 |
Kurt Wenner is a successful banker and investor in Zurich when he is lured into his first embezzlement scheme in 1965. With his insider knowledge and desire for wealth, he embarks on a risky, illegal transfer of money that leads him down a scheming path of financial fraud, hiding from authorities, and planning out his next big move. With each embezzlement, he barely escapes and must reinvent his life every few years in new places with new people who don’t know his past. He travels to exotic locales, jet-setting with clients, building relationships and networks that then become his targets for embezzlement and fraud. He is motivated by money but also excited by the risk and the escape.
This smart and riveting story of financial crimes offers a fascinating foray into the global banking industry. The narrative is propelled by the main character’s audacious and meticulous plan to steal money with finesse and with quiet wreckage that doesn’t involve guns or violence, only signatures and account numbers. The main character laments his low banking salary and covets the wealth of his clients, which motivates him to take greater risks when the opportunity arises. His actions are not without consequences, as he abandons his wife and daughter to avoid prison and lives a life of lies and deception in order to maintain his freedom. The tension builds as each scheme unfolds, and Kurt’s fate is uncertain, which will keep readers engaged as they follow him across the globe with each new identity.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review