Octopus

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Octopus is a real-life thriller that tells the inside story of an audacious hedge fund fraud and the wild search, by a colorful cast of rogues and schemers, for a “secret market” beneath the financial market we all know. Sam Israel was a man who seemed to have it all – until the hedge fund he ran, Bayou, imploded and he became the target of a nationwide manhunt.  Born into one of America’s most illustrious trading families, Israel was determined to strike out on his own.  So after apprenticing with one of the greatest hedge fund traders of the 1980’s, Sam founded his own fund and promised his investors guaranteed profits.  With the proprietary computer program he’d created, he claimed to be able to predict the future. But his future was already beginning to unravel.After suffering devastating losses and fabricating fake returns, Israel knew it was only a matter of time before his real performance would be discovered, so when a former black-ops intelligence operative told him about a “secret market” run by the Fed, Israel bet his last $150 million on a chance to make billions. Thus began his year-long adventure in “the Upperworld” -- a society populated by clandestine bankers, shady European nobility, and spooks issuing cryptic warnings about a mysterious cabal known as the Octopus. Whether the “secret market” was real or a con, Israel was all in – and as the pressures mounted and increasingly sinister violence crept into his life, he struggled to break free of the Octopus’ tentacles.Review“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, splendidly detailed and darkly illuminating tale of our times.”--David Whitford, Editor-at-Large, Fortune magazine"Octopus is a reminder that the truth sometimes is stranger than fiction.*  This tale of a coked-out Ponzi schemer who raised hundreds of millions of dollars -- and then fell prey to an even wilder gang of con artists -- combines high finance with low comedy.  Octopus is a Wall Street thriller for our time."-- Alex Berenson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Faithful Spy and The Shadow Patrol*"A rollicking, roller-coaster ride of a book that is utterly impossible to put down.  Crackling with energy, Guy Lawson's account of Sam Israel -- rogue Wall Street trader and grifter par excellence - and the con within a con within a con that led to his ruin is a story that no novelist could possibly make up.  Forget the sniveling Bernie Madoff and his garden-variety Ponzi Scheme; for anyone wanting to understand just how truly crazy Wall Street became and why, this is the book to read." -Scott Anderson, Vanity Fair contributor and author of Triage "[Israel's Ponzi scheme] speaks to the banality of evil.  But there is nothing banal about Guy Lawson's telling of the most incredible story I've ever heard in or out of Wall Street."--Jared Dillian, Street Freak: Money and Madness at Lehman Brothers"Thrilling, outrageous and true, Octopus is a riveting ride through the shadow world of global high finance. A desperate man with a touch of insanity, Sam Israel is a character straight out of what we could only wish this story were: fantastic fiction."--Martin Kihn, author of House of Lies and Bad Dog (A Love Story)"Liars and fraudsters and con men, oh my. Beyond the Bayou hedge fund implosion and faked suicide, Guy Lawson wonderfully winds the bizarre tale of Sam Israel's demise into a swirl of global conspiracy and ultimate delusion."--Andy Kessler, New York Times bestselling author of Running Money and How We Got Here"A  scintillating real-life thriller about one of the most peculiar frauds in history…Part true-crime thriller, part Wall Street investigation, Octopus is filled with startling revelations.” --Gary Weiss, former investigative reporter for Business Week and author of Born to Steal, Wall Street Versus America and Ayn Rand NationAbout the AuthorGUY LAWSON has traveled the world reporting on war, crime, politics, and sports. His work has appeared in many national publications, including the New York Times, Harper's, GQ, and Rolling Stone, and he previously coauthored The Brotherhoods.  He and his family make their home in upstate New York.