Stanton Succession

The fully dimensional, credibly drawn executives at Stanton Technologies scramble from a corporate ladder to an escape hatch in Kiefer's ( The Perpignon Exchange ) tightly woven novel of industrial and legal intrigue . High-tech exec Avery Stanton dies of heart failure when he learns that his handpicked successor, brilliant marketing director Adam Walsh, is a paroled ex-con. Company lawyer Colin Draggett, associated with an ultra-conservative Wall Street firm, finds himself condoning a buy - off plan worked out with the other two CEO candidates (one of them Stanton's philandering but capable son-in-law) to remove Walsh from the scene without triggering a crash in the value of Stanton stocks. The pressure s on the usually unflappable Draggett approach crisis level when his co-conspirators' fumbling attempts at violent solutions land them in deep trouble just when his personal life is in turmoil due to a terminally ill wife, a demanding mother and a plunge in the junk-bond market. The trio seethes as Walsh becomes the darling of Wall Street and market insiders' pick to take over Stanton's reins. Events hit the fast track at the annual stockholders meeting when Walsh's payoff deadline looms. In his deft and amusing style, Kiefer leads the reader through many plot twists, although he needlessly telegraphs the outcomes of several ploys. The legal and financial antics illustrate the joys of wheeling and dealing betwixt a rock and a hard place. (May)