The Arsonist

by Ken Coulson

Overview

Are there any chances left for a man who helped stoke the flames of a global financial meltdown and then reaped the rewards?

When Cal Minor strikes bottom-losing his home, career, wonderful wife, and children-redemption appears at the elite Atlas Corp led by the corporate bull, Hank Henleman, who is hell-bent on monetizing the looming global climate catastrophe. An ambitious young prosecutor and the FBI have other ideas and Cal soon finds himself ensnared between them and Henleman's protectors including the sadistic head of a shadowy paramilitary force, Arik Bane, and his drug-addled #2, John Ryker. Riding the razors edge, The Arsonist brings readers to the brink of calamity in an intriguing, contemporary, and revelatory debut corporate thriller.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798888242551
Publisher:	Koehler Books
Publication date:	03/19/2024
Pages:	262
Sales rank:	440,038
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.59(d)

About the Author

Ken Coulson traveled the globe in a fast-paced, over-the-top career with Wall Street's biggest banks before an epiphany during the financial crisis set him on a path of sustainability and music. He has written and released over 100 songs, many in support of climate action. Ken founded the sustainability think tank Future Bright and writes on Medium on mindfulness and the art of here and now. The Arsonist is his debut novel.

Editorial Reviews

2024-03-01
In Coulson’s thriller, the opportunity of a lifetime may redeem a disgraced trader—if it doesn’t kill him first.

Cal Minor was riding high as a star trader, but his life imploded in a miasma of deceit and debauchery that makes Jordan Belfort in The Wolf of Wall Street look like Fred Rogers. Now, he’s “belly-up in every way possible,” a mere “blip on the radar.” His ex-wife, Beth, got a half million in alimony and the house in Charleston. He is estranged from his children. And now, “after five years of unreturned phone calls and near-miss reinventions,” he’s on the verge of suicide. A phone call from the Atlas Company, “a staple of global wealth and opportunity,” offers him a new lease on life. Wall Street titan Hank Henleman runs the firm; from Atlas’ management ranks have come congressmen, Nobel Prize winners, and “not less than 10 percent of Forbes40 under 40 in Finance for the last five years running.” Fans of John Grisham’s work will anticipate that there’s more to this firm (and to Henleman) than meets the eye. Henleman is a corporate villain out of central casting, a “real bull” with a contempt for “human steppingstones.” Minor’s efforts to extricate himself from Henleman’s machinations and those of other shadowy and sinister characters with their own agendas make for an auspicious franchise starter. Coulson was himself a young trader working in London for Goldman Sachs, so he knows this world from the inside and has stories to tell (the “running with the bulls” incident depicted in the book happened in real life, as he shares in the author’s note). Even at his lowest point, Minor is an intriguing figure with a morbid sense of humor; when a hated and obnoxious neighbor interrupts his suicide attempt, Minor dismisses him with, “Randy, the truth is, I am trying to kill myself, and you are putting me decidedly behind schedule.”

A promising debut that will get thriller fans fired up for a sequel.

Kirkus Reviews