A Psychological Thriller
Date Published: September 15th, 2020
Publisher: The X-Press
Who wins and who loses when you’re playing with other people’s money... and their emotions?
World-renowned scientist Victor Safir can’t resist his inexplicable attraction to Alex Lynne, a brilliant, beautiful financier—but his addiction to her may drive him over the edge. Thrust together as unlikely partners in the high-stakes world of London finance, their game of seduction might prove riskier than any business deal.
Victor begins to suspect that Alex is behind the sinister actions involving others in the firm, and might have an insatiable appetite for dangerous games. Is she using his desire to her advantage? Or is Victor destined to become another victim?
In a work that is equal parts thriller, intrigue, and exotic travelogue, Prey for Me weaves the power players of the financial world with the realm of top academia to craft a mystery that will keep the reader guessing.
Praise for John Casti's Paradigm Lost
"A Deep and careful pleasant consideration of what science is and how it is done. It would make anyone want to be a scientist." --Isaac Asimov
"Extraordinary...brought off with considerable erudition...absorbing reading" --Kirkus Reviews
Praise for John Casti's X-Events
"I am assiduous reader of John Casti's books. He is a real scientific intellectual." --Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of The Black Swan
"One of America's greatest pioneers of simulation." --London Times
"Casti is at his best in presenting difficult philosophical ideas enthusiastically and lucidly, and in presenting everyday examples to illustrate them...Entertaining and absorbing." --NY Times Book Review
"Dazzling ... A delightful tour de force ... Casti [is] a good teacher." --LA Times
Excerpt
Five
Years Earlier
London
The lecture hall at the London School of
Economics was filling fast as she made her way to a seat in the first row.
Wearing a pair of sheer black stockings with a short skirt, she wanted to
attract the attention of the professor, whom she’d been seeing in a secret
relationship for a few weeks now.
She thought to herself that coming from
New Zealand to the LSE was the best decision she’d ever made. Her course of
study was Behavioral Psychology and Finance, the two sides of which she hoped
would shed light on what had happened to her in her past, as well as what could
happen with her life in the future.
The professor entered the room and moved
to the podium, which was directly across from where she was sitting. As he
started shuffling his notes to begin the lecture, she sat up straight, crossed
her legs to attract his attention and showed him a coquettish smile.
She thought he was extremely attractive:
a tall, dark, Italian-appearing man in his early forties, slightly graying hair
and very dark brown, sensuous eyes. She liked everything from his appearance
and behavior to his slight accent that mimicked her own Kiwi twang. It was that
common geographical background that had brought them together in the first
place, she recalled. And for dinner tonight they would revisit the scene of
their first meeting, the Radio Rooftop Bar.
∗
Radio Rooftop is one of
London’s most iconic venues, situated on the 10th Floor of ME London, one of
the most luxurious hotels in London with striking views across the River Thames
and London’s impressive skyline. They took a table outside on the terrace to
enjoy the changing views of the capital as the sun set, stretching from the
Shard and St. Paul’s downstream, to the London Eye and Big Ben.
“This place is so special,” she told him.
“I’m sure you remem-ber when we began our time together here, five weeks ago
and counting. I’m very happy you chose it tonight.”
“Yes,” he replied, “it seems a fitting
location for a conversation about the lovely time we’ve spent together and
where dame fortune may be leading us.”
She looked across the table with an
almost predatory gaze, which then softened into a welcoming smile as she told
him, “I’m enjoying you so much. I hope we can continue to develop our
relationship into something very, very special. Maybe even into a permanent
partnership. How would you feel about that?”
“I think I’d be very happy about such a
future with you. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. First you have to finish
your studies here, then turn that new-found knowledge into a good job in The
City. That should all be completed by the end of the year.
Let’s talk about escalating our life
together then. Meanwhile, we should just enjoy what we have now and be thankful
for it.”
“I’m so happy since I asked you to be my
mentor,” she said, knowing it would please him. Then, deliberately trying to
mimic his slightly formal way of speaking, she continued: “Here we are now
already speaking about a lifetime partnership. I would never have believed that
I’d have such amazing luck.”
Lifting his glass to hers, he said,
“Let’s have a nice dinner and talk about that mentoring and luck just a bit
more. Okay?”
“Perfect,” she said,
opening the menu.
In the end, they decided to share a
Mediterranean Tapas Board for their main course. While going through the
olives, beef meat-balls, padron peppers and guacamole, he described in a bit
more detail the type of mentoring he could offer to accelerate the development
of her career.
He told her he would provide
consultations on various questions that came up as she made her way from the
LSE lecture halls to the trading floors in The City. He would also open doors
for her at various financial firms and offer letters of recommendation to
influential managers at those firms. Taken together, these actions should
suffice to have a good job waiting for her immediately upon graduation, he
assured her, “but only if you work hard and graduate with honors.”
“That’s exactly what I have in mind,” she
told him.
“I will do all those things with
pleasure,” he confirmed. “Maybe we can get started on it as early as next week.
What do you think?”
She agreed and they moved on to the
dessert course, a bowl of coconut and vanilla rice pudding for her, a chocolate
crumble for him.
He looked around and then said, “The
restaurant is getting a bit crowded and is really too noisy for a serious
conversation. If you’re agreeable, perhaps we could talk more comfortably about
the future together over a nightcap at my place. As you know, I live rather
near here so we can stretch our legs a bit on the way.”
“That sounds lovely.”
John Casti is an author, mathematician, and entrepreneur. John has written more than 120 scientific articles and seven technical monographs and textbooks on mathematical modeling. Prey for Me is his first novel.
Isaac Asimov said of Casti, “A Deep and careful pleasant consideration of what science is and how it is done. It would make anyone want to be a scientist."
Nassim Nicholas Taleb calls him “a real scientific intellectual."
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5 Comments
I like the cover. This is one of my favorite genres. The blurb sounds good. Thanks for the chance.
ReplyDeleteI really like this cover, and the book looks really interesting.
ReplyDeleteGreat post and I appreciate getting to find out about another great book. Thanks for all you do and for the hard work you put into this. Greatly appreciated!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds interesting to read, thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteJohn Casti is a new author to me, but I look forward to reading this. I always love meeting new authors. Thanks to this blog for the introduction.
ReplyDeletePlease try not to spam posts with the same comments over and over again. Authors like seeing thoughtful comments about their books, not the same old, "I like the cover" or "sounds good" comments. While that is nice, putting some real thought and effort in is appreciated. Thank you.