PAUL N. STAM
Author
The Nick Sanders Thrillers
"Nick is an action fan’s dream, with the smarts and charm of an exemplary character who warrants a third installment of the series." - Kirkus Reviews
THE TRUST COMPANY
In Southern Africa, an American internet billionaire dies in a freak bungee jumping accident. A few months later in Tokyo, a wealthy Japanese business executive is killed in the crossfire of a Yakuza gang gun battle. Over three years, five well-heeled people die in accidental ways. A classified U.S. government computer program concludes the deaths are connected. The case is referred to the FBI, and former Special Agent Nick Sanders, is lured back into service. Sanders, a jaded investigator, sees things very simply:
It's about the money. It always is.
Nick soon learns that all five victims shared two things in common: the same lawyer and the same bank. Alexandra Conrad, a Homeland Security analyst who is already scrutinizing the bank and thinks it is using client money to fund illegal arms sales, teams up with Sanders to investigate. Following a deadly Manhattan bombing, the investigation opens the door on a conspiracy orchestrated by a ruthless Central American businessman. As Sanders and Conrad dig deeper, a betrayal within Sander’s' own team will upend a carefully planned government operation and put both Sander’s and Conrad’s' lives in jeopardy. And Sanders will discover that his long-held, overarching principle is wrong: it's not always about the money.
THE LONG SQUEEZE
FBI Agent Chuck Engler dies mysteriously while working undercover for a hedge fund suspected of insider trading. Engler, who specializes in the Financial Crimes Unit at the FBI, leaves behind a clue in the form of a plastic bag containing a stack of brand-new dollar bills and a Post-It note addressed to his friend Nick Sanders: “Sanders. Follow the money. Hugs and Kisses, Chuck”
Sanders, a former bureau agent and financial crimes expert, knows to follow the money trail. It is up to him and his former FBI partner and current lover, Lisa Velasquez, to figure out what the Post-It note meant. What they don’t know is that Engler’s note will throw them in a race to head off an intricate and coordinated terrorist attack that seeks to bring the U.S. economy to its knees. Sanders, Velasquez and the rest of the Financial Crimes Unit are pitted against an ensemble of corrupt government contractors and officials, devious Wall Street businessmen, and a small army of trained combatants who treat anyone in their way as expendable.
From the hills of Amman, Jordan, through the farmlands of Zimbabwe, to the streets of Manhattan, a complex story is woven that will take you on a heart-stopping journey. Sanders will work furiously to put a stop to the impending catastrophe about to arise, the likes the United States hasn’t seen since September 11. With only a single dollar bill and a Post-It note to go by, will Sanders be able to figure out The Long Squeeze?
