The Ascendant

The Ascendant – Numbers Don’t Lie, Governments Do, by Drew Chapman, Simon and Schuster 2014

The ranks of James Lee Burke, John Sanford, the late Robert Parker and Tom Clancy have been joined by a new thriller, techno-financial writer, Drew Chapman, who created a brilliant protagonist, Garrett Reilly, and dropped him in the midst of our current financial structure.  And what a lot of damage a few unknown market hackers can do, when they get to work behind their keyboards.

But Reilly’s up to it – he can scan, memorize, and repeat back, digit for digit, the last Fed bond offerings.  He’s got the skills and the fearlessness he needs to dig further.  And what he needs to find out is who is moving the markets, stealing the money, and on the verge of destroying a good chunk of Wall Street? 

Not without help, it turns out.  Can the US military, an arm of the government, an institution Reilly doesn’t fully trust, help solve a tech puzzle?  Here’s where a few key characters enter Reilly’s life – colorful, equally bright and dedicated Americans – to inexorably move him closer to an explosive resolution.

The Mill Girl Verdict:  great subject, tight plot, a touch longer than expected, but thriller read – we want to see more of Mr. Reilly!