Leverage
A Novel
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4.0 • 5 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
A CRIMEREADS BEST BOOK OF 2025!
“A pulse-pounding plot propels a narrative steeped in the language and culture of tech bros….An exciting and timely debut of an original voice.” —People, Best Books of the Month
A hotshot hedge fund employee must risk everything to save his job—and his life—in this timely and darkly funny thriller about race, power, and the corrupting influence of the almighty dollar.
Ali “Al” Jafar is a rising star at notorious hedge fund Prism Capital, but fortunes change fast on Wall Street. When his biggest investment goes up in smoke, Al loses $300 million—and his fragile sense of self-worth—in a single afternoon. He’s certain he’ll be fired, but Prism’s obscenely rich and politically connected founder isn’t that merciful. Instead, he gives Al an impossible ultimatum: recover the lost money in three months or become the fall guy for the government’s insider-trading investigation into the firm.
Desperate and depressed, Al turns to high finance’s dark side, where he battles back-stabbing coworkers and cutthroat competitors and digs himself into an even deeper hole. As the clock winds down, and the pressure mounts, Al’s mental health deteriorates. To survive, he’ll have to outfox one of the world’s most powerful men and decide if he values the dearest asset of all: himself.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Former Wall Street analyst Gowani parlays his financial experience into a solid debut thriller. After Pakistani hedge fund manager Ali "Al" Jafar loses $300 million for Prism Capital in one day, his boss gives him a new fund with $300 million in it and challenges him to double it in three months—or become the fall guy for the government's ongoing insider trading investigation. With his boss's obnoxiously racist son doing everything he can to interfere, Al calls a phone number that an old lawyer friend claims will help him reach a man who facilitates connections for the desperate. The resulting introductions propel Al to incredible success, but also draw him into a complex world of blackmail and misplaced trust from which escape may be impossible. Though Gowani's rendering of the racist, sexist world of finance occasionally feels like it's perpetuating the stereotypes he attempts to skewer, the plot is tense without straining plausibility too far, and Al comes off as an intelligent antihero whom the reader will (somewhat reluctantly) want to see triumph over those manipulating him. It's an encouraging first outing.
