The Steel Connection: A Novel about Millions, Morals and Deceit

In a world still reeling from the financial crisis, who are the real villains? To find out, simply follow the money. The Steel Connection: A Novel about Millions, Morals and Deceit is author Jack J. Amstel's razor-sharp thriller about the world of high finance that reveals just how high the stakes can rise when there's ample money to be had. This riveting post-crisis suspense novel offers a rare glimpse of Wall Street misdoings from a financial insider on how funds get diverted and loyalties get scuttled as old-school values mix with new-world finance to wreak havoc in the sum of millions. Willem, a Dutchman living in New York, has risen to Manhattan-style fame and fortune as founder and partner of the successful private equity fund Tri-mound. While managing the fallout from the financial crisis, he discovers that his partners are elbow-deep in some unscrupulous activities that threaten to upend everything he has worked for years to achieve. The story becomes all the more entangled when Willem's father, Peter, turns up unexpectedly in New York, and the steel mill CEO patriarch quickly becomes caught up in his son's ever-growing troubles. To help unravel Willem's suspicions, Peter enlists Sophia, the head-turning, MIT-educated chief technology officer of one of Willem's companies. Soon, others are woven into the intrigue, including Armand, a retired billionaire IT investor living in St. Barth, and Stella, the jilted ex-wife of one of Willem's partners who is out for revenge. When she unexpectedly links up with Robert, a homeless ex-banker, Willem has to face his greedy partners and his own moral dilemmas, while trying to crack Swiss numbered bank accounts and save himself and the company. Set against the lavish scenery and bottomless coffers of the Hamptons, New York, Amsterdam, St. Barth, and Z rich, The Steel Connection mines the flagrant turpitude that is the upshot of the age of financial excess. When Willem discovers his worst nightmare is just the beginning of a multitude of sins, is he prepared to fight dirty enough to reclaim what is his? As European mores clash with unbridled capitalism and boundless greed runs rampant, this complex web of deception, romance, and Swiss bank accounts sheds chilling new light on the thin green line between high finance and the lowest form of duplicity.