Reviews
"Lawson's spellbinding account of Sam Israel's rise and fall is a phantasmagoric trip through the larcenous outer reaches (as well as the dark heart) of the world of finance. Octopus made me worry that I was being followed or swindled." -Nick Paumgarten, staff writer, The New Yorker "Thrilling, outrageous and true, Octopus is a riveting ride through the shadow world of global high finance. A desperate man with a touch of insanity, Sam Israel is a character straight out of what we could only wish this story were: fantastic fiction." --Martin Kihn, author of House of Lies and Bad Dog (A Love Story) "Lawson has mined the darkest, most seductive world I can imagine and delivered up a story that almost defies comprehension. Octopus is written with a force and clarity that I found absolutely irresistible…It's a hell of a book." --Sebastian Junger, New York Times bestselling author of The Perfect Storm "Liars and fraudsters and con men, oh my. Beyond the Bayou hedge fund implosion and faked suicide, Guy Lawson wonderfully winds the bizarre tale of Sam Israel's demise into a swirl of global conspiracy and ultimate delusion." --Andy Kessler, New York Times bestselling author of Running Money and How We Got Here " A scintillating real-life thriller about one of the most peculiar frauds in history … Part true-crime thriller, part Wall Street investigation, Octopus is filled with startling revelations ." --Gary Weiss, former investigative reporter for Business Week and author of Born to Steal, Wall Street Versus America and Ayn Rand Nation "An absorbing, splendidly detailed and darkly illuminating tale of our times. " --David Whitford, Editor-at-Large, Fortune magazine, "A cautionary tale of the highly sophisticated, often endemic fraud that still lurks on Wall Street…I was riveted by Mr. Lawson's telling…the story is mind-boggling." --Andrew Sorkin, The New York Times "Penetratingly comprehensive…Lawson nimbly traverses the labyrinthine depths of a worldwide banking con that managed to involve looted Federal Reserve notes and the JFK assassination…An eye-opening window onto Wall Street's destructive culture of unchecked hubris and a harrowing thrill ride into the unraveling mind of a desperate operator." --Kirkus Reviews "Lawson has mined the darkest, most seductive world I can imagine and delivered up a story that almost defies comprehension. Octopus is written with a force and clarity that I found absolutely irresistible…It's a hell of a book." --Sebastian Junger, New York Times bestselling author of The Perfect Storm "Lawson''s spellbinding account of Sam Israel''s rise and fall is a phantasmagoric trip through the larcenous outer reaches (as well as the dark heart) of the world of finance. Octopus made me worry that I was being followed or swindled." -Nick Paumgarten, staff writer, The New Yorker "An absorbing, splendidly detailed and darkly illuminating tale of our times." --David Whitford, Editor-at-Large, Fortune magazine "Octopus is a reminder that the truth sometimes is stranger than fiction. This tale of a coked-out Ponzi schemer who raised hundreds of millions of dollars -- and then fell prey to an even wilder gang of con artists -- combines high finance with low comedy. Octopus is a Wall Street thriller for our time." -- Alex Berenson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Faithful Spy and The Shadow Patrol "A rollicking, roller-coaster ride of a book that is utterly impossible to put down. Crackling with energy, Guy Lawson''s account of Sam Israel -- rogue Wall Street trader and grifter par excellence - and the con within a con within a con that led to his ruin is a story that no novelist could possibly make up. Forget the sniveling Bernie Madoff and his garden-variety Ponzi Scheme; f or anyone wanting to understand just how truly crazy Wall Street became and why, this is the book to read." -Scott Anderson, Vanity Fair contributor and author of Triage "[Israel''s Ponzi scheme] speaks to the banality of evil. But there is nothing banal about Guy Lawson''s telling of the most incredible story I''ve ever heard in or out of Wall Street." --Jared Dillian, Street Freak: Money and Madness at Lehman Brothers "Thrilling, outrageous and true, Octopus is a riveting ride through the shadow world of global high finance. A desperate man with a touch of insanity, Sam Israel is a character straight out of what we could only wish this story were: fantastic fiction." --Martin Kihn, author of House of Lies and Bad Dog (A Love Story) "Liars and fraudsters and con men, oh my. Beyond the Bayou hedge fund implosion and faked suicide, Guy Lawson wonderfully winds the bizarre tale of Sam Israel''s demise into a swirl of global conspiracy and ultimate delusion." --Andy Kessler, New York Times bestselling author of Running Money and How We Got Here " A scintillating real-life thriller about one of the most peculiar frauds in history … Part true-crime thriller, part Wall Street investigation, Octopus is filled with startling revelations ." --Gary Weiss, former investigative reporter for Business Week and author of Born to Steal, Wall Street Versus America and Ayn Rand Nation, "Lawson [has] found gold… This is a fantastic story, in both senses of the word, with a freshness that recalls Liars Poker." --Bryan Burrough, New York Times "Read this book to understand Wall Street …Someone is going to Octopus into a movie. By this time next year, Lawson will have a fat deal…The reason for that is that Octopus is an incredible dark comedy with one of the craziest true-life ironic twists you can possibly imagine. --Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone "A cautionary tale of the highly sophisticated, often endemic fraud that still lurks on Wall Street… I was riveted by Mr. Lawson's telling…the story is mind-boggling." --Andrew Sorkin, New York Times (Dealbook) "Entertaining…a colorful contemporary story about greed and ambition warping judgment, about con men duping other con men…replete with secret markets, shady intelligence operatives, and even a space alien that overdosed on ice cream." --Reuters "Full on Twilight Zone… features not just rampant fraud but guns, supposed CIA double agents, drugs, JFK's assassination, and oh yes, world domination. Did I mention that this is a nonfiction book'... An outrageous but definitely movie-worthy tale. Lawson's reporting is prodigious." --Fortune "Like The Sting… An astounding story that forces you to remind yourself that this actually happened not ten years ago, to real people with real money." --Maclean's "[Features] a series of spy-thriller escapades that could have been plucked from a Jason Bourne movie…More fun and thrilling than any work of journalism about hedge funds has the right to be." --Canadian Business "An inside look at a savage tribal society [of Wall Street traders] that also reminds one of that rollicking farce concocted by Mel Brooks, 'The Producers'… Brings to life one of the most colorful, and often engaging, con men of this or any other century…an entertaining, well-told tale ." -- Washington Times "If you dig movies about cons, like Catch Me If You Can, The Sting, and The Spanish Prisoner, you will blow through Octopus, Guy Lawson's deftly and enthusiastically told tale of Same Israel and the Bayou hedge fund." -- The Daily Beast "Penetratingly comprehensive…Lawson nimbly traverses the labyrinthine depths of a worldwide banking con that managed to involve looted Federal Reserve notes and the JFK assassination… An eye-opening window onto Wall Street's destructive culture of unchecked hubris and a harrowing thrill ride into the unraveling mind of a desperate operator ." -- Kirkus Reviews, "Lawson [has] found gold… This is a fantastic story, in both senses of the word, with a freshness that recalls Liars Poker." --Bryan Burrough, New York Times "Read this book to understand Wall Street …Someone is going to Octopus into a movie. By this time next year, Lawson will have a fat deal…The reason for that is that Octopus is an incredible dark comedy with one of the craziest true-life ironic twists you can possibly imagine. --Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone "Lively...turns a lens on the fast and loose ways of Wall Street...would make an excellent gift for a regulatory complicance officer...or a shrink." --Bloomberg Businessweek "A cautionary tale of the highly sophisticated, often endemic fraud that still lurks on Wall Street… I was riveted by Mr. Lawson's telling…the story is mind-boggling." --Andrew Sorkin, New York Times (Dealbook) "Entertaining…a colorful contemporary story about greed and ambition warping judgment, about con men duping other con men…replete with secret markets, shady intelligence operatives, and even a space alien that overdosed on ice cream." --Reuters "Full on Twilight Zone… features not just rampant fraud but guns, supposed CIA double agents, drugs, JFK's assassination, and oh yes, world domination. Did I mention that this is a nonfiction book'... An outrageous but definitely movie-worthy tale. Lawson's reporting is prodigious." --Fortune "Like The Sting… An astounding story that forces you to remind yourself that this actually happened not ten years ago, to real people with real money." --Maclean's "[Features] a series of spy-thriller escapades that could have been plucked from a Jason Bourne movie…More fun and thrilling than any work of journalism about hedge funds has the right to be." --Canadian Business "An inside look at a savage tribal society [of Wall Street traders] that also reminds one of that rollicking farce concocted by Mel Brooks, 'The Producers'… Brings to life one of the most colorful, and often engaging, con men of this or any other century…an entertaining, well-told tale ." -- Washington Times "If you dig movies about cons, like Catch Me If You Can, The Sting, and The Spanish Prisoner, you will blow through Octopus, Guy Lawson's deftly and enthusiastically told tale of Same Israel and the Bayou hedge fund." -- The Daily Beast "Penetratingly comprehensive…Lawson nimbly traverses the labyrinthine depths of a worldwide banking con that managed to involve looted Federal Reserve notes and the JFK assassination… An eye-opening window onto Wall Street's destructive culture of unchecked hubris and a harrowing thrill ride into the unraveling mind of a desperate operator ." -- Kirkus Reviews, " By far the most rollicking, trippy book to emerge from the 2008 financial crisis ." --Financial Times "Lawson [has] found gold… This is a fantastic story, in both senses of the word, with a freshness that recalls Liars Poker." --Bryan Burrough, New York Times "Read this book to understand Wall Street …Someone is going to Octopus into a movie. By this time next year, Lawson will have a fat deal…The reason for that is that Octopus is an incredible dark comedy with one of the craziest true-life ironic twists you can possibly imagine. --Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone "Lively...turns a lens on the fast and loose ways of Wall Street...would make an excellent gift for a regulatory complicance officer...or a shrink." --Bloomberg Businessweek "A cautionary tale of the highly sophisticated, often endemic fraud that still lurks on Wall Street… I was riveted by Mr. Lawson's telling…the story is mind-boggling." --Andrew Sorkin, New York Times (Dealbook) "Entertaining…a colorful contemporary story about greed and ambition warping judgment, about con men duping other con men…replete with secret markets, shady intelligence operatives, and even a space alien that overdosed on ice cream." --Reuters "Full on Twilight Zone… features not just rampant fraud but guns, supposed CIA double agents, drugs, JFK's assassination, and oh yes, world domination. Did I mention that this is a nonfiction book'... An outrageous but definitely movie-worthy tale. Lawson's reporting is prodigious." --Fortune "Like The Sting… An astounding story that forces you to remind yourself that this actually happened not ten years ago, to real people with real money." --Maclean's "[Features] a series of spy-thriller escapades that could have been plucked from a Jason Bourne movie…More fun and thrilling than any work of journalism about hedge funds has the right to be." --Canadian Business "An inside look at a savage tribal society [of Wall Street traders] that also reminds one of that rollicking farce concocted by Mel Brooks, 'The Producers'… Brings to life one of the most colorful, and often engaging, con men of this or any other century…an entertaining, well-told tale ." -- Washington Times "If you dig movies about cons, like Catch Me If You Can, The Sting, and The Spanish Prisoner, you will blow through Octopus, Guy Lawson's deftly and enthusiastically told tale of Same Israel and the Bayou hedge fund." -- The Daily Beast "Penetratingly comprehensive…Lawson nimbly traverses the labyrinthine depths of a worldwide banking con that managed to involve looted Federal Reserve notes and the JFK assassination… An eye-opening window onto Wall Street's destructive culture of unchecked hubris and a harrowing thrill ride into the unraveling mind of a desperate operator ." -- Kirkus Reviews, "Penetratingly comprehensive…Lawson nimbly traverses the labyrinthine depths of a worldwide banking con that managed to involve looted Federal Reserve notes and the JFK assassination…An eye-opening window onto Wall Street's destructive culture of unchecked hubris and a harrowing thrill ride into the unraveling mind of a desperate operator." --Kirkus Reviews "Lawson has mined the darkest, most seductive world I can imagine and delivered up a story that almost defies comprehension. Octopus is written with a force and clarity that I found absolutely irresistible…It's a hell of a book." --Sebastian Junger, New York Times bestselling author of The Perfect Storm "Lawson's spellbinding account of Sam Israel's rise and fall is a phantasmagoric trip through the larcenous outer reaches (as well as the dark heart) of the world of finance. Octopus made me worry that I was being followed or swindled." -Nick Paumgarten, staff writer, The New Yorker "An absorbing, splendidly detailed and darkly illuminating tale of our times." --David Whitford, Editor-at-Large, Fortune magazine "Octopus is a reminder that the truth sometimes is stranger than fiction. This tale of a coked-out Ponzi schemer who raised hundreds of millions of dollars -- and then fell prey to an even wilder gang of con artists -- combines high finance with low comedy. Octopus is a Wall Street thriller for our time." -- Alex Berenson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Faithful Spy and The Shadow Patrol "A rollicking, roller-coaster ride of a book that is utterly impossible to put down. Crackling with energy, Guy Lawson's account of Sam Israel -- rogue Wall Street trader and grifter par excellence - and the con within a con within a con that led to his ruin is a story that no novelist could possibly make up. Forget the sniveling Bernie Madoff and his garden-variety Ponzi Scheme; f or anyone wanting to understand just how truly crazy Wall Street became and why, this is the book to read." -Scott Anderson, Vanity Fair contributor and author of Triage "[Israel's Ponzi scheme] speaks to the banality of evil. But there is nothing banal about Guy Lawson's telling of the most incredible story I've ever heard in or out of Wall Street." --Jared Dillian, Street Freak: Money and Madness at Lehman Brothers "Thrilling, outrageous and true, Octopus is a riveting ride through the shadow world of global high finance. A desperate man with a touch of insanity, Sam Israel is a character straight out of what we could only wish this story were: fantastic fiction." --Martin Kihn, author of House of Lies and Bad Dog (A Love Story) "Liars and fraudsters and con men, oh my. Beyond the Bayou hedge fund implosion and faked suicide, Guy Lawson wonderfully winds the bizarre tale of Sam Israel's demise into a swirl of global conspiracy and ultimate delusion." --Andy Kessler, New York Times bestselling author of Running Money and How We Got Here " A scintillating real-life thriller about one of the most peculiar frauds in history … Part true-crime thriller, part Wall Street investigation, Octopus is filled with startling revelations ." --Gary Weiss, former investigative reporter for Business Week and author of Born to Steal, Wall Street Versus America and Ayn Rand Nation, "A story that almost defies comprehension. Octopus is written with a force and a clarity that I found absolutely irresistible." --Sebastian Junger, New York Times bestselling author of The Perfect Storm "Guy Lawson has written an absorbing, splendidly detailed and darkly illuminating tale of our times. The bad guy at the center of it, hedge-fund scam artist Sam Israel, is the very personification of greed, both Wall Street's and our own." --David Whitford, Editor-at-Large, Fortune magazine "Liars and fraudsters and con men, oh my. Beyond the Bayou hedge fund implosion and faked suicide, Guy Lawson wonderfully winds the bizarre tale of Sam Israel's demise into a swirl of global conspiracy and ultimate delusion." --Andy Kessler, New York Times bestselling author of Wall Street Meat, Running Money, and How We Got Here " Guy Lawson has written a scintillating real-life thriller about one of the most peculiar frauds in history - Sam Israel and his Bayou hedge fund-Ponzi scheme. Lawson penetrated the layers of the scam, a loony netherworld where con men conned other cons, and where goofy conspiracy theories fooled supposed high priests of finance. Part true-crime thriller, part Wall Street investigation, Octopus is filled with startling revelations , such as the involvement of a major accounting firm in the early stages of the Bayou fraud. It raises a question that should haunt all of us: How many other Bayous and Bernie Madoffs are there?" --Gary Weiss, former investigative reporter for Business Week and author of Born to Steal, Wall Street Versus America and Ayn Rand Nation , " By far the most rollicking, trippy book to emerge from the 2008 financial crisis ." --Financial Times "Lawson [has] found gold... This is a fantastic story, in both senses of the word, with a freshness that recalls Liars Poker." --Bryan Burrough, New York Times "Read this book to understand Wall Street ...Someone is going to Octopus into a movie. By this time next year, Lawson will have a fat deal...The reason for that is that Octopus is an incredible dark comedy with one of the craziest true-life ironic twists you can possibly imagine. --Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone "Lively...turns a lens on the fast and loose ways of Wall Street...would make an excellent gift for a regulatory complicance officer...or a shrink." --Bloomberg Businessweek "A cautionary tale of the highly sophisticated, often endemic fraud that still lurks on Wall Street... I was riveted by Mr. Lawson's telling...the story is mind-boggling." --Andrew Sorkin, New York Times (Dealbook) "Entertaining...a colorful contemporary story about greed and ambition warping judgment, about con men duping other con men...replete with secret markets, shady intelligence operatives, and even a space alien that overdosed on ice cream." --Reuters "Full on Twilight Zone... features not just rampant fraud but guns, supposed CIA double agents, drugs, JFK's assassination, and oh yes, world domination. Did I mention that this is a nonfiction book'... An outrageous but definitely movie-worthy tale. Lawson's reporting is prodigious." --Fortune "Like The Sting... An astounding story that forces you to remind yourself that this actually happened not ten years ago, to real people with real money." --Maclean's "[Features] a series of spy-thriller escapades that could have been plucked from a Jason Bourne movie...More fun and thrilling than any work of journalism about hedge funds has the right to be." --Canadian Business "An inside look at a savage tribal society [of Wall Street traders] that also reminds one of that rollicking farce concocted by Mel Brooks, 'The Producers'... Brings to life one of the most colorful, and often engaging, con men of this or any other century...an entertaining, well-told tale ." -- Washington Times "If you dig movies about cons, like Catch Me If You Can, The Sting, and The Spanish Prisoner, you will blow through Octopus, Guy Lawson's deftly and enthusiastically told tale of Same Israel and the Bayou hedge fund." -- The Daily Beast "Penetratingly comprehensive...Lawson nimbly traverses the labyrinthine depths of a worldwide banking con that managed to involve looted Federal Reserve notes and the JFK assassination... An eye-opening window onto Wall Street's destructive culture of unchecked hubris and a harrowing thrill ride into the unraveling mind of a desperate operator ." -- Kirkus Reviews, "Lawson has mined the darkest, most seductive world I can imagine and delivered up a story that almost defies comprehension. Octopus is written with a force and clarity that I found absolutely irresistible…It's a hell of a book." --Sebastian Junger, New York Times bestselling author of The Perfect Storm "Liars and fraudsters and con men, oh my. Beyond the Bayou hedge fund implosion and faked suicide, Guy Lawson wonderfully winds the bizarre tale of Sam Israel's demise into a swirl of global conspiracy and ultimate delusion." --Andy Kessler, New York Times bestselling author of Running Money and How We Got Here " A scintillating real-life thriller about one of the most peculiar frauds in history … Part true-crime thriller, part Wall Street investigation, Octopus is filled with startling revelations ." --Gary Weiss, former investigative reporter for Business Week and author of Born to Steal, Wall Street Versus America and Ayn Rand Nation "An absorbing, splendidly detailed and darkly illuminating tale of our times. " --David Whitford, Editor-at-Large, Fortune magazine
