Squeeze Plays

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Corbin van Sloot is a man who is well positioned in the financial world. He is the CEO of Whitehall, a financial firm with a long history that is held in high esteem. Corbin oversees the United States end of the business for the UK-based company. The winds of change have Corbin concerned, however, as the financial system appears more and more precarious. One of Whitehall’s key clients, Star Enterprises, is a newspaper empire that has been hemorrhaging money for quite some time. The higher echelon at Whitehall want to call in the loan as the newspaper company seems more and more unstable with each day. Corbin must balance the concerns of his day to day along with his desire to climb the social ladder while also covertly stepping out on his wife.

Winston Crumm is the head of a crumbling media empire. Star Enterprises has been in his family for generations, but the saturation of internet news sites and the desire for instant news has led to the decline of profits. Crumm appears to be oblivious to this, as he routinely puts off calls to his bank and forestalls the inevitable callback of a large loan. Crumm is staring into the abyss of ruin and embarrassment when he receives a call.

Maxim Ripovsky is a Russian oligarch who is as mysterious as he is charismatic. He desires to spread his wealth in the United States, by hook or by crook. He doesn’t have allies in business as much as chess pieces strategically placed, ready for the next attack. He senses opportunity in aiding Winston Crumm and propping up a storied tabloid empire. His loan contains some conditions, and once Crumm opts to accept, the trap is set. Ripovsky is wily and his machinations don’t end solely with him as benevolent benefactor. Ripovsky, Crumm, and van Sloot are on a collision course that may not bode well for anyone.

Squeeze Plays thrives as an intelligent book that explores three particular men and how their desires threaten to bring them down. Corbin seeks status, but his whole world would crumble if his philandering was revealed. Crumm is obsessed with the trappings of wealth to the extent that he ignores his daily tasks. Maxim desires power to the point of hubris, and his ambition may be larger than his view. Author Jeffrey Marshall has written an absorbing work suitable for the current status quo of the world, from the decline of the newspaper to the distrust of anything Russian to the shaky position of the financial world. The three principal characters are united in their fallibility, but the reader will find themselves captivated by their stories and how they’ll end.


Reviewed By:

Author Jeffrey Marshall
Star Count /5
Format Trade
Page Count 263 pages
Publisher Atmosphere Press
Publish Date 28-Jun-2022
ISBN 9781639883691
Bookshop.org Buy this Book
Issue July 2022
Category Popular Fiction
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