Beyond the mirrored windows of the city’s high-rise buildings, the landscape of a metropolis on the outskirts of the Hudson River, leaves a city that set the standard for corruption and overshadowed itself by the darkness of political deception.

Behind the thriving neighborhoods of cultural scenery, the sixth borough had become a blanket once woven with the challenges of deceit versus ethics. No one knows what tomorrow will bring, but it’s the basis of integrity that would bring an awakening to the city streets that were once plagued by the mysteries of Wall Street West.

And so sets the riveting backdrop to author Dr. Cristina Guarneri’s new political thriller, Wall Street West: The Journey of a Mayor, based on the life and politics of Jersey City, NJ’s current mayor, Steven M. Fulop.

Wall Street West weaves a multi-layered story that follows a Goldman Sachs equities trader, who leaves the comforts and success of the financial world for a journey into the unknown. After experiencing the collapse of the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001, he deals with the moment as an epiphany, and leaves the comforts of a nation to enlist in the Marines. Spending time at the frontlines of Iraq before returning home, he is never the same again, as he questions his life decisions. Being given a proclamation for his service upon return, it is then that his life would change again. He takes the chance to run against some of the heavy-hitting elected officials of the city. He comes into it with the understanding of the only way to win is to lose first, as he sets himself up for an even greater fight ahead when he enters the most sought out election the city has ever witnessed…and wins.

Miles away, in a crowded courtroom, a jury returns a stunning verdict against some of the finest aristocrats in history. No one ever imagined that the most well known cities were holding secrets of their own. It took power to run a city. It took certainty to unveil the longest running investigation into political corruption being watched by the people. A stigma of crime and corruption that would haunt the people, it’s what needed to change most in the city.