In the fast paced world of new media startups, the “cocktail napkin to boardroom” paradigm rules, as do drugs, violence, treachery and legal manipulation: otherwise known as Twenty-First Century corporate best practices. Easy deals are the currency of success, and penny stocks and NASDAQ are the new blow. This then is the backdrop for Jason M. Kays’ Virtual Vice, an engrossing crime thriller filled with twists, turns and back stabs.
Disenchanted entertainment attorney Ian McKenzie is caught in the golden handcuffs of a successful legal career that has him drained and disillusioned. His most recent client was last seen drunk and naked atop a Vancouver club delivering an impassioned soliloquy to unseen observers. Just as things seem miserable and pointless, Ian meets charming but dangerous Scott White, former drug trafficker turned legit dotcom scion. Scott convinces Ian to come on board to help manage his Internet startup, Metropoleis Multimedia. Luck seems to turn and the glory days of the dotcom boom promise to reverse fortunes and make everybody rich and famous. Unfortunately for Ian, CEO Scott has simply transitioned from the organized crime of the Cali Cartel to the organized crime of Wall Street. His wife, Clarice Westwater, heads a high-end brothel. As the CEO's confidant and consigliore, McKenzie soon finds himself mired in a world of stock market scams and white collar crime.
Fast paced and written with wit and suspense, Virtual Vice will keep you entertained while it keeps you guessing and wanting more. Told in the tradition of the best in the crime thriller genre, Author Kays masterfully weaves characters you love to hate with complex plotting to produce a satisfying and thrilling tale of murder, mayhem and corporate excess gone terribly wrong. Virtual Vice is a treat for all crime thriller buffs and for anyone who just loves a well-written book.
