Securities attorney Susanna Sloane, widowed after thirty years and now a divorcee, is seeing Ray Atherley, a Wall Street entrepreneur. 

Henry Wu, longtime acquaintance and Chinese government official, invites her to visit Hong Kong to address its bar association and stock exchange.  He asks her to help the Chinese government block drug traffickers’ use of the financial system to launder drug money.

While in Hong Kong she experiences bizarre and unnerving episodes that she refers to as “flashes.”  They continue after she returns to New York.  With the help of a hypnotherapist to determine their origin, she discovers that Wu had drugged and raped her, and had taken nude photos of her.

Secretary of the Treasury Roger Howell invites her to accompany an American delegation to Beijing.  He hopes to use her ties to the Chinese government to find out how they’ve contrived to manipulate oil futures.  In Beijing, she and Howell begin an affair, threatening her relationship with Atherley and disturbing her conscience.

Thwarted in their exploitation of oil futures markets, the Chinese enlist Susanna to negotiate a new deal—development of oil fields in Venezuela.  She negotiates an agreement with the Venezuelan vice president and his oil minister benefiting not just the Chinese, but also the US.  

Susanna solicits the help of her ex-husband Rusty Byers to retrieve and destroy the photographs taken by Wu.  With the aid of a private investigator, they hire a member of the Russian mafia with ties to Hong Kong.  When there, they break into and ransack Wu’s apartment. 

The attempt turns deadly, spiraling out of control.  This leads to Susanna’s interrogation by Interpol.  She denies involvement when confronted with evidence of her fingerprints found in the burned-out shell of Wu’s apartment.

Kiner's second novel, Death Spiral, is also available for purchase.

About the Author



S. G. Kiner came to the law after successful careers in advertising, copywriting, and modeling, and a short-lived career in politics. Although she has represented private clients, Ms. Kiner specializes in ghostwriting for securities attorneys and consulting and testifying as an expert witness in securities arbitration hearings. She has authored countless briefs and memoranda on securities issues ranging from stockbroker fraud, trading irregularities, and various other securities law violations.