Death By Wall Street: Rampage Of The Bulls
Author
Theodore Jerome Cohen
Publisher
AuthorHouse
4 Review Copies Left
Death by Wall Street: Rampage of the Bulls, a murder mystery, is based on real events. It is the story of how the oligarchs of Wall Street, doctors and others in the pharmaceutical research profession having significant conflicts of interest, and employees of two 'captured' US government agencies-the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-by design as well as by simply refusing to pursue the evidence of malfeasance provided to them, deny patients life saving treatments that are demonstrated safe and effective in FDA-approved drug trials. When the severed head of a Wall Street stock analyst turns up spiked on a horn of the Wall Street Bull, Detective Louis Martelli of the NYPD is assigned to track down the murderer. But why were this victim and the victims of two similar murders that followed singled out for execution? Martelli eventually learns the answer to this question and tracks down the killer, but not before uncovering some of Wall Street's and the US government's darkest secrets pertaining to the US financial markets and the nation's health care practices.
Reviews
The Wall Street Bull is one of the most recognizable symbols in America. It represents the center of power and wealth: Wall Street. Countless lives can be affected both positively and negatively by simply uttering the words “buy” or “sell.” When a severed head is found impaled on the Wall Street Bull, Det. Louis Martelli realizes someone is trying to make a “point.” After two more similar murders and a fast-track tutorial about how Wall Street relates to the pharmaceutical industry, Martelli begins to realize that these murders may not be unrelated. His investigation turns up a woman who was unable to get the medicine that could have saved her life due to the FDA not approving it. It also comes to light that her son was asked to leave the FDA hearing at which his mother testified because he became upset when some members of the panel dozed off during his mother’s testimony. Martelli must put aside his personal feelings about what happened and travel across the country in order to capture the killer.
Death by Wall Street: Rampage of the Bulls by Theodore Jerome Cohen is an incredible journey into the often deceptively golden world of Wall Street. Cohen weaves a fascinating plot around what should be one of the most transparent processes of all but is often not: the approval of a potentially lifesaving drug. Most of us have no real idea of how a drug is created, tested and finally approved for use. Cohen’s novel takes the reader inside this process, from the firm on Wall Street that rates the stock to the FDA Advisory Panel that approves or disapproves a drug and everything in-between. Martelli is a character with tremendous potential that I hope Cohen will exploit to the fullest. The only improvement I would have made would be to have a prologue to set up the scene in Chapter 1. With that in mind, I happily give this novel 4/5 stars.
Reviewed on 04/10/2011 by ReviewTheBook.com Member Jud Hanson
