Black Cabs - Softcover

McLaren, Mr. John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0743449460 ISBN 13: 9780743449465

Publisher: Pocket Books, 2002

Synopsis

The high-flyers of London's investment banks are all too aware that information is gold-dust when billion pound deals are at stake. But as the highly-paid guns at Skidder Barton, a fading giant in the cut-throat corporate finance sector, secretly plot the huge take-over that will revive their fortunes, they forget that there's one place they can be overheard ...Len and his cabbie colleagues, Terry and Einstein, embark on a cunning and dangerous attempt to profit from the next big take-over move. Because Len needs the money, and he needs it fast - his daughter's life depends on it. Will the cabbies' world of solidarity triumph over the brutal self-interest of the sharp suits who will stop at nothing on the road to unimaginable riches?

About this title

Review:

It's hardly surprising that John McLaren has already sold the film rights to Black Cabs (along with his earlier Press Send), as this powerful thriller moves with the velocity of an action-packed movie. Using three London cabbies as his protagonists, the uncompromising picture of London life on both sides of the river is idiosyncratic and astringent.

When three cabbies attempt to make a killing on the stock market by eavesdropping on the plans of a corporate magnate to engineer a huge take-over, they find they have taken on the sinister might of international banking community. The beleaguered heroes, Len, Terry and Einstein, soon find the sharp suits they are up against have no scruples about using extreme violence to protect their interests--a top financial executive is discovered dead in the back of a cab, and the boys are forced to investigate a monumental cover-up. A further turn of the screw is provided by Len's desperation for the money--on which his daughter's life depends.

McLaren, who was once a banking director, has an insider's knowledge of the financial world and is particularly cutting when it comes to fiscal shenanigans: "the predator has to join in the auction or walk away beaten. In the testosterone-ridden, ego-filled world of big business, succeeding with a hostile bid is one of the most admired martial arts". --Barry Forshaw

Review:

'A gripping tale of high finance and low cunning' -- Sunday Times

'Clever, inventive and great fun - a minor classic in a much neglected genre' -- The Times

'The premise of the story is delicious' -- Daily Telegraph

'This is one of those why-didn't-I-think-of-that-first ideas' -- Sunday Mirror

About this edition

• Publisher: Pocket Books
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0743449460
• ISBN 13: 9780743449465
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 512