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13 of 14 found the following review helpful:
The Golden Dog Can Hunt Sep 11, 2009
By Albert
The Golden Dog is a riveting page-turner that dives deep into the fascinating world of Wall Street and the characters that inhabit it. Sipprelle is an astute observer of the various forces and personalities that dominate the murky realm of The Street, and his extensive personal experience (former investment banker and hedge fund manager) adds unique depth, insight and clarity to the arcane rules and inner-workings of the stock market which fuel the narrative.
Nate Perkins is an idealistic kid from Kansas who makes his way to Manhattan in pursuit of a lucrative and exciting career in investment banking. It is 1987 and the market is crashing. A fish out of water in the sea that is Platt Brothers' institutional stock department training program, Nate is quickly forced to sink or swim. A chance encounter (or was it?) with a powerful and enigmatic Wall Street mastermind, Lucas Orr, sets Nate on a journey into the dog-eat-dog financial underbelly of insider trading where seemingly nothing is as it appears.
Orr, the notoriously reclusive head of Tantalus Funds, has blinding ambition and an uncompromising worldview born of a hidden past. Ashton Malpas is an equally inscrutable member of the Tantalus inner-sanctum in charge of maintaining absolute secrecy at the well-guarded 49th floor Manhattan headquarters. Leonard Colesmith is the ex-hippie Wall Street dropout who holds a key piece of the puzzle that becomes Nate's obsession. And Dana Rocca is the beautiful and brilliant co-trainee with her own ambiguous history whose entanglement in the unfolding mystery yields a shocking result. These and the other unique, well-drawn characters surround Nick as he is drawn further into the ruthless and underhanded high-stakes game of his would-be dream job.
The suspenseful plot unfolds on the privileged stages of Wall Street's super-rich and surrounding environs-- opulent Fifth Avenue penthouses, exclusive wood-paneled private dining rooms, Gatsbyesque estates in out-of-the-way New Jersey suburbs, Cape Cod beachfront mansions, the Waldorf-Astoria, New York Public Library and Princeton University. The juxtaposition of these playgrounds for the New York power-elite with Nate's unassuming home in Abilene, Kansas or Dana's small apartment across the Hudson in dreary Hoboken, New Jersey is an apt metaphor for the ongoing inner-struggle between an arguably simpler small-town ethic and existence versus the inevitable moral complexity inherent in the unbridled pursuit of money and power.
Finally, the engaging vignettes that begin each chapter are entertaining and effective in placing today's Wall Street and its power players within the historical context of early Manhattan and the rise (and ultimate fall) of its quintessential self-made businessman and magnate-- Cornelius Vanderbilt. I found myself looking forward to the next "chapter" in this tale almost as much as that of the main storyline.
The Golden Dog is a captivating novel that offers an all-access pass to the shady deal-making and hidden methods of Wall Street. It is an old-fashioned mystery set on the modern stage (with uncanny parallels to the recent economic collapse)that will have you on the edge of your seat and, perhaps, looking into your soul. This first-time author has come out swinging. Highly recommended reading.
8 of 8 found the following review helpful:
Another Wall Street author weighs in...by Patricia Beard aka Julia Norwich Oct 02, 2009
By Julia Norwich
"Julia Norwich"
As the author of Blue Blood & Mutiny: the Fight for the Soul of Morgan Stanley, a true story that was set in motion by Scott Sipprelle's bold challenge to the Morgan Stanley board about the firm's leadership, I read The Golden Dog with particular interest, and a certain amount of inside knowledge. Scott nails the culture of vulture investors, idealistic newcomers, and greedy, cynical manipulators with style and substance. The Golden Dog is one of the best Wall Street novels written since Michael Thomas stopped chronicling that world. This is a page turner, with distinctive characters, a plot full of surprises, and a theme that is even more timely now than it was when it was written. Best of all, you don't have to be a Wall Street insider to enjoy it; all you need is to be interested in human nature, and have a couple of hours of reading time. You won't want to put it down once you begin reading.
7 of 7 found the following review helpful:
Great read- Amazing insights from inside the ring! Sep 27, 2009
By Fernando Guerrero
I devoured this book in hours. The author weaves in so many of the driving themes that permeate life in Wall Street in a riveting novel. His ability to bring your mind into the emotions and interactions that were part of everyday life in the Wall Street of the last decade is unparalleled in the hundreds of novels that attempt to capture the reader into that world. I have found the perfect gift for Christmas. Enjoy the great read and you will look forward to Mr Sipprelle's next novel as I am already. This exceptional novel has the full potential of having a similar impact to Tom Wolfe's "Bonfire of the Vanities".
7 of 7 found the following review helpful:
A Memorable Read Sep 15, 2009
By T. Wright
As someone who has never worked on The Street I found this book a voyeuristic look inside a world of whispers and shadows. The characters all seem eerily familiar, like someone that you met and have never forgotten. Except that these people have been transplanted to a stage where simple human foibles are magnified under the stimulus of money and deal-fueled adrenaline. The unexpected twists in the plot tweak the reader, leaving a air of ambiguity that finds you cheering both for and against many of the characters throughout the story. And wondering about the significance of a golden dog. A memorable read.
6 of 6 found the following review helpful:
An exciting, fast-paced tale Sep 24, 2009
By M. Zaharis
This book is an engrossing tale of a young, ambitious Wall Street employee who gets the opportunity of a lifetime (or is it?). The protagonist, a junior employee of a major investment house (long before the pitfalls those businesses suffered in 2008), gets, seemingly through by change, a position with a mysterious, private investment fund. As his stock rises, he has to ask what he is willing to do to get to the top, and how it will impact those who are nearest to him.
The author's prior Wall Street experience is reflected in the entertaining, humorous details, including the nightlife habits of the young associates, the idiosynchracies and affairs of the senior "players", the way dreams are fulfilled or crushed, and even the practical jokes played on one another. He also explores the motivations that compel these people to attempt to become "masters of the universe." All of these take place in a riveting story of one man's adventure in a world where one's morality and personal desires must be reconciled with the constant desire to close the deal and crush the opposition. I found myself unable to put it down, and ended up having a late night, so I could see how it all unfolded.
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