A Crime No One saw coming or Thought Possible
Midwest Book Review and Independent Book Review Join Growing List
MONROE TOWNSHIP, NJ, UNITED STATES, January 14, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ — Two major book review companies have joined the list applauding The Vault, a new book by Amazon best-selling author Stuart Z Goldstein. The story has been characterized as a “nail biting thriller,” and “an audacious heist,” with some calling it “a Robin Hood on Wall Street story from within,” according to publisher Pen Paper Press (PPP).
The Vault is a fictional tale of employees at Americlear, who after decades of mistreatment decide to steal $100 million in bearer bonds from the largest securities vault in the world. And as the heist unfolds, Hurricane Sandy slams New York City flooding the Vault and threatening to expose the crime.
“Yes, it’s true. In 2012, Hurricane Sandy did indeed flood the largest securities vault holding trillions in assets (stocks, corporate bonds, municipal bonds, bearer bonds, money markets, etc.),” Alice Sherman, Assistant Director, PPP, pointed out. “The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC (aka Americlear in the book) quickly claimed in the media that the financial industry suffered no losses. DTCC argued they had electronic records of all instruments held in their vault.”
“But Goldstein imagines an alternative storyline. What if that was not true? What if, when the vault flooded, securities were lost, millions of dollars vanished, and a web of secrets was buried beneath the chaos? Would we have ever known? Would they have told you? How would the world react?
Independent Book Review (IBR):
A nail-biting thriller centering on an audacious heist that coincides with a spectacular natural disaster.
Even the best of people will go to extreme lengths when pushed too far. Stuart Z. Goldstein’s The Vault is a gripping tale in which concepts of right and wrong are upended and the distinction between heroes and villains is blurred beyond recognition.
The stakes are high from the outset, but as both the authorities and Hurricane Sandy close in, the danger mounts and the likelihood of double-crosses increases exponentially, all leading to a tense and unguessable denouement.
Goldstein does an excellent job with his antagonists—both plausible and nicely detestable. Daeva Connolly is a properly awful corporate bigwig, and she provides a perfect face for the otherwise faceless specter of corporate greed.
Unsurprisingly, when it gets to the point that the crime starts coming together, the pace of The Vault really accelerates and the tension ramps up. The planning stage is both engaging and exciting, and the whole thing seems scarily plausible.
…In having the theft coincide with Hurricane Sandy bearing down on New York, Goldstein adds an extra layer of danger and suspense to the story.
As The Vault starts to build toward a thrilling conclusion you can’t help but root for the anti-heroes.
Midwest Book Review:
The Vault draws thriller readers into a story that mixes elements of crime and confrontation with psychological and ethical considerations. A Wall Street vault that holds more riches than Fort Knox becomes the center of plotting, controversy, and the financial heart of America.
This vault is impervious to threat or attack. Until now.
It was unlikely that a steel vault, by definition, could ever fail. But people fail. Leaders fail. They fail in their values and commitment to the Golden Rule. And that can lead to disillusionment and betrayal. It is – and ever has been the dilemma of our time. Andy knew a reckoning was coming.
Goldstein takes the time to build personalities, motivations, and insights that not only give each character added dimensions, but makes their actions, reactions, and choices logical and realistic.
This enhances the story’s tension, producing likeable characters whose involvements and interactions test the boundaries of moral and ethical behavior, financial savvy.
Suspense is nicely constructed with twists and turns readers won’t see coming, that add further value to the plot.
The Vault is one of our top recommendations to Libraries seeking stories that rest as much upon psychological insight as on strong character development, evolving interpersonal relationships, and bigger objectives of financial management.
Additional Book Reviews:
Publisher Weekly’s Book Life:
This gripping tale of loyalty, betrayal, and redemption takes place against the backdrop of Wall Street’s largest bank securities vault, where dedicated employee Andy Russo, who has spent decades managing the vault, witnesses the industry’s evolution alongside his team’s never-ending sacrifices.
Goldstein weaves a captivating narrative, exploring the complexities of corporate loyalty and the moral dilemmas faced by employees who feel betrayed by their higher-ups. The characters are richly developed, each with their own backstory of struggle and survival, making their collective decision to commit the heist both understandable and riveting. As the heist unfolds, Goldstein skillfully builds tension, with careful attention to detail—the vault’s day-to-day operations and the intricacies of the financial industry—that adds authenticity to the story.
One of The Vault’s strengths is its treatment of the immigrant experience and the sacrifices made by first-generation Americans, explored through Goldstein’s depiction of the cultural biases that limit work opportunities for the book’s minority and immigrant characters. That kind of thoughtful exposition illuminates the moral complexities of corporate life and the bonds that tie people together, making this compelling narrative stand out in the genre of financial thrillers.
Reader Views:
“The Vault by Stuart Z. Goldstein isn’t just a modern-day heist novel. It’s also a story about making things right for people who have been overlooked and underappreciated…I found the concept of this story compelling as it’s not far removed from reality, and honestly, I was rooting for them throughout.” — Richard Bist, Author, Book Blogger for Reader Views
“The Vault” is the story of what can happen when executives finally push their employees too far. Author Stuart Z. Goldstein has crafted a meticulously well-honed and character driven plot. Backed by statistics and hard numbers, the Americlear vault feels utterly real, and the employees absolutely begin to feel like family.” —Jill Rey, Book Blogger for Reader Views
Alice Sherman
Pen Paper Press
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