This one was a fast paced book that really did bring you into the world of the stock market and what happens when someone has way too much power to try to control it. I read this one during a volatile part of our stock market history and it really did drive the points of the book.

Dark at times with some hints of real life events that could happen to stock market traders. Themes for suicide, racism and just all out narcissistic traits in some of the the characters.

Leverage takes a look at the world of stock trading and turned it into a very interesting and chilling thriller. the book is fewer than 300 pages and a first novel for Amran Gowani. It was actually a book that did provoke emotions at the main character's frustration. The cat and mouse game at the end tipped the point to a four star read for me.

The book was very readable and in many ways very believable. Thank you to the author and #NetGalley for the ARC. I can see this one making it to a made for TV show.

The provided interesting insight into an industry, which I think, should be outlawed. The protagonist is blackmailed into performing patently illegal financial dealing to avoid being accused of illegal trading he didn’t do. The author used colleague interaction to show how ongoing discrimination still percolates under the surface. The author is a good storyteller who moves the involved plot along at a good paces. For readers interested in mysteries intertwined with business deals, I recommend this book.

It took me a while to get into this book, because I have a strong aversion to tech bros, and our main character, Ali Jafar, is the epitome of a tech bro. When we meet Ali, his stellar career has hit a major snag--he just lost $300 million for his hedge fund. Instead of getting fired (which actually would have been preferable), Ali's boss tells him that he has three months to make back what he lost, or he's going to be the fall guy in an insider trading investigation against the firm.

Ali takes some desperate steps to avoid prison, and even though his actions were pretty questionable, I still found myself rooting for him. It definitely kept my interest even though (or maybe because?) most of the characters were total jerks!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Atria for granting me an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own and are not influenced by the publisher.

Amazing debut satirical financial thriller that plunges readers into the high-stakes world of hedge funds, power struggles, and the exploration of identity. Originally penned around two years ago, its themes resonate strikingly with current events. With twists that grip you from the outset, this novel is impossible to put down. Bonus: the unofficial “soundtrack” is also dope as hell.

TW: Racism & Racial Slurs, Cursing, Thoughts of Suicide, Drug Use, Alcohol, mentions past of SA

I would like to start by saying that maybe reading this book during busy season wasn't the best move. I work directly in the hedge fund space, and it's very clear that the author did as well and he knows what he's talking about. However, because I read this during busy season I found myself struggling to read this for pleasure when it just reminded me of all the work I'd been doing all day.

The book itself is well written and the story is compelling. I'd like to give this another shot when I'm not surrounded by the audits of hedge funds and see if I like it better then!

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!

I would say that if you are interested in or currently work in a stockbroker/securities type position, you might be interested in this book, the author does a very good job of bringing that sector to vivid life, very realistically, though I must admit some of the details were over my head. Ali (Al) Jafar works for a hedge fund, Prism Capital, where he is in charge of a team and a large amount of money, and he loses it, all of it, 350 Million, gone. Needless to say the boss is upset, but the boss is willing to give him a second chance, all he has to do is get it back, in 3 months, by himself and if he doesn't, the boss will sec the SEC on him. So Al takes on the challenge, he's given a clue by one of his friends that leads him to a guy, who invites him to join this club of sorts, one that provides access to people in the 'know', Al asks if he can take a test drive so to speak and is given some information that he uses to make a sizeable sum, then he goes all in and joins. How else is he doing to make the money that he owes. Of course at first things go well, then they start to not go so well, the club he has joined turns out to be not what it had first appeared and now he finds himself in a very tight position with no apparent way out. The pace of this story was relentless, although some of the terminology was beyond me, I did still grasp what was happening, and I really felt for the guy, though I wasn't keen about one thing that he seemed to do fairly regularly (self pleasure). Overall I would recommend. Thanks to #Netgalley and #Atria Books for the ARC.

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.

This was a such a fantastic debut. It was a rollercoaster with twists and turns navigating the world of Wall Street. It needs to find a way to be made into a movie because I think it was better than Wolf of Wall Street!

What a read! This is fast paced, dark, and filled with touches of real life aspects a lot of readers will be able to connect to. Leverage takes a look at the world of stock trading and turned it into a very interesting and chilling thriller.

In less than 300 pages, Amran Gowani gives readers a very compelling story that will have them feeling tense, laughing at times, and tugging at their heart. There's hidden messages regarding politics, wealth, mental health, and *actually not so hidden* racism that suck the reader right in due to how realistic this whole book seems.

Al, short for Ali, is an employee at a hedge fund, where a mistake he made has cost the company $300 million dollars. His boss offers Ali a deal: Earn the money back in three months and he won't be framed for insider trading. Gowani brings readers into the amoral world of Wall Street finance, and offers trenchant critiques of capitalism and structural injustice. The story is thrilling as Ali desperately tries to save his life, even though we don't really know whether to root for him given the shady tactics he is forced to employ. We do, though, since plenty of other characters are even worse. And though he is morally ambiguous, Ali offers a witty narration peppered with pop culture and sports references. An eye-opening book and a great read.

Fall into a fast-moving, Trust-style thriller.

Ali Jafar is a hardworking hedge fund employee at the infamous Prism Capital. He’s good at his job, but the cutthroat environment is laced with microaggressions and quiet jabs at his background. It’s an uncomfortable place—one that becomes even more precarious when he makes a catastrophic mistake, losing the firm $300 million.

With his career and freedom on the line, the firm’s ruthless founder offers him a lifeline: recover the lost funds within three months, or lose everything—including his future. Desperate, Ali searches for loopholes and backchannels, making an even bigger misstep when he turns to a shadowy underground network that thrives on risky shorts and even riskier deals. As he sinks deeper, the line between survival and ruin blurs.

A gripping financial thriller packed with high stakes and moral dilemmas. #AtriaBooks #Leverage #AmranGowani

I haven't read very many books with a premise like this so needless to say I was so intrigued. It was definitely one where all the way through I was telling my friends when it comes out so they could buy a copy cause wow.

“Leverage” by Amran Gowani is a fast-paced, thrilling novel about a hedge fund manager who must risk everything to save his life and reputation. The story follows Al, a Pakistani American working at Prism, a hedge fund in San Francisco. The toxicity of his working environment and co-workers is an understatement. After experiencing a significant financial loss, Al must devise a get-rich-quick scheme to avoid being blamed for insider trading.

This book explores themes of race, power, greed, and ambition while delving into betrayal, backstabbing, and deception. Fans of HBO's "Succession" and "Industry" will likely enjoy this gripping narrative. It is well-plotted and well-written, dark and funny.

In a time marked by extreme greed, exemplified by figures like Elon Musk and Luigi Mangione, this novel resonates with our current desire to examine insatiable greed and its consequences, as well as the need for justice.

I highly recommend this book, but I caution readers about its depiction of suicidal ideation. It’s a good idea to check content warnings before reading. I couldn’t put it down. Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for the ARC.