Like the classic American capitalist, Christopher “Gatsby” Brooks believes in the power of illusions. His seemingly deep pockets have made him preeminent in the business world and conspicuously wealthy. But when Shirley Frazier, a management consultant, discovers a substantial portion of Gatsby’s income was derived from selling millions of dollars in unregistered (possibly illegal) securities, her confrontation with Gatsby sets off a dangerous cascade of events that could culminate in Gatsby’s demise-or set the stage for his ultimate success.
With prosecutors pursuing the case, and a dead body connected to his dissembling, Gatsby risks everything on another secretive gamble: a new venture fund that will depend on his raising $100 million before Shirley and the legal “assassins” kill his reputation. As Gatsby puts his plan in motion, several of his major investors demand he repay millions of dollars in securities-money he doesn’t have. And his wife, Miriam (Claire to his Frank Underwood, if you are a House of Cards fan), decides to take matters into her own hands.
Just Call Me Gatsby explores the sometimes-contradictory forms of power that run the world: money, charm, trust, and the betrayal of that trust. The novel will appeal to a wide range of fiction readers including fans of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Norb Vonnegut’s The Trust, Joseph Finder’s Paranoia, and Christina Alger’s The Darlings.
Those who like entrepreneurial or business-related novels such as Louis Auchinclass’ The Embezzler, Philip Roth’s American Pastoral, and Thomas Wolfe’s A Man in Full will also enjoy this suspenseful story about the scheming that blurs the lines between wealth and the illusion thereof.