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Bad Connection
New York City telephone repairman Sean Macklin has a good enough life, but he wishes he could get his hands on some extra dough and move with his disabled wife to Florida.
So when he inadvertently taps into a secret conversation between an investment banker and a dot-com entrepreneur, and before his conscience can tell him otherwise, he turns his insider information of an imminent merger into a tidy profit through day trading.
As his penchant for subversive stock deals grows, so do the risks. But the day he taps into the line of a chemical company's CEO, a man with the power to order a clean merger - at any cost - Macklin's get-rich-quick plan starts to spiral desperately out of control. Hearing more than he should, he calls on his brother, NYPD officer Ray, for help. In a world where nothing is as it sounds, the Macklin brothers become the bait in a cutthroat game of blackmail, corruption, and violence. And Sean Macklin's dream of a better life becomes a fatal nightmare.
So when he inadvertently taps into a secret conversation between an investment banker and a dot-com entrepreneur, and before his conscience can tell him otherwise, he turns his insider information of an imminent merger into a tidy profit through day trading.
As his penchant for subversive stock deals grows, so do the risks. But the day he taps into the line of a chemical company's CEO, a man with the power to order a clean merger - at any cost - Macklin's get-rich-quick plan starts to spiral desperately out of control. Hearing more than he should, he calls on his brother, NYPD officer Ray, for help. In a world where nothing is as it sounds, the Macklin brothers become the bait in a cutthroat game of blackmail, corruption, and violence. And Sean Macklin's dream of a better life becomes a fatal nightmare.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2001
1 person is currently reading
133 people want to read
About the author
Michael Ledwidge
78 books443 followersMichael Ledwidge is the son of Irish parents and was born and raised in the Bronx. A graduate of Manhattan College, he is married and has two children.
As the co-author of a series of some of James Patterson’s most profitable books to date, Ledwidge has risen from an admired but, it’s fair to say, mostly unread author, to co-writing some of the most widely read books in the world. He’s made real money doing it, too, enough to change his life completely.
As the co-author of a series of some of James Patterson’s most profitable books to date, Ledwidge has risen from an admired but, it’s fair to say, mostly unread author, to co-writing some of the most widely read books in the world. He’s made real money doing it, too, enough to change his life completely.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 28, 2013
A quick read with some interesting plot twists. Overall good use of accurate geography and place references that help propel the story and have stood the test of time.
September 2, 2013
I'm noticing a trend here. Michael Ledwidge's lead characters are usually Irish, are hard-working and have good hearts, but get themselves into dire predicaments when they try to "do the right thing" and it backfires on them. And he seems to always leave things hanging in the end (we don't know what became of the lead character), which is equally annoying and gratifying, when you realize it won't be a happy ending, anyway.
In this book, Sean is a telephone company worker with a severely mentally disabled wife. He wants nothing more then to take her back to FL where he met her, and care for her full time, but he has to work for a living. One day while working on the telephone lines in an office building, he accidentally overhears a conversation between a CEO and an investment firm bigwig about an upcoming merger, and realizes that he has happened upon his miracle. He invests in the company about to be taken over, and makes a good return on his investment, so he decides to keep on listening and investing until he has enough money squirreled away to retire. During one of these listening sessions, he unwittingly learns of a murder and massive coverup that has taken place in Guatemala, and despite the potential payoff of investing in the merger that he also learns of during the same conversation, he decides to turn the tape he has made into the authorities and forgo that particular investment. His predicament is that he can't turn it in himself, because he will lose his job if he admits to the making of the tape, so he calls on his brother, Ray, who is a (dirty) cop to help him out. What ensues from there is a non-stop, action-filled chase which heats up as it becomes evident that Sean is now on his own.
In this book, Sean is a telephone company worker with a severely mentally disabled wife. He wants nothing more then to take her back to FL where he met her, and care for her full time, but he has to work for a living. One day while working on the telephone lines in an office building, he accidentally overhears a conversation between a CEO and an investment firm bigwig about an upcoming merger, and realizes that he has happened upon his miracle. He invests in the company about to be taken over, and makes a good return on his investment, so he decides to keep on listening and investing until he has enough money squirreled away to retire. During one of these listening sessions, he unwittingly learns of a murder and massive coverup that has taken place in Guatemala, and despite the potential payoff of investing in the merger that he also learns of during the same conversation, he decides to turn the tape he has made into the authorities and forgo that particular investment. His predicament is that he can't turn it in himself, because he will lose his job if he admits to the making of the tape, so he calls on his brother, Ray, who is a (dirty) cop to help him out. What ensues from there is a non-stop, action-filled chase which heats up as it becomes evident that Sean is now on his own.
August 12, 2019
Good story about a Manhattan telephone man who sees a way to make some money in the stock market. Lewidge's knowledge of the telephone underground in Midtown Manhattan is quite accurate. Was Ledwidge once a phone guy? I found the book very intriguing!
July 8, 2013
Terrific. Keeps moving. Nice book for a diversion
June 23, 2020
So I don't mind books that literally has no "good" character; however, I do want them to have some redeemable value. Basically, I finished the book to finish it. There really was nothing that pulled me in and a lot more that turned me off. Men referring to the women they are with as "owning" them. Racial slurs to Latinos. Characters that really added no real value to the plot line, but are giving their own chapters to try and make them a main character. Even Sean's disabled wife doesn't pull on the heartstrings like she is supposed to because you never see her until later and prior to that all interactions about his wife are regarding the nurse. I do not think I will be reading any more novels by this author.
December 26, 2023
This book kept me interested. The phone part is very interesting!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews