Octopus

"Lawson [has] found gold...This is a fantastic story, in both senses of the word, with a freshness that recalls "Liars Poker.""
--Bryan Burrough, "New York Times"
"A cautionary tale of the highly sophisticated, often endemic fraud that still lurks on Wall Street...I was riveted by Mr. Lawson's telling...the story is mind-boggling."
--Andrew Sorkin, "New York Times (Dealbook)"
"An inside look at a savage tribal society [of Wall Street traders] that also reminds one of that rollicking farce concocted by Mel Brooks, 'The Producers'... Brings to life one of the most colorful, and often engaging, con men of this or any other century...an entertaining, well-told tale."
--"Washington Times"
"If you dig movies about cons, like "Catch Me If You Can, The Sting, "and "The Spanish Prisoner, "you will blow through "Octopus, "Guy Lawson's deftly and enthusiastically told tale of Same Israel and the Bayou hedge fund."
--"The Daily Beast"
"Penetratingly comprehensive...Lawson nimbly traverses the labyrinthine depths of a worldwide banking con that managed to involve looted Federal Reserve notes and the JFK assassination...An eye-opening window onto Wall Street's destructive culture of unchecked hubris and a harrowing thrill ride into the unraveling mind of a desperate operator."
--"Kirkus Reviews"
"Lawson has mined the darkest, most seductive world I can imagine and delivered up a story that almost defies comprehension. Octopus is written with a force and clarity that I found absolutely irresistible...It's a hell of a book."
--Sebastian Junger, New York Times bestselling author of The Perfect Storm
"Lawson's spellbinding account of Sam Israel's rise and fall is a phantasmagoric trip through the larcenous outer reaches (as well as the dark heart) of the world of finance. "Octopus "made me worry that I was being followed or swindled."
-Nick Paumgarten, staff writer, "The New Yorker
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"An absorbing, splend