Mortal Bonds

In Sears’s strong sequel to 2012’s Black Fridays, white-collar financier-felon Jason Stafford investigates some seriously shady activities on Wall Street on behalf of the family of William Von Becker, an infamous investor who ran a Bernie Madoff–inspired Ponzi scheme, lost billions, and killed himself in prison. The surviving Von Beckers—matriarch Olivia and her four grown children—engage Stafford to see if he can find the missing billions and “salvage something of the family name.” Stafford’s hunt for the money involves former Wall Street colleagues and some of the victims themselves, notably Tulio Castillo, a wealthy Colombian who may be involved in the drug trade. Meanwhile, Stafford continues to face some serious domestic difficulties: a young son with severe autism, a volatile ex-wife, and a girlfriend. The search for all that money in such a high-profile case feels like a longshot, to Stafford and the reader, but Sears’s knowledge of investment banking makes the plot compelling if not always convincing. Deft, witty prose is a plus. Agent: Judith Weber, Sobol Weber Associates. (Oct.)