"A taut thriller that cruises through the New York financial market, with all its blind curves and bumpy roadways, like a sports car." KIRKUS REVIEW

I will warn you now. If you start reading this excerpt you won’t be able to stop. I found the behind the scenes story about the author John Nuckel fascinating. It jumped off the page at me. “John ran like hell down Broadway when the World Trade Center came down, he has thrown punches on the trading floor and sat behind Spike Lee at the Garden.”

Excerpt from CHAPTER 1 (p. 1-2). Kindle Edition.

April 16th 2002

It was a mild winter, not much snow to worry about. March had been a bitch, though. The whole month was the same forecast: grey. There’s something about New York City when the weather’s lousy that made it seem like a set from a forties movie. The town seemed to be in black and white, especially downtown. If you had taken a picture, it would have looked like one of those Old New York posters that people taped to the paneling in their finished basements.

Frank McGinley sat at the kitchen table, his only table, and glanced at the Wall Street Journal. He’d just finished his breakfast and was polishing off his vodka and orange juice. Last night, he had the dream again, the fourth night in a row. The woman falling. She mouthed the word “help”, but he pulled his arms in, turned and ran.

He stared into the bottom of his glass and thought about his old man, and the last time they’d seen each other. His father was sitting at the kitchen table with a glass and a bottle of Canadian Club, staring into it while his family paraded past and out the door. Frank remembered the look on his face. This wasn’t the man who beat his wife and kids. He was no longer the petty thief, the scam artist, the serial skirt chaser. At the age of eleven Frank saw the man for what he was that day: a pathetic drunk.

Frank knew he should see a shrink about the dreams of the woman falling, but for now, he’d continue to see a bartender. Put the glass down, he thought to himself. He would listen, but not that day. Frank downed the last bit and headed out the door. He walked down the front steps of his 17th Street apartment building and there, on the scrawny tree planted on the dirt square in the sidewalk, was the first flower he had seen in what seemed like years. The surprise of spring hit him. The sun seemed a little higher, a little brighter. The warm air and chirping birds slapped a smile onto his face. It felt good to smile.

He headed down 17th to the 5 train. On the way to the subway, he saw an even better sign of spring, a girl in a skirt and no hose. There was something about the first sight of flesh that made all things right with the world. The weather had another effect: guilt. For the first time in his life, Frank was getting fat. He could feel his gut pressing against his belt line, the belt he loosened a notch only a couple of weeks ago. This time last year he’d finished up the season as the point guard for the American Stock Exchange team in the New York Urban league. He hadn’t played this year, preferring to stay home and eat and drink like a pig.

Excerpt of Review by Eric Blair ~  A Must Read

The Vig is a well worth read for anyone who appreciates "the Street" of yesteryear. This book is suspenseful, compelling and a quick page turner. It really hits home for those of us who spent time in the market, back in the day. The personal references to the American Stock Exchange (sadly, no longer in existence), the "sheets" and in particular the change in downtown after 9/11 are in particular - touching. John Nuckel's history on the floor is evident and his knack for conveying the typical character(s) is spot on.

The Vig is available on Amazon!