He applied the Page 69 Test to Top Producer, his debut novel, and reported the following:"Wall Street generally yawns on Fridays during the summer. Clients disappear. The most powerful money managers board helicopters in the morning and retreat to the Hamptons, where the square footage of their palatial estates grows faster than the portfolios they manage."Read an excerpt from Top Producer, and learn more about the book and author at Norb Vonnegut's website and blog.
--from page 69 of Top Producer.
Is page 69 indicative? I think so, especially in the tone of my narrator, Grove O’Rourke. These days it’s difficult to identify with anyone from Wall Street, especially a top-producing stockbroker. But I hope you’ll care about Grove, a decent if somewhat irreverent guy who could be any one of us. He works hard and keeps his head down. He’s trying to hold it together as he chases the dream. Only Grove has no clue, he has no idea what’s lurking round the bend.
Top Producer begins inside a raucous party of 500 people, where Grove watches the spectacular death of Charlie Kelemen—best friend and money manager with a Midas touch and the spending habits to match. After the funeral, Charlie’s widow confides to Grove she can’t find her husband’s money and has only $600 left in a checking account. Grove offers to help, but the more he looks for her fortune the more trouble he finds. With the police. With his colleagues. With some really bad guys.
Visit the complete list of books in the Page 69 Test Series.
--Marshal Zeringue
Posts
