Giveaway: The Darlings by Cristina Alger

The Darlings

Cristina Alger is the author of “The Darlings.” This provocative new financial thriller asks the question: How loyal would you be to your family if you knew a secret that could ruin them?

The cityscape on the cover quickly  activated my love center. I can not reiterate enough how important a cover can be for a book. Especially a first time novelist. It can often make it or break it. Well, this one is unabashedly a winner! I was instantly transported to Manhattan.

This novel begins quietly in a dark space. Morty Reis is about to commit suicide. The scene is set up on a bridge where many suicides have taken place in the past. What a beginning. Morty is not a main character, but we soon find out how he fits into this puzzle.

Carter Darling is the patriarch of  the Darling family. He is a billionaire hedge fund owner who has amassed a vast fortune over the years. His wife and two daughters have been living like royalty; traveling around the world, spending summers and long weekends in the Hamptons in their palatial “cottage.” Both daughters married promising men who have been brought into their family business. Most recently, Paul Ross, Meredith’s husband, lost his job in finance, and Carter immediately took him under his wing and brought him aboard. Paul now works in Carter’s hedge fund “Delphic.”

You know immediately that something has gone desperately afoul. Alger has done a fine job of setting it all up. What we don’t quite know is what it is or how it got this way.

We’ve seen big wigs like Bernie Madoff and others, slide down the slippery slope, but here we actually become involved in the process. I learned more by reading Alger’s novel, than I have from all the headlines and books in the past few years. She has made it personal and put it in your face.

How do you save face when threatened with loss this spectacular? What separates the survivors from the real losers? And what constitutes family?

Cristine Alger has managed to capture the essence of the financial downturn by using the catastrophic drop of one very influential corporation. We have all wondered over and over again how this type of disaster can happen. This story gives you a glimpse into how and why.

Alger’s characters are flawed. Just like all human beings. Her people come from excessive wealth. The kind many of us have never experienced. Probably never will. She keeps them real.

Cristina Alger

Alger attacks moral issues as well as financial woes. This is a family you will never forget. What a breath of fresh air to find this lovely debut author. Thanks Christina. I sure look forward to your next novel.

I am thrilled to be able to offer a copy of “The Darlings” to one lucky reader. Just make a comment here on the blog.  Only U.S. addresses. No P.O. boxes. Sorry. The great folks at Viking Publishing will send you your copy when you win! Good luck. You are going to love this one. I will announce the winner on Wednesday morning, Feb. 22.