From Stranger Genius Award-winning playwright Paul Mullin, acclaimed for his plays Louis Slotin Sonata and The Sequence, comes a gripping debut novel inspired by his time in the executive suite of the nation's largest home loans bank during the chaotic ramp-up to the Great Mortgage Meltdown.

When Tom scores his dream job at Seattle's iconic home-town bank, he believes he's secured a ringside seat to the high-stakes chess match for control of the lucrative subprime mortgage market. But as the boardroom's ruthless games unfold, Tom realizes he's just another pawn in their perilous pursuit of power and profit.

Imagine The Circle colliding with The Big Short, with a dash of Fifty Shades of Grey tossed in.

Paul Mullin is a versatile writer whose work spans novels, plays, poetry, and screenwriting. His plays have been performed across North America, earning such accolades as The Stranger's "Genius Award" in theatre. Louis Slotin Sonata was notably read for scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory before its Off-Broadway debut and won the L.A. Drama Critics Award for Outstanding World Premiere. Mullin has also premiered works like The Sequence and The Ten Thousand Things, showcasing his dramatic innovations. He co-wrote and co-produced It's Not in the P-I, a living newspaper about a dying newspaper, which received national critical acclaim. Beyond the stage, Mullin has authored feature film scripts, television documentaries, and his memoir The Starting Gate. He founded Loud Mouth Lit, a live reading series celebrating fresh voices from the Salish Sea. Baltimore-born, Mullin now resides on a horse farm in South Seattle with his wife, championing locally grown storytelling.