Octopus: The Secret Market and the World's Wildest Con - Softcover

"Lawson [has] found gold...This is a fantastic story, in both senses of the word, with a freshness that recalls "Liars Poker.""--Bryan Burrough, "New York Times" "A cautionary tale of the highly sophisticated, often endemic fraud that still lurks on Wall Street...I was riveted by Mr. Lawson's telling...the story is mind-boggling."--Andrew Sorkin, "New York Times (Dealbook)" "An inside look at a savage tribal society [of Wall Street traders] that also reminds one of that rollicking farce concocted by Mel Brooks, 'The Producers'... Brings to life one of the most colorful, and often engaging, con men of this or any other century...an entertaining, well-told tale."--"Washington Times" "If you dig movies about cons, like "Catch Me If You Can, The Sting, "and "The Spanish Prisoner, "you will blow through "Octopus, "Guy Lawson's deftly and enthusiastically told tale of Same Israel and the Bayou hedge fund."--"The Daily Beast" "Penetratingly comprehensive...Lawson nimbly traverses the labyrinthine depths of a worldwide banking con that managed to involve looted Federal Reserve notes and the JFK assassination...An eye-opening window onto Wall Street's destructive culture of unchecked hubris and a harrowing thrill ride into the unraveling mind of a desperate operator."--"Kirkus Reviews" "Lawson has mined the darkest, most seductive world I can imagine and delivered up a story that almost defies comprehension. Octopus is written with a force and clarity that I found absolutely irresistible...It's a hell of a book."--Sebastian Junger, New York Times bestselling author of The Perfect Storm "Lawson's spellbinding account of Sam Israel's rise and fall is a phantasmagoric trip through the larcenous outer reaches (as well as the dark heart) of the world of finance. "Octopus "made me worry that I was being followed or swindled." -Nick Paumgarten, staff writer, "The New Yorker" "An absorbing, splend

Octopus is a real-life thriller that tells the inside story of a GBP300 million hedge fund fraud and the wild-goose chase through Europe by its drug-fuelled manager for a lucrative "secret market" beneath the financial market we all know. Sam Israel was a man who seemed to have it all. Born into one of the world's richest families, he founded his own hedge fund, promising his investors guaranteed profits. But, after suffering devastating losses and faking tax returns, Israel knew his real performance would soon be discovered. So when a former CIA-operative turned conman told him about a "secret market" run by the Federal Reserve, Israel bet his last $150 million of other people's money on a chance to make it all back. So began his crazy year-long adventure in a world populated by clandestine bankers, conspiracy theories, and gun-toting spooks issuing cryptic warnings about a mysterious cabal known only as the Octopus.