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.