This book includes 25 short stories - perhaps more accurately called vignettes - starring international bankers, brokers, business executives, and others from the world of big business. All the stories are set in London, and many feature a fictional company called Bartons and its employees. All the stories end with some sort of twist.
Review:
In his introduction, Charters writes: “Please do not feel sorry for the characters who come to grief. Like gamblers in a casino, they know the risks and make their own decisions – and they do not complain when they win” (p. 7). I took this to mean that bad things would probably be happening to at least a few likeable characters. As it turned out, bad things happened to many characters in these stories. They lost their jobs, went broke, were left by their wives, failed a job interview. One even committed suicide. For the most part, I barely felt a twinge for any of them.
