The Dead Cat Bounce

One boy must stop the world's greatest financial conspiracy . . . . Sixteen-year-old Jonah Lightbody is shocked when the world erupts in the greatest financial crisis it has ever seen . . . and the bank where he and his father work has blood on its balance sheet. The head trader claims that Jonah's father is to blame--the trades that caused the crash came from his computer. Now, Jonah will have to race to uncover the truth. But what Jonah doesn't realize is that he's just been catapulted to the center of a global conspiracy where money reigns, human lives are collateral, and anyone will sell you out if the payday is large enough. Dead Cat Bounce has all the action of Anthony Horowitz's Alex Rider series combined with the seductiveness of Wall Street, the edge-of-your-seat pacing of The Bourne Identity, and the elaborate intrigue of Too Big to Fail. It's the story of Jonah Lightbody and he's on a mission to save the world no matter the price.

dead cat bounce n. Stock market jargon for a small, temporary rise in a stock's trading price after a sharp drop. Since she bought her rambling old fixer-upper of a house, Jacobia Tiptree has gotten used to finding things broken. But her latest problem isn't so easily repaired. Along with the rotting floor joists and sagging support beams, there's the little matter of the dead man in Jake's storeroom, an ice pick firmly planted in his cranium. Not much happens in her tiny Maine town, but that's about to change. Jake's unknown guest turns out to be a world-famous corporate raider, local boy turned billionaire Threnody McIlwaine. When Jake's best friend, quiet and dependable Ellie White, readily confesses to the murder, cops and journalists swarm into snowbound Eastport. Jake smells a cover-up, and begins poking into past history between McIlwaine and Ellie's family. But someone doesn't like nosy neighbors...and Jake's rustic refuge may become her final resting place.

DEAD CAT BOUNCE is the story of Joe who works unwillingly in PR in Dublin. His family is imploding, his job makes him sick and his ideal woman suspects he may be retarded. When his little sister gets pregnant, his widowed mother hysterically demands he return home and act like the man of the family - but he hasn't a clue what to do. To compound his troubles, he is involved in secretly handling the closure of a local factory - the very place where his dream girl works... An instantly likeable character, Joe is a great creation - a funny lad who cares deeply about his mates and family and has great intentions but ends up being as useless about life as the rest of us. A remarkably assured debut, DEAD CAT BOUNCE is fresh, extremely well written and will appeal to all those who love Mike Gayle as well as Ardal O'Hanlon.

dead cat bounce n. Stock market jargon for a small, temporary rise in a stock's trading price after a sharp drop. Since she bought her rambling old fixer-upper of a house, Jacobia Tiptree has gotten used to finding things broken. But her latest problem isn't so easily repaired. Along with the rotting floor joists and sagging support beams, there's the little matter of the dead man in Jake's storeroom, an ice pick firmly planted in his cranium. Not much happens in her tiny Maine town, but that's about to change. Jake's unknown guest turns out to be a world-famous corporate raider, local boy turned billionaire Threnody McIlwaine. When Jake's best friend, quiet and dependable Ellie White, readily confesses to the murder, cops and journalists swarm into snowbound Eastport. Jake smells a cover-up, and begins poking into past history between McIlwaine and Ellie's family. But someone doesn't like nosy neighbors...and Jake's rustic refuge may become her final resting place.

Stoney gave up drinking, but it couldn't save his marriage. Leaving the big house in New Jersey to his wife and kids, he's living in the City—still working the profitable, if not 100 percent legal, angles with his partner, "Fat Tommy Bagadonuts." Then, out of the blue, Stoney's teenage daughter shows up with a problem: an unwanted admirer who needs to be cooled down . . . or eliminated. But the secrets Marisa's been keeping from her father—like her night job as an exotic dancer—can't compare with those being guarded by the mysterious and violent man who's stalking her: a dangerous enigma with no past and a made-up name. He does, however, have lots of money—which makes him a very tempting mark for Stoney, Tommy, and their young streetwise "apprentice," Tuco. But people who look too closely into this guy's history have a habit of turning up dead.