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Leverage
For readers of Percival Everett and viewers of INDUSTRY, a hotshot hedge fund employee must risk everything to save his job—and his life—in this timely and darkly funny thriller about race, power, and the corrupting influence of the almighty dollar.
Ali “Al” Jafar is a rising star at notorious hedge fund Prism Capital, but fortunes change fast on Wall Street. When his biggest investment goes up in smoke, Al loses $300 million—and his fragile sense of self-worth—in a single afternoon. He’s certain he’ll be fired, but Prism’s obscenely rich and politically connected founder isn’t that merciful. Instead, he gives Al an impossible ultimatum: recover the lost money in three months or become the fall guy for the government’s insider-trading investigation into the firm.
Depressed and desperate, Al turns to high finance’s dark side, where he battles back-stabbing coworkers and cutthroat competitors and digs himself into an even deeper hole. As the clock winds down, and the pressure mounts, Al’s mental health deteriorates. To survive, he’ll have to outfox one of the world’s most powerful men and decide if he values the dearest asset of all: himself.
Ali “Al” Jafar is a rising star at notorious hedge fund Prism Capital, but fortunes change fast on Wall Street. When his biggest investment goes up in smoke, Al loses $300 million—and his fragile sense of self-worth—in a single afternoon. He’s certain he’ll be fired, but Prism’s obscenely rich and politically connected founder isn’t that merciful. Instead, he gives Al an impossible ultimatum: recover the lost money in three months or become the fall guy for the government’s insider-trading investigation into the firm.
Depressed and desperate, Al turns to high finance’s dark side, where he battles back-stabbing coworkers and cutthroat competitors and digs himself into an even deeper hole. As the clock winds down, and the pressure mounts, Al’s mental health deteriorates. To survive, he’ll have to outfox one of the world’s most powerful men and decide if he values the dearest asset of all: himself.
320 pages, Hardcover
Published August 19, 2025
53 people are currently reading
6233 people want to read
About the author
Amran Gowani
1 book34 followersAmran Gowani is a former organic chemist and financial analyst who lives in Chicago with his wife and two children. His first novel LEVERAGE was published by Simon & Schuster in August 2025. He also writes a cult favorite comedy newsletter. Learn more at www.AmranGowani.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 210 reviews
April 26, 2025
I received a free copy of, Leverage, by Amran Gowani, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Al Jafar works in hedge funds, he loses big time millions of dollars, his boss gives him a deal, get his money back or get out. This was an interesting read.
August 19, 2025
Ali Jafar (often addressed by his bully of a boss as Al – though far more egregious sobriquets are sometimes used) is a high flying portfolio manager at a San Francisco based hedge fund. Unfortunately, he finds himself in very deep water after having taken a major position on a company that’s now gone belly up. He’s just lost $300 million of the fund’s money. No problem, says his boss, who proceeds to threaten him with a huge a stitch-up that’ll no doubt send Ali to prison for a very long time. Unless Ali can somehow get the money back in the next three months, that is.
Ali feels that he has no choice but to try to find a way to achieve this ridiculous goal, even though he can honestly conceive of no way he’ll succeed. That said, he is a pessimist at heart, a glass half empty kind of guy. ‘Oh well, there’s always suicide’ seems to be the only thought that gives him a modicum of cheer. He’s also a bit of a loner, is Ali. He has very few friends and gets on well with only a small number of his work colleagues. There is no father figure in the picture. He is in contact with his mother, but they’re not close. Essentially, he doesn’t have a single meaningful relationship in his life.
Strangely, despite all the gloom, this tale really is quite funny and, moreover, hugely engaging. Ali is a character I very quickly found I was rooting for, desperately hoping he’d succeed even as he got deeper and deeper into sketchy territory, seeking help from people he really knew very little about. Throughout, Ali never has any doubt that the threat posed to him is a real one, so if he’s going to go out it’ll be with all guns blazing – one way or another!
I enjoy financial stories (I spent my working life in finance), so this one was right up my street. In many ways, I suppose it can be seen as a critique of a financial system that allows (even encourages) financial institutions to cream off huge profits whilst adding no value at all to society. There is a lot of financial talk and use of acronyms. But though a good deal of this flew straight over my head, enough stuck so that I was able to get the gist of the action. However, that’s more than I can say for the regular, and rather nerdy, references made to American College Sport, none of which registered with me at all.
Overall, the tension here is well maintained throughout. I never lost interest in the story and grew ever more anxious for Ali’s fate as the clock continued to run down for him. But I confess to being somewhat disappointed in the way it was all wrapped up. To me, this was done in a rather odd way, and here I did get rather lost in the mechanics of it all. But that aside, I found it to be a wry and clever look at the world of high finance, all wrapped up in an adventure surrounding a guy I couldn’t help but warm to.
My thanks to Atria Books for supplying a copy of this novel in return for an honest review.
Ali feels that he has no choice but to try to find a way to achieve this ridiculous goal, even though he can honestly conceive of no way he’ll succeed. That said, he is a pessimist at heart, a glass half empty kind of guy. ‘Oh well, there’s always suicide’ seems to be the only thought that gives him a modicum of cheer. He’s also a bit of a loner, is Ali. He has very few friends and gets on well with only a small number of his work colleagues. There is no father figure in the picture. He is in contact with his mother, but they’re not close. Essentially, he doesn’t have a single meaningful relationship in his life.
Strangely, despite all the gloom, this tale really is quite funny and, moreover, hugely engaging. Ali is a character I very quickly found I was rooting for, desperately hoping he’d succeed even as he got deeper and deeper into sketchy territory, seeking help from people he really knew very little about. Throughout, Ali never has any doubt that the threat posed to him is a real one, so if he’s going to go out it’ll be with all guns blazing – one way or another!
I enjoy financial stories (I spent my working life in finance), so this one was right up my street. In many ways, I suppose it can be seen as a critique of a financial system that allows (even encourages) financial institutions to cream off huge profits whilst adding no value at all to society. There is a lot of financial talk and use of acronyms. But though a good deal of this flew straight over my head, enough stuck so that I was able to get the gist of the action. However, that’s more than I can say for the regular, and rather nerdy, references made to American College Sport, none of which registered with me at all.
Overall, the tension here is well maintained throughout. I never lost interest in the story and grew ever more anxious for Ali’s fate as the clock continued to run down for him. But I confess to being somewhat disappointed in the way it was all wrapped up. To me, this was done in a rather odd way, and here I did get rather lost in the mechanics of it all. But that aside, I found it to be a wry and clever look at the world of high finance, all wrapped up in an adventure surrounding a guy I couldn’t help but warm to.
My thanks to Atria Books for supplying a copy of this novel in return for an honest review.
August 9, 2025
Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication date: Aug. 19, 2025
“Leverage” is the debut novel by author Amran Gowani. A dark, intellectual thriller about the dog-eat-dog world of Wall Street investing, perfect for fans of “The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine” or “The Wolf of Wall Street”.
Ali Jafar is an up-and-comer in Prism, one of the highest performing hedge fund companies on the planet. Ali wants, like everyone else, to make a name, and a fortune, for himself and he seems to be on the way to getting there. Until, over the course of one day, Ali’s biggest investment tanks and the company loses $300 million. Ali is sure his job is on the line but the uber-rich, mega-billionaire CEO of Prism offers Ali a choice- lose his job, and never work in Wall Street again, or find a way to make Prism back the $300 million he lost, in three months. This leads Ali to the desperate measure of seeking out the dark side of high finance- where insider trading abounds and the wrong move could cost Ali more than his job.
“Leverage” is a unique thriller, with a BIPOC protagonist, Ali, working in the primarily White world of Wall Street. Ali worked his way up to the top, coming from a single parent home, far from the rich, trust-fund colleagues he surrounds himself with daily, immediately endearing him to readers. When Ali gets himself into trouble, time and time again, I couldn’t help but hope he would find a way out of it.
The world of finance is completely alien to me. I know what Wall Street is, where its located and what it does (approximately), but don’t ask me to go into any details or use any popular verbiage. This was a struggle for me with “Leverage”, as Gowani delves deep into the world of finance, leaving me sorting through the language and processes to figure out what’s going on throughout most of the novel. It wasn’t until almost the end of the novel, when the character had a rallying moment, that I was able to actually follow along and keep up.
“Leverage” was certainly an edge-of-your-seat read, tensions building as readers scramble to figure out how Ali is going to fair. Gowani can keep a reader’s attention, even when the subject material may not appeal to everyone, by connecting with the relatable, likable protagonist. As this is a Wall Street novel, you can expect more of a “bad guy vs. bad guy” plot, than a “root for the good guy” type of story, but the ending delivers enough satisfaction to calm the unease we feel in rooting for the “lesser” bad guy.
Gowani’s debut is well-written, and is designed for a certain type of reader, but those who enjoy the Wall Street “finance thriller” genre will fall in love with “Leverage”.
Expected publication date: Aug. 19, 2025
“Leverage” is the debut novel by author Amran Gowani. A dark, intellectual thriller about the dog-eat-dog world of Wall Street investing, perfect for fans of “The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine” or “The Wolf of Wall Street”.
Ali Jafar is an up-and-comer in Prism, one of the highest performing hedge fund companies on the planet. Ali wants, like everyone else, to make a name, and a fortune, for himself and he seems to be on the way to getting there. Until, over the course of one day, Ali’s biggest investment tanks and the company loses $300 million. Ali is sure his job is on the line but the uber-rich, mega-billionaire CEO of Prism offers Ali a choice- lose his job, and never work in Wall Street again, or find a way to make Prism back the $300 million he lost, in three months. This leads Ali to the desperate measure of seeking out the dark side of high finance- where insider trading abounds and the wrong move could cost Ali more than his job.
“Leverage” is a unique thriller, with a BIPOC protagonist, Ali, working in the primarily White world of Wall Street. Ali worked his way up to the top, coming from a single parent home, far from the rich, trust-fund colleagues he surrounds himself with daily, immediately endearing him to readers. When Ali gets himself into trouble, time and time again, I couldn’t help but hope he would find a way out of it.
The world of finance is completely alien to me. I know what Wall Street is, where its located and what it does (approximately), but don’t ask me to go into any details or use any popular verbiage. This was a struggle for me with “Leverage”, as Gowani delves deep into the world of finance, leaving me sorting through the language and processes to figure out what’s going on throughout most of the novel. It wasn’t until almost the end of the novel, when the character had a rallying moment, that I was able to actually follow along and keep up.
“Leverage” was certainly an edge-of-your-seat read, tensions building as readers scramble to figure out how Ali is going to fair. Gowani can keep a reader’s attention, even when the subject material may not appeal to everyone, by connecting with the relatable, likable protagonist. As this is a Wall Street novel, you can expect more of a “bad guy vs. bad guy” plot, than a “root for the good guy” type of story, but the ending delivers enough satisfaction to calm the unease we feel in rooting for the “lesser” bad guy.
Gowani’s debut is well-written, and is designed for a certain type of reader, but those who enjoy the Wall Street “finance thriller” genre will fall in love with “Leverage”.
October 2, 2025
When I met Amran Gowani at the Bouchercon Conference, he told me about his book and the way he described it was like this… “You’re either going to love it or hate it.”
SOLD 👏👏
First off, he was absolutely correct! I loved it.
Al (Ali) is a hedge fund guy who works for Prism Capital. He is faced with the reality that he just lost
$300,000,000 million dollars of Prism Capital’s money! 🤡
His boss threatens him with the ultimatum of getting the money back or going to prison.
DUDE! The the dialogue was just downright hilarious! Crude, snarky and oh-so-nasty-no-holds-barred comments. There are mentions on race, politics, power, self pleasuring, suicidal thoughts, suicide jokes, and I’m sure I could go on 🤣. This book was wild!!! LOL! I think you have to be open minded. That you can appreciate the darkest parts of the mind and slap on some sarcasm. These guys were ruthless, period.
This is a highly entertaining financial thriller that I enjoyed. If you get offended easily, DO NOT read this book. PERIOD 😆😆
4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
SOLD 👏👏
First off, he was absolutely correct! I loved it.
Al (Ali) is a hedge fund guy who works for Prism Capital. He is faced with the reality that he just lost
$300,000,000 million dollars of Prism Capital’s money! 🤡
His boss threatens him with the ultimatum of getting the money back or going to prison.
DUDE! The the dialogue was just downright hilarious! Crude, snarky and oh-so-nasty-no-holds-barred comments. There are mentions on race, politics, power, self pleasuring, suicidal thoughts, suicide jokes, and I’m sure I could go on 🤣. This book was wild!!! LOL! I think you have to be open minded. That you can appreciate the darkest parts of the mind and slap on some sarcasm. These guys were ruthless, period.
This is a highly entertaining financial thriller that I enjoyed. If you get offended easily, DO NOT read this book. PERIOD 😆😆
4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
July 7, 2025
I don’t think Im financially literate enough to read and enjoy this book.
It was super fast paced, I’ve never read a financial thriller type book. But honestly it was fun. It also took a very good look at the racially charged tensions in the 2010s in higher up fields like being on Wall Street. (Look at me, I know what that is now.)
But a lot of sentences I read I was just like “what?” Why was that put in in? It was super fast paced writing that flowed very well…except certain passages that REALLY pulled me right out of the moment. Also half the time I didn’t know what they were talking about because I don’t have a degree in economics.
It was super fast paced, I’ve never read a financial thriller type book. But honestly it was fun. It also took a very good look at the racially charged tensions in the 2010s in higher up fields like being on Wall Street. (Look at me, I know what that is now.)
But a lot of sentences I read I was just like “what?” Why was that put in in? It was super fast paced writing that flowed very well…except certain passages that REALLY pulled me right out of the moment. Also half the time I didn’t know what they were talking about because I don’t have a degree in economics.
November 15, 2025
Industry meets Uncut Gems. High octane, propulsive, intense, wild. There's a deeper story here about the falseness of the American dream and the ways Brown people are beaten down in primarily white spaces, but the MC's self-loathing became grating after a bit.
Fun and intense! Definitely revelatory about what exactly is going on at these Wall Street firms, and kind of horrifying to read when you consider how casually racist so much of the industry is. Not for the easily shocked- I have a thick skin and even I was surprised by how the characters talked to Al. The last 20% of this book is absolutely wild.
Fun and intense! Definitely revelatory about what exactly is going on at these Wall Street firms, and kind of horrifying to read when you consider how casually racist so much of the industry is. Not for the easily shocked- I have a thick skin and even I was surprised by how the characters talked to Al. The last 20% of this book is absolutely wild.
August 19, 2025
Update 8/19/25: Reposting my review to celebrate that today is publication day!
Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for sending me an ARC of Leverage in exchange for an honest review.
The Goodreads description of this book tells you everything you need to know about the plot, so I’ll jump directly to my thoughts.
You can tell that Leverage was written by someone who worked in finance. The plot is informed by insider knowledge of Wall Street. However, that veneer of realism doesn’t mean this story is realistic. It’s not. The villainous CEO is cartoonishly villainous, and the various schemes used by Al to earn back the lost money … would just never happen that way. But realism can be overrated; the most important question is usually whether a story is entertaining.
And whether or not you’ll be entertained by Leverage will likely boil down to your tolerance for being inside the mind of a suicidal finance bro. The story is not subtle. There are so many pop culture references here, but they’re usually to things like sports and Star Wars and comics. Al masturbates a lot, which is just something I didn’t need to know. For reasons I still don’t understand, sometimes, instead of simply “peeing,” Al “micturated” more than once. Some of the passages are beyond cringe—not just spoken dialogue, but Al’s internal thoughts too—and I could never figure out if I was laughing with or at the author:
But then there are other passages that are either elite pop culture references or just really solid writing:
On balance, I thought Leverage was a fun story, and a solid debut novel. It’s fast-paced, and reads like an Ocean’s Eleven or Trading Places-style movie. It’s not subtle, and it reinforces my belief that I’m glad I’ve organized my life to have a minimum amount of exposure to finance bros. Recommended when you’re in the mood for an over-the-top story. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for sending me an ARC of Leverage in exchange for an honest review.
The Goodreads description of this book tells you everything you need to know about the plot, so I’ll jump directly to my thoughts.
You can tell that Leverage was written by someone who worked in finance. The plot is informed by insider knowledge of Wall Street. However, that veneer of realism doesn’t mean this story is realistic. It’s not. The villainous CEO is cartoonishly villainous, and the various schemes used by Al to earn back the lost money … would just never happen that way. But realism can be overrated; the most important question is usually whether a story is entertaining.
And whether or not you’ll be entertained by Leverage will likely boil down to your tolerance for being inside the mind of a suicidal finance bro. The story is not subtle. There are so many pop culture references here, but they’re usually to things like sports and Star Wars and comics. Al masturbates a lot, which is just something I didn’t need to know. For reasons I still don’t understand, sometimes, instead of simply “peeing,” Al “micturated” more than once. Some of the passages are beyond cringe—not just spoken dialogue, but Al’s internal thoughts too—and I could never figure out if I was laughing with or at the author:
Concerned looks abounded and a sense of dread blanketed the entire floor like a damp, sulfurous fart.
…
Whatever. I purged the baby batter, showered, and fell into a restless sleep.
…
Everyone in this office was an asshole, but we were assholes together. On the same asshole team. With the same asshole objectives. Seeking out the same asshole rewards.
But then there are other passages that are either elite pop culture references or just really solid writing:
I’d always wanted to be a spy when I was little, like my hero James Bond, until I realized I wasn’t tall and blue-eyed enough. As I got older, I thought I’d at least make a cool Bond villain: short, stocky, ethnically ambiguous, and always threatening a trace of controlled menace. After a few moments of mingling with the world’s legitimate high rollers, I doubted I was debonair enough to park the cars.
…
Doing the right thing was for suckers. There was a reason Skeletor was doper than He-Man, the Decepticons were more fearsome than the Autobots, and the Sith were more powerful than the Jedi.
…
“This time it’s different,” Joey said.
The most famous last words on Wall Street. Used by everyone from traders to journalists to Federal Reserve chairs to justify how the current market crash fundamentally differed from the previous market crash. To find the upsides, silver linings, and causes and effects of whatever the ongoing crisis happened to be. To explain how this time everything would be okay. How we’d learned, improved, and grown. These were the lies everyone told themselves so they could navigate a world devoid of meaning. So they could traverse an industry built on excess. Where greed and venality were the heroes, and fairness and conscientiousness were the villains.
On balance, I thought Leverage was a fun story, and a solid debut novel. It’s fast-paced, and reads like an Ocean’s Eleven or Trading Places-style movie. It’s not subtle, and it reinforces my belief that I’m glad I’ve organized my life to have a minimum amount of exposure to finance bros. Recommended when you’re in the mood for an over-the-top story. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
April 13, 2025
It was a complete coincidence of timing that I read this book during the most volatile week I can remember on Wall Street, in fact I started it the weekend prior. In case you think there are people looking out for your money, this book will disabuse you.
This was a very fun book which really needed some editing. I rate books mostly based on how much I enjoyed them, so I can give a thriller 5-stars and Gone With the Wind 5-stars and not feel bad about it even though they are completely different levels of novel. This book had a lot of 5-star moments, particularly for a debut. The writing was good, there were many laugh out loud moments, it was entertaining, and interesting and then a little bit silly. I guess authors are on a masturbation kick because the last 3-books I've read strongly feature it. I don't mind a bit, but don't need it every other page.
And there were a lot of suicide comments and jokes, if there had been maybe 30% less of those the book would have been stronger. I'm not a sensitive snowflake who can't appreciate dark humor (in fact dark humor is my favorite) but you know, enough already. The word suicide was used 24 times in a 320 page book and that doesn't cover the euphemisms of which there were many.
Overall a very fun book which I recommend if you don't have any sensitivity about the mention of suicide.
This was a very fun book which really needed some editing. I rate books mostly based on how much I enjoyed them, so I can give a thriller 5-stars and Gone With the Wind 5-stars and not feel bad about it even though they are completely different levels of novel. This book had a lot of 5-star moments, particularly for a debut. The writing was good, there were many laugh out loud moments, it was entertaining, and interesting and then a little bit silly. I guess authors are on a masturbation kick because the last 3-books I've read strongly feature it. I don't mind a bit, but don't need it every other page.
And there were a lot of suicide comments and jokes, if there had been maybe 30% less of those the book would have been stronger. I'm not a sensitive snowflake who can't appreciate dark humor (in fact dark humor is my favorite) but you know, enough already. The word suicide was used 24 times in a 320 page book and that doesn't cover the euphemisms of which there were many.
Overall a very fun book which I recommend if you don't have any sensitivity about the mention of suicide.
November 5, 2025
Read this book if you want to spend time with a bunch of macho sleazeballs. We are supposed to feel for the protagonist and root for his redemption, but I just couldn’t. I hated him as much as the other characters. There was some intricate scheming, which might be hard to follow. The ending was too drawn out. This just wasn’t for me.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
September 30, 2025
I didn't understand half the businessy stuff in here but I really enjoyed it! 😂
Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC!
Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC!
August 22, 2025
This book is outside my norm: a male protagonist and a finance thriller? But I like going outside my comfort zone so I gave it a shot. Plus I got an advanced copy from NetGalley and Atria Books for my feedback.
WOW I am so glad I gave this one a go! What a wild ride! We immediately start off with Ali (Al) on one of the worst days of his life at his job. I'm not going to re-hash the finance side because I'm still not 100% clear on stocks/Wall Street jargon or even how it all works but I was totally engaged and enthralled in every part of this book.
Heads up: there is significant and blatant racism and lots of suicide ideation so if that's a trigger for you, don't say I didn't warn you. It’s definitely heavy on the “dark humor”. One of those where I found myself chuckling out loud and then going “ooh probably shouldn’t laugh”.
Ali is a very interesting character because he is clearly a very smart guy who has dealt a crappy hand in life and got himself a really good paying job, but then gets sucked into the crazy and corrupt world of Wall Street. I waffled between thinking he was just this pretentious a-hole and loving his shtick the next. So basically A+ on the character development.
Lots of really tough lingo around understanding how Wall Street works but that's probably a reader issue. ;)
Definitely read this one on a Kindle/digital reader so you can easily look up what some of the words mean.
This was a fun one and I'm glad I gave it a read!
WOW I am so glad I gave this one a go! What a wild ride! We immediately start off with Ali (Al) on one of the worst days of his life at his job. I'm not going to re-hash the finance side because I'm still not 100% clear on stocks/Wall Street jargon or even how it all works but I was totally engaged and enthralled in every part of this book.
Heads up: there is significant and blatant racism and lots of suicide ideation so if that's a trigger for you, don't say I didn't warn you. It’s definitely heavy on the “dark humor”. One of those where I found myself chuckling out loud and then going “ooh probably shouldn’t laugh”.
Ali is a very interesting character because he is clearly a very smart guy who has dealt a crappy hand in life and got himself a really good paying job, but then gets sucked into the crazy and corrupt world of Wall Street. I waffled between thinking he was just this pretentious a-hole and loving his shtick the next. So basically A+ on the character development.
Lots of really tough lingo around understanding how Wall Street works but that's probably a reader issue. ;)
Definitely read this one on a Kindle/digital reader so you can easily look up what some of the words mean.
This was a fun one and I'm glad I gave it a read!
October 13, 2025
This was a suspenseful take on Wall Street, though I hesitate to call it a thriller. It just wasn’t all that thrilling. The plot moved quickly and was easy enough to follow, but I absolutely hated every character and, by extension, the writing. None of it felt like real people or circumstances. It leaned on provocation for shock value rather than genuine grit. We get it, money, sex, drugs, cars. Wow. So cool. Eye roll. I think it was trying to be funny at times, but I was too over it. The ending felt rushed, like we hit the word count and decided to wrap it up on schedule. It wasn’t all bad, the plot was interesting to watch unfold, but it could have been so much better.
Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for access to this one.
Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for access to this one.
July 21, 2025
This book felt like a blend of Succession, The Wolf on Wall Street and the novel Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour. Leverage is a fast paced 'financial crime' thriller that brings us into the shady world of Wall Street and how our protagonist Al Jafar gets caught in dark side of it all.
While this is typically not the type of book I would pick up, I'm glad I gave it a go. Although there is a lot of finance lingo (you can tell the author definitely has experience in the industry), I didn't feel like I needed to be an expert at the topic to follow what was going on. The writing is witty, containing dark humour while creating suspense. You don't know if you should root for Al or hate him. There were parts that could have been fleshed out more, but overall was a great debut.
Thank you to Atria and Net Galley for the free advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
While this is typically not the type of book I would pick up, I'm glad I gave it a go. Although there is a lot of finance lingo (you can tell the author definitely has experience in the industry), I didn't feel like I needed to be an expert at the topic to follow what was going on. The writing is witty, containing dark humour while creating suspense. You don't know if you should root for Al or hate him. There were parts that could have been fleshed out more, but overall was a great debut.
Thank you to Atria and Net Galley for the free advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
September 18, 2025
A hedge fund manager at Prism Capital is put into a tremendously awful position when, after Prism's VICE fund falls precipitously to the tune of $300 million, his boss Paul, and owner of Prism, blackmails Ali "Al" Jafar" into recovering the money within three months, or Jafar's name will be given to the SEC in their insider trading investigation of Prism.
Ali has no idea who is actually guilty of insider trading within Prism, but knows that as a biracial man with a Muslim name the SEC will look no further than him.
Suicidal and absolutely desperate to recover the money and stay out of jail, Ali turns to a good friend of his, who has a contact with a very shady financial organization. Ali takes a chance on this lead, and meets an urbane and very well connected man, who brings movers and shakers together so they can take advantage of insider financial tips for their own profit.
Ali quickly succeeds at making back the $300 after using a few of his contact's leads, and thinks he's in the clear. Then, his psychopath boss Paul decides that this money is too good to turn his back on, and pushes Ali to keep using these leads.
Ali's now in even bigger trouble, when things take an unexpected turn, and Ali has an important decision to make about his professional and personal lives.
This was irreverent, darkly funny, and so entertaining. It's also a commentary on how the financial world works, and how many of the transactions not only only benefit only the wealthy, but actively harm those whose tiny retirement accounts can be depleted by decisions made by traders and the companies they work for.
The author Amran Gowani, throws a lot of financial terms, acronyms and abbreviations around, but I never felt lost as a result. Gowani gives enough information to the reader that even if I had no previous knowledge of the term, I could pick up enough from the narrative.
I liked Ali, despite his constant oversharing of his intestinal complaints. He's disrespected by his boss and the man's son, who levels a constant stream of racist remarks at him. Ali is also filled with self-loathing, feels frustrated by his low income mother supposed ineptitude and her revolving door of boyfriends, and even though he knows his work causes damage to low income people, he's also really, really good at what he does, setting up a constant conflict in his head. And perpetuating his self-loathing spiral.
I totally enjoyed this book, and its tense, tight timeline. I was a little surprised at how easily the final conflict was resolved by the author, but I still thought this was a funny, engaging story.
Thank you to Netgalley and to Atria Books for this ARC in exchange for my review.
Ali has no idea who is actually guilty of insider trading within Prism, but knows that as a biracial man with a Muslim name the SEC will look no further than him.
Suicidal and absolutely desperate to recover the money and stay out of jail, Ali turns to a good friend of his, who has a contact with a very shady financial organization. Ali takes a chance on this lead, and meets an urbane and very well connected man, who brings movers and shakers together so they can take advantage of insider financial tips for their own profit.
Ali quickly succeeds at making back the $300 after using a few of his contact's leads, and thinks he's in the clear. Then, his psychopath boss Paul decides that this money is too good to turn his back on, and pushes Ali to keep using these leads.
Ali's now in even bigger trouble, when things take an unexpected turn, and Ali has an important decision to make about his professional and personal lives.
This was irreverent, darkly funny, and so entertaining. It's also a commentary on how the financial world works, and how many of the transactions not only only benefit only the wealthy, but actively harm those whose tiny retirement accounts can be depleted by decisions made by traders and the companies they work for.
The author Amran Gowani, throws a lot of financial terms, acronyms and abbreviations around, but I never felt lost as a result. Gowani gives enough information to the reader that even if I had no previous knowledge of the term, I could pick up enough from the narrative.
I liked Ali, despite his constant oversharing of his intestinal complaints. He's disrespected by his boss and the man's son, who levels a constant stream of racist remarks at him. Ali is also filled with self-loathing, feels frustrated by his low income mother supposed ineptitude and her revolving door of boyfriends, and even though he knows his work causes damage to low income people, he's also really, really good at what he does, setting up a constant conflict in his head. And perpetuating his self-loathing spiral.
I totally enjoyed this book, and its tense, tight timeline. I was a little surprised at how easily the final conflict was resolved by the author, but I still thought this was a funny, engaging story.
Thank you to Netgalley and to Atria Books for this ARC in exchange for my review.
September 8, 2025
DNF. This book is a bunch of asshole characters spewing crude, snarky machismo. I can’t take any more.
August 9, 2025
3.5 stars
This is an adrenaline fueled financial thriller from beginning to end.
We are first introduced into the highly competitive stock trading world with one horrible day in the stock market. And no one is feeling the pain of that day more than Ali "Al" Jafar, a trader for the hedge fund Prism Capital. His golden goose, Icarus Management, has laid a rotten egg costing Al $300 million dollars for his firm.
Will he be fired? He'd be so lucky.
No, the boss man Paul Kingsley and his son have a better plan - make up the loss in a ridiculous amount of time or pay a bigger price.
Thus begins Al's journey to the dark side of stock trading.
Should we the reader feel sorry for Al? Yes, I suppose so. It's clear early on that he is in a no win situation, so how can he possibly get out alive without moving forward? But Al does a lot of bad things, mostly tied to insider trading. He aligns himself with a man with deep connections in the business world. And it seems to work out for Al in the short run. However, it can't be that easy, right? When you report to one of the most ruthless men in the industry who will do anything to get ahead, and a lot of people want to see him fail, things go sideways real quick.
Overall, I thought the book was well written by someone who clearly knows the business. However, I would have preferred it to be a bit shorter. No, this isn't a long book, but given the intensity and complexity of the storyline, it got to be too much. Where would it end? Well, while this story is a lot to take in, what I liked most was how Al worked the system, and found a way to outsmart others. I truly didn't know how he did it. A cleaver end to a tumultuous ride.
*An ARC was received via NetGalley for an honest review.
This is an adrenaline fueled financial thriller from beginning to end.
We are first introduced into the highly competitive stock trading world with one horrible day in the stock market. And no one is feeling the pain of that day more than Ali "Al" Jafar, a trader for the hedge fund Prism Capital. His golden goose, Icarus Management, has laid a rotten egg costing Al $300 million dollars for his firm.
Will he be fired? He'd be so lucky.
No, the boss man Paul Kingsley and his son have a better plan - make up the loss in a ridiculous amount of time or pay a bigger price.
Thus begins Al's journey to the dark side of stock trading.
Should we the reader feel sorry for Al? Yes, I suppose so. It's clear early on that he is in a no win situation, so how can he possibly get out alive without moving forward? But Al does a lot of bad things, mostly tied to insider trading. He aligns himself with a man with deep connections in the business world. And it seems to work out for Al in the short run. However, it can't be that easy, right? When you report to one of the most ruthless men in the industry who will do anything to get ahead, and a lot of people want to see him fail, things go sideways real quick.
Overall, I thought the book was well written by someone who clearly knows the business. However, I would have preferred it to be a bit shorter. No, this isn't a long book, but given the intensity and complexity of the storyline, it got to be too much. Where would it end? Well, while this story is a lot to take in, what I liked most was how Al worked the system, and found a way to outsmart others. I truly didn't know how he did it. A cleaver end to a tumultuous ride.
*An ARC was received via NetGalley for an honest review.
September 17, 2025
I love the TV show Industry, so when I saw it mentioned in the blurb, I knew I had to pick this book up. Our main character is a Pakistani man and as a person of color in the finance world, he constantly faces racism. He always feels like he has to prove himself because the white men around him are too quick to look down on him. When Al loses three hundred million dollars of his company’s money, he quickly learns that he needs to play the game if he’s going to survive. Reading this, I realized just how brutal the finance world is. I definitely could not handle it.
This was a tense ride, watching Al try make back the money he lost. He gets involved with some shady people and I kept wondering how far he was going to push it, and if he’d ever get in too deep. I also loved the smart, witty dialogue. It felt authentic, the way I imagine finance people actually talk. These characters are arrogant, sharp, and fully aware of their own intelligence. The climax was thrilling and I could honestly see this being adapted into a movie. There’s so much wheeling and dealing, so many players in the game, which made the story both tense and exciting. Overall, this was a fun read that was both entertaining and had depth.
This was a tense ride, watching Al try make back the money he lost. He gets involved with some shady people and I kept wondering how far he was going to push it, and if he’d ever get in too deep. I also loved the smart, witty dialogue. It felt authentic, the way I imagine finance people actually talk. These characters are arrogant, sharp, and fully aware of their own intelligence. The climax was thrilling and I could honestly see this being adapted into a movie. There’s so much wheeling and dealing, so many players in the game, which made the story both tense and exciting. Overall, this was a fun read that was both entertaining and had depth.
September 24, 2025
If you told me I would gobble up a thriller set in the world of hedge funds and unscrupulous white collar types, I’d have laughed in your face. We see enough of that kind of stuff in the news, right? But then I read the first page of Leverage by Amran Gowani and didn’t take a full breath until I was already through the second chapter. By then, the protagonist, Al Shafar, is well and truly f****ed by his employer who tells him he has three months to earn back every one of the $300 million he’d lost or he’ll be set up as the fall guy for the feds on an insider-trading investigation of the firm.
Al has spent his thirty-something years on the earth defying his circumstances and the expectations others have of him because of his name, being born to a sixteen-year-old mother and a father he never knew, and growing up poorer than most of those he went to school or worked with. But will he be able to do the impossible? In the end that is not the most important question that drives the story. More important and, for this reader, more interesting, is whether or not Al will choose to survive for himself and not for others who see him as an asset to be managed, used, and, if necessary, discarded.
Amran Gowani writes with humor, insight, and a highly-tuned sense of pacing. He reveals the core of his protagonist, Al, in a way that lets us witness Al’s discovery of himself. It’s a fun – and often funny – read and one that leaves you thinking after you close the book.
Al has spent his thirty-something years on the earth defying his circumstances and the expectations others have of him because of his name, being born to a sixteen-year-old mother and a father he never knew, and growing up poorer than most of those he went to school or worked with. But will he be able to do the impossible? In the end that is not the most important question that drives the story. More important and, for this reader, more interesting, is whether or not Al will choose to survive for himself and not for others who see him as an asset to be managed, used, and, if necessary, discarded.
Amran Gowani writes with humor, insight, and a highly-tuned sense of pacing. He reveals the core of his protagonist, Al, in a way that lets us witness Al’s discovery of himself. It’s a fun – and often funny – read and one that leaves you thinking after you close the book.
October 13, 2025
This book was better than I thought it would be. The protagonist—Ali Jafar, “Al” for short, sure masturbates and thinks about committing suicide an awful lot. But the writing is good and made me laugh more than once with its wit and sarcasm.
December 13, 2025
Industry meets Uncut Gems. Crazy, fast paced, dramatic and also a bit of a critique on capitalism / the world of finance. Those damn hedge funds 😳
Fun one to end my reading slump with
Fun one to end my reading slump with
August 21, 2025
This is a fast-paced financial thriller that reeled me in quickly. A hedge fund star employee has just tanked and is now close to being on the cutting block if he doesn’t pull out all the stops to rectify the colossal losses for his cut throat and ever-raging boss, the founder of Prism Capital, or else…I thought the writing of this debut novel was a bit of a mixed bag - brilliant, darkly humorous, and wonderfully phrased on many occasions; at others times cringeworthy and really? I had to say to myself. I didn’t care for any of the characters - but then again, I don’t think I was meant to, given the plot of the book and the ick factor. The author did a great job conveying the ruthless, sordid, and unethical world of finance and its high stakes that drove the engine of this book, which hopefully doesn’t happen too often in the real world, says Miss Pollyanna! I’m still thinking about what happened in the book, even though I didn’t like any of the characters…says something about the book for sure. I gave the book 3.5 stars rounded up to 4. Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.
March 26, 2025
Leverage was a fast-paced, edge-of-my-seat read that kept me hooked from start to finish. Ali “Al” Jafar—yes, he was basically named after the Aladdin character—is a brown man navigating the ruthless, white-dominated world of wealth and power. After losing $300 million in a single afternoon, he’s thrown into a desperate fight to recover the money, forced to make shady trades and alliances just to keep his job—and his life.
While the book’s blurb compares Leverage to Industry, I never watched that show. To me, this novel felt like a blend of Succession, The Wolf of Wall Street, and a sprinkle of Ocean’s Eleven. Gowani’s writing exudes authenticity, making me suspect he has firsthand experience in high finance. His depiction of the industry’s cutthroat nature and moral gray areas feels incredibly real, adding to the tension and stakes.
When I first received the widget for this book, I wasn’t sure if it would be a hit for me—but I ended up having a hard time putting it down. Al is a frustrating yet compelling protagonist. I felt bad for him, but I also wanted to shake him and scream, Why wouldn’t you just run away with the money?! He seems to make everything in his life harder than it needs to be, and his trusting nature makes him an easy target in a world full of sharks. At one point, I was convinced (and half-hoping) that certain characters were part of an elaborate con, but even though the story didn’t go that route, the ending was still deeply satisfying.
This novel is perfect for anyone missing those high-stakes, morally complex Sunday night HBO dramas (not the fantasy-based ones). Leverage marks a strong debut for Gowani, and I can’t wait to see what he writes next.
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the free advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.
While the book’s blurb compares Leverage to Industry, I never watched that show. To me, this novel felt like a blend of Succession, The Wolf of Wall Street, and a sprinkle of Ocean’s Eleven. Gowani’s writing exudes authenticity, making me suspect he has firsthand experience in high finance. His depiction of the industry’s cutthroat nature and moral gray areas feels incredibly real, adding to the tension and stakes.
When I first received the widget for this book, I wasn’t sure if it would be a hit for me—but I ended up having a hard time putting it down. Al is a frustrating yet compelling protagonist. I felt bad for him, but I also wanted to shake him and scream, Why wouldn’t you just run away with the money?! He seems to make everything in his life harder than it needs to be, and his trusting nature makes him an easy target in a world full of sharks. At one point, I was convinced (and half-hoping) that certain characters were part of an elaborate con, but even though the story didn’t go that route, the ending was still deeply satisfying.
This novel is perfect for anyone missing those high-stakes, morally complex Sunday night HBO dramas (not the fantasy-based ones). Leverage marks a strong debut for Gowani, and I can’t wait to see what he writes next.
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the free advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.
June 22, 2025
Cleverly written, this book is an adrenaline rush.
Some of us have had bad experiences working for disrespectful, unkind and demanding superiors. Yet, Ali Jafar’s boss was a doozy – meaning evil spirited. Most of us would run the other way. Yet, Al couldn’t. He was in a tight spot.
Al, a hedge fund analyst at Prism Capital Management, was responsible when $300 million evaporated in a mere four hours. Paul Kingsley, CEO of Prism, exploded with anger. I couldn’t even imagine being there as he told Al that this amount had to be returned in three months -- next to impossible. Paul threatened him with insider trading with his high-level contacts if he didn’t make this mark. It didn’t help that Paul’s son, Brad, who is also employed by this firm, made constant racist remarks to him.
The story was fast paced like the movie “Wall Street” with Michael Douglas where you’re rooting for the good guy. Greed was not mentioned like in the movie and yet, that was the bottom line with more status, money and power for Paul.
This book gave me chills thinking about how much realism there could be with this whiz kid who was manipulated by threats. He was exploited by a white wealthy manipulator. Besides analyzing funds, Al took a good look at his psychological state of health. Who would miss him if he was sent off to prison or died?
About half way, there was a good-sized twist that I didn’t see coming. It was exciting, nerve wracking and contained poignant messages that will stay with me for a long time. I can’t wait to read whatever he writes next.
My thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book with an expected release date of August 19, 2025.
Some of us have had bad experiences working for disrespectful, unkind and demanding superiors. Yet, Ali Jafar’s boss was a doozy – meaning evil spirited. Most of us would run the other way. Yet, Al couldn’t. He was in a tight spot.
Al, a hedge fund analyst at Prism Capital Management, was responsible when $300 million evaporated in a mere four hours. Paul Kingsley, CEO of Prism, exploded with anger. I couldn’t even imagine being there as he told Al that this amount had to be returned in three months -- next to impossible. Paul threatened him with insider trading with his high-level contacts if he didn’t make this mark. It didn’t help that Paul’s son, Brad, who is also employed by this firm, made constant racist remarks to him.
The story was fast paced like the movie “Wall Street” with Michael Douglas where you’re rooting for the good guy. Greed was not mentioned like in the movie and yet, that was the bottom line with more status, money and power for Paul.
This book gave me chills thinking about how much realism there could be with this whiz kid who was manipulated by threats. He was exploited by a white wealthy manipulator. Besides analyzing funds, Al took a good look at his psychological state of health. Who would miss him if he was sent off to prison or died?
About half way, there was a good-sized twist that I didn’t see coming. It was exciting, nerve wracking and contained poignant messages that will stay with me for a long time. I can’t wait to read whatever he writes next.
My thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book with an expected release date of August 19, 2025.
August 24, 2025
CW: suicidal ideation
Wowsa! This is normally not a books I’d pick up but I was so intrigued by the premise. I couldn’t say no to the ARC. Ali “Al”, our protagonist who works for a hedge fund in California, opens the book up by essentially single-handedly losing 300 million dollars for his firm. His boss, Paul, gives him an impossible deal: make up the money in 3 months, or go down for insider trading. Al, an Indian-American man in his twenties is skyrocketed into an existential crisis, where he is thinking constantly of suicide, and a fiscal crisis where making that much money in such a short time doesn’t seem possible to do, legally. We go on a WILD, fast chase ride with Al that takes a huge twist.
This book is kind of like a novel length satirization of the hypermasculinity found in spaces like that scene with Alex Baldwin from Glen Gary Glen Ross and finance in general as well the white centrism and overt racism. Al faces this daily and we go through everything with him. This book is littered with profanity but it made the story feel more authentic.
I would recommend this to anyone looking for a fast-paced read with a darkly comedic, male first person perspective. 5 stars from me! Thanks to Amran Gowani for writing this crazy book, and to Atria Books and NetGalley for the ARC!
Wowsa! This is normally not a books I’d pick up but I was so intrigued by the premise. I couldn’t say no to the ARC. Ali “Al”, our protagonist who works for a hedge fund in California, opens the book up by essentially single-handedly losing 300 million dollars for his firm. His boss, Paul, gives him an impossible deal: make up the money in 3 months, or go down for insider trading. Al, an Indian-American man in his twenties is skyrocketed into an existential crisis, where he is thinking constantly of suicide, and a fiscal crisis where making that much money in such a short time doesn’t seem possible to do, legally. We go on a WILD, fast chase ride with Al that takes a huge twist.
This book is kind of like a novel length satirization of the hypermasculinity found in spaces like that scene with Alex Baldwin from Glen Gary Glen Ross and finance in general as well the white centrism and overt racism. Al faces this daily and we go through everything with him. This book is littered with profanity but it made the story feel more authentic.
I would recommend this to anyone looking for a fast-paced read with a darkly comedic, male first person perspective. 5 stars from me! Thanks to Amran Gowani for writing this crazy book, and to Atria Books and NetGalley for the ARC!
September 9, 2025
Thank you Atria Books, Amran Gowani and Netgalley for providing me an eARC in exchange for my honest review.
As someone who used to work in banking, I confess I was hesitant to pick this up until I realized that the author actually had experience in Wall Street. By that point it became clear this would not be a romantization of the sector or an idea of what it looks like, which excited me. In fact, the author explores the dark underbelly of capital markets, using a very fast paced narrative to convey the stressful environment in hedge funds that is also applicable to other departments within the industry. That was achieved brilliantly, and the dark humour threw me back into the hopeless, darkly funny conversations I used to have by the proverbial water fountain (read the elevator or right before another meeting).
Another thing about me you should know is that I also worked in anti-financial crime/anti-corruption, so seeing the many familiar mechanisms crooks use for money laundering and compliance departments' incessant/unquestioned approval of half baked research reports made me burst into laughter quite a few times. Give me all your shell/shelf companies humour, truly. The corruption web was weaved in realistically, which I will never cease to appreciate because it tends to be awfully rare in fiction.
Now, for the actual plot and characters, I have only one note--I'm not sure this is a thriller. Whilst it has all the plot twists one would expect, I think this would only feel thrilling for the myriad of people who have been victims of a finance industry working them to the bone (with very toxic bosses). It honestly feels a little more like a heist novel and even that is not an accurate representation. And I think this miscategorization is probably behind the rating average of this book being lower than what I would have expected. I would comp it to THE BIG SHORT and THE WOLF OF WALL STREET but make it fiction.
Al, our main character, also felt very real. He has very unlikeable moments that sound very unsanitized, but ultimately that rawness makes him three dimensional and it was impossible to not feel for him during certain parts of the narrative. I love how his identity is a cause for such anguish, and while he has a hard time defining himself, it seems all others have collectively decided for him. A lot of politically incorrect comments are thrown around in this book that sadly feel (again) real, and they're hurtful. As the source of his insecurities, it worked very well and also helped contextualize a lot of his suicidal, darker thoughts (trigger warning!). His relationship with his mother and his resentments all made logical sense, but I was particularly pleased to see how those resolved in the end.
All in all, a fun, entertaining, fast paced read for those looking for an Ocean's 11 sort of feel but contained in the financial services industry. Would highly recommend!
As someone who used to work in banking, I confess I was hesitant to pick this up until I realized that the author actually had experience in Wall Street. By that point it became clear this would not be a romantization of the sector or an idea of what it looks like, which excited me. In fact, the author explores the dark underbelly of capital markets, using a very fast paced narrative to convey the stressful environment in hedge funds that is also applicable to other departments within the industry. That was achieved brilliantly, and the dark humour threw me back into the hopeless, darkly funny conversations I used to have by the proverbial water fountain (read the elevator or right before another meeting).
Another thing about me you should know is that I also worked in anti-financial crime/anti-corruption, so seeing the many familiar mechanisms crooks use for money laundering and compliance departments' incessant/unquestioned approval of half baked research reports made me burst into laughter quite a few times. Give me all your shell/shelf companies humour, truly. The corruption web was weaved in realistically, which I will never cease to appreciate because it tends to be awfully rare in fiction.
Now, for the actual plot and characters, I have only one note--I'm not sure this is a thriller. Whilst it has all the plot twists one would expect, I think this would only feel thrilling for the myriad of people who have been victims of a finance industry working them to the bone (with very toxic bosses). It honestly feels a little more like a heist novel and even that is not an accurate representation. And I think this miscategorization is probably behind the rating average of this book being lower than what I would have expected. I would comp it to THE BIG SHORT and THE WOLF OF WALL STREET but make it fiction.
Al, our main character, also felt very real. He has very unlikeable moments that sound very unsanitized, but ultimately that rawness makes him three dimensional and it was impossible to not feel for him during certain parts of the narrative. I love how his identity is a cause for such anguish, and while he has a hard time defining himself, it seems all others have collectively decided for him. A lot of politically incorrect comments are thrown around in this book that sadly feel (again) real, and they're hurtful. As the source of his insecurities, it worked very well and also helped contextualize a lot of his suicidal, darker thoughts (trigger warning!). His relationship with his mother and his resentments all made logical sense, but I was particularly pleased to see how those resolved in the end.
All in all, a fun, entertaining, fast paced read for those looking for an Ocean's 11 sort of feel but contained in the financial services industry. Would highly recommend!
July 30, 2025
This is not something I'd generally read, but I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. It's billed as a fast-paced financial thriller, and it definitely lives up to that. I was a bit lost on all the financial lingo as I have just a basic understanding of stocks and such, but it didn't detract too much from the story.
The book follows Al, who is given the monumental task of recovering 300 million dollars that he lost on a trade. We watch as he gets involved in increasingly shady deals with shady people in an effort to meet his task before the deadline. Al has an incredibly dark sense of humor - he makes suicide jokes at least once a chapter, in between talking about masturbating. There are plenty of racist jokes to be had as well. Mostly against Al, but there are some to do with other characters. This is definitely not a book for people who are sensitive about these kinds of things. While we all wish racism and such would go away, it does still exist in this world and pretending it doesn't isn't helpful. I've never worked in finance, but I'm guessing when you get up to high stakes trading, hedge funds, and the best of Wall Street, there is a lot of unsavory things going on, like those described in here. Think The Wolf of Wall Street and that will give you an idea of what to expect here. I wasn't bothered by Al's humor - in fact, I think it helped to make the story flow better. It would have been a lot harder to read and enjoy if everything was dry and humorless. I do feel the ending was a bit soft. After everything that had happened throughout the book, the ending was way less dramatic than I expected. I was hoping for more, especially since the pacing was so fast the rest of the time. It wasn't a terrible ending, just not what I thought it would be.
I think anyone who enjoys a well-written financial thriller will enjoy this. It's obvious the author has spent time in finance and knows what he's talking about. A basic understanding of finance and stocks is helpful in understanding this, along with not being offended by suicide jokes, racist comments, and knowing that this shady stuff is probably happening every day in real life.
I received a copy of this book via NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
The book follows Al, who is given the monumental task of recovering 300 million dollars that he lost on a trade. We watch as he gets involved in increasingly shady deals with shady people in an effort to meet his task before the deadline. Al has an incredibly dark sense of humor - he makes suicide jokes at least once a chapter, in between talking about masturbating. There are plenty of racist jokes to be had as well. Mostly against Al, but there are some to do with other characters. This is definitely not a book for people who are sensitive about these kinds of things. While we all wish racism and such would go away, it does still exist in this world and pretending it doesn't isn't helpful. I've never worked in finance, but I'm guessing when you get up to high stakes trading, hedge funds, and the best of Wall Street, there is a lot of unsavory things going on, like those described in here. Think The Wolf of Wall Street and that will give you an idea of what to expect here. I wasn't bothered by Al's humor - in fact, I think it helped to make the story flow better. It would have been a lot harder to read and enjoy if everything was dry and humorless. I do feel the ending was a bit soft. After everything that had happened throughout the book, the ending was way less dramatic than I expected. I was hoping for more, especially since the pacing was so fast the rest of the time. It wasn't a terrible ending, just not what I thought it would be.
I think anyone who enjoys a well-written financial thriller will enjoy this. It's obvious the author has spent time in finance and knows what he's talking about. A basic understanding of finance and stocks is helpful in understanding this, along with not being offended by suicide jokes, racist comments, and knowing that this shady stuff is probably happening every day in real life.
I received a copy of this book via NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
May 30, 2025
I’m completely blown away.
I could not stop thinking about this book in between reading sessions. It consumed me.
This tense thriller has dark humor, wit, tension, the perfect pacing, and characters you want to punch in the face. Seriously, some of the most evil people on the planet.
I need to add this one to my shelf the second I am able to, because this book has left a massive impact on me. It might be a new favorite.
Please know these is a heavy theme of suicidal ideation throughout this book. It is quite dark.
Initially I was getting a horror vibe from this book, but it began to mellow out slightly.
The descriptions are not in gruesome detail, but there are very dangerous, scary scenes that had my palms sweating.
I kept smiling thoroughout this book from the witty insults to the societal callouts to the carefully thought-out words used in every sentence. This book is art in many ways, but the writing style used blew me away.
It is very difficult to do a comprehensive review of this book without giving anything away, and I do not want to spoil anything as this book is so perfectly executed.
This is a book I won’t be able to stop thinking about for a while, and I’m incredibly grateful I was approved for an eARC! I am leaving this honest feedback voluntarily.
I could not stop thinking about this book in between reading sessions. It consumed me.
This tense thriller has dark humor, wit, tension, the perfect pacing, and characters you want to punch in the face. Seriously, some of the most evil people on the planet.
I need to add this one to my shelf the second I am able to, because this book has left a massive impact on me. It might be a new favorite.
Please know these is a heavy theme of suicidal ideation throughout this book. It is quite dark.
Initially I was getting a horror vibe from this book, but it began to mellow out slightly.
The descriptions are not in gruesome detail, but there are very dangerous, scary scenes that had my palms sweating.
I kept smiling thoroughout this book from the witty insults to the societal callouts to the carefully thought-out words used in every sentence. This book is art in many ways, but the writing style used blew me away.
It is very difficult to do a comprehensive review of this book without giving anything away, and I do not want to spoil anything as this book is so perfectly executed.
This is a book I won’t be able to stop thinking about for a while, and I’m incredibly grateful I was approved for an eARC! I am leaving this honest feedback voluntarily.
July 11, 2025
How do you win in business without losing who you are?
Leverage is a financial thriller by Amran Gowani. Ali Jaffar is a young man working on Wall Street who doesn't quite fit in with the world’s most awful boss. After losing $300 million dollars in one day, he is given the choice of making the $300 million back in the next 3 months or going to jail for the rest of his life. This book is extremely face paced and feels like a combination of The Wolf of Wall Street and the TV show Succession. If you are a fan of Succession, the “boar on the floor” scene comes to mind!
The main character of Ali is quick witted and humorous, I especially enjoyed the constant pop culture references that he used to his current situation. While I’m sure that it is accurate to the financial world, the amount of racism and sexism was a bit much for me, but didn’t pull me out of the book to the point that I didn’t enjoy it. In fact, it made me appreciate my job a lot more than I ever have. I can definitely say that the stress of being a middle school teacher is far less than the stress of being a financial advisor!
This was probably the first financial thriller that I’ve ever read and will definitely read more. If you enjoy financial movies or books, this is definitely going to be a book that you would enjoy.
Thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Leverage is a financial thriller by Amran Gowani. Ali Jaffar is a young man working on Wall Street who doesn't quite fit in with the world’s most awful boss. After losing $300 million dollars in one day, he is given the choice of making the $300 million back in the next 3 months or going to jail for the rest of his life. This book is extremely face paced and feels like a combination of The Wolf of Wall Street and the TV show Succession. If you are a fan of Succession, the “boar on the floor” scene comes to mind!
The main character of Ali is quick witted and humorous, I especially enjoyed the constant pop culture references that he used to his current situation. While I’m sure that it is accurate to the financial world, the amount of racism and sexism was a bit much for me, but didn’t pull me out of the book to the point that I didn’t enjoy it. In fact, it made me appreciate my job a lot more than I ever have. I can definitely say that the stress of being a middle school teacher is far less than the stress of being a financial advisor!
This was probably the first financial thriller that I’ve ever read and will definitely read more. If you enjoy financial movies or books, this is definitely going to be a book that you would enjoy.
Thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
July 26, 2025
Money talks
Mr. Gowani took his experiences as a Wall Street analyst to pen a high finance thriller with all the shenanigans that comes with it. Through the eyes of Ali Jafar, a Pakistani, we see what happens when a trusted hedge fund manager looses $300 millions for his company and the reaction that came from his boss. In this thriller Al is given $300 million with a challenge to double it within three months or become the fall guy for insider trading investigation that was going on at the firm……
Money talks
I like how Ali was propelled into success but also drawn into a complex word of blackmail and mistrust. The plot is tense without being overly taxing or straining plausibility too far. It also give us an insight of racist and sexist world of finances…maybe not…..The stereotypes financiers are well described….but will I look (speak) at my advisor the same way without thinking of Ali and what when on in this thriller? If what is said could in any shape and form be possible….no wonder the stock market is so volatile…..
Money talks
This story keeps a good pacing throughout; it is mainly said to keep us attentive till the very last word The writing style is witty with dark humour and lots of suspense.….but I have a but here, I found too much pop culture references and Al tends to masturbate a lot…why did we need to know this….
This is not a typical story I would pick up but strange as it may be the finance lingo was an added experience I will benefit from.
“Leverage” gives us a good story but it is will not please everyone.
I received this ARC from Atria Books via Netgalley for my thoughts: this is the way I see it
Mr. Gowani took his experiences as a Wall Street analyst to pen a high finance thriller with all the shenanigans that comes with it. Through the eyes of Ali Jafar, a Pakistani, we see what happens when a trusted hedge fund manager looses $300 millions for his company and the reaction that came from his boss. In this thriller Al is given $300 million with a challenge to double it within three months or become the fall guy for insider trading investigation that was going on at the firm……
Money talks
I like how Ali was propelled into success but also drawn into a complex word of blackmail and mistrust. The plot is tense without being overly taxing or straining plausibility too far. It also give us an insight of racist and sexist world of finances…maybe not…..The stereotypes financiers are well described….but will I look (speak) at my advisor the same way without thinking of Ali and what when on in this thriller? If what is said could in any shape and form be possible….no wonder the stock market is so volatile…..
Money talks
This story keeps a good pacing throughout; it is mainly said to keep us attentive till the very last word The writing style is witty with dark humour and lots of suspense.….but I have a but here, I found too much pop culture references and Al tends to masturbate a lot…why did we need to know this….
This is not a typical story I would pick up but strange as it may be the finance lingo was an added experience I will benefit from.
“Leverage” gives us a good story but it is will not please everyone.
I received this ARC from Atria Books via Netgalley for my thoughts: this is the way I see it
November 17, 2025
Oh, how I loved this book! It is something else, and probably will not be for everyone, but I could not get enough. I have worked in this industry for most of my career and could relate to this so much, which also could be why I liked it so much. I think the comparison to the HBO show Industry is spot on, but book this is even more extra than that, which I didn’t think was possible. I listened to the audio and followed along with the book, and really enjoyed the experience that way. Our protagonist, Ali “Al” Jafar, is a rising star at hedge fund Prism Capital, but just like the Texas weather, things have suddenly changed, and he has found himself in a pickle that he doesn’t know how to get out of. I mean I wasn’t sure how he would get out of it, honestly. This is a wild ride. It is dark, but there is humor worked in, and I was rooting for Al to win, despite the decisions he made. Morally grey and all of that. You’ll have to suspend belief here, but once you do, just sit back and enjoy the entertaining ride. I am now a huge fan of Gowani’s and cannot wait to see what he does next.
Thank you to Atria Books and Atria Thrillers #partner for the copies to review. I was able to grab a finished copy at Boucheron and thoroughly enjoyed meeting and talking to the author, Amran Gowani while there.
Thank you to Atria Books and Atria Thrillers #partner for the copies to review. I was able to grab a finished copy at Boucheron and thoroughly enjoyed meeting and talking to the author, Amran Gowani while there.
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