Jesters' Dance

Advertising Manager Allan Corbett wants to fire his agency. On the eve of the most important product introduction in the history of pharmaceutical giant Carlton & Paxton -- the launch of a miraculous new anti-obesity drug -- he’s decided for a variety of personal and professional reasons to put the billion-dollar assignment up for grabs. However, once he’s asked the clowns to dance, his impulsive decision yields disastrous results.

The story unfolds over twenty-eight days, propelled forward by the ridiculously tight timetable that the deeply troubled Corbett has imposed on the process. Sharing the same du monde noir as the TV-hit Mad Men, JESTERS’ DANCE offers a riveting insider’s view as the colorful characters that inhabit three competing agencies pull out all the stops in pursuit of the coveted prize.


Steve Holiday leads the team from Lowenstein Holiday, the soon to be deposed incumbent. An immensely talented Creative Director in the twilight of a distinguished career, together with his hyper-aggressive partner Ira, he struggles to come to terms with the unfairness of his client’s decision and the undeserved demands that it places on his people and himself.

Lane McCarthy is the vivacious head of McCarthy & McCauley Interworld, a once ferociously independent advertising agency that has sold its soul to an international communications conglomerate. With ever increasing pressure to deliver a better bottom line, Lane is forced to take extreme measures in a desperate attempt to win the pitch.

Enter Spence Playfair, the new business development officer at the brash young ad boutique, Boom. Corrupt to the core, Playfair is willing to do whatever it takes to elevate his upstart firm and come away with the win. A duplicitous schemer, he forms a manipulative bond with the prospective client that gives his agency an unfair advantage and threatens the integrity of the entire competition.

As the novel’s indelible characters and dangerous cross currents surge together, the plot takes a series of unexpected twists and turns -- all of which conspire to derail the billion-dollar promise of the amazing wonder drug and reshape the intertwined fates of everyone involved.

Humorous, sexy and ghoulishly dark, JESTERS’ DANCE is a playful study of the strong personalities, greedy impulses and cynical self-interest that drive the ad world. The themes explored are taken directly from headlines surrounding current problems with obesity in America and the perils of our society’s obsession with weight control, dieting and body image.