk, is standing on the precipice of personal failure as his marriage crumbles while his company’s stock price plummets. Walker B. Hope, the former chief executive whom Robbie pushed out, is now leading Staminum Energy, a longtime rival whose stock continues to rise. At a Crowe Power conference, Robbie meets Dr. Kristi Kramer, a celebrated business guru who’s poised to help Robbie put his company back on the path to greatness—but at a steep price. Meanwhile, Robbie’s estranged wife, Lindsey, is staging a coup to take over the firm before Robbie can run it into the ground. Their looming divorce will result in her becoming the company’s most powerful shareholder, which will allow her to oust the current chairman—her soon-to-be-ex spouse. This satire of industrial fortune and family money brims with wickedly funny moments and offers readers plenty of memorable characters. There are also many laugh-out-loud scenes, as when Crowe Power’s new, underwhelming CEO, Tim Padden, introduces Lester Robertson Crowe III (Robbie’s full name) as “the Turd” instead of “the Third” at a company conference. At another point, the Crowe Power board of directors clumsily attempts a video conference even though their career heydays took place in the era of fax machines and car phones. Pepper further develops characters from the previous series installment in this sequel, including Walker, who’s so charismatic and smooth that he’s able to fire someone and make him think that he quit on his own. That said, the central conflict of the novel, involving Lindsey’s takeover, gets a bit bogged down by Robbie’s constant foibles, as amusing as they are.

An often engaging comedy about bad behavior in the absence of checks and balances.