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Shell Game
“Banking has never seemed so dirty as it does in 'SHELL GAME,' the pulse-pounding new thriller from Joseph Badal. The author brings a lifetime of business experience to this tale, which shows how banking regulations can ruin lives and how a villain can manipulate such rules for his own gain. Don't miss it!” —Steve Brewer, author of “LOST VEGAS” “Shell Game" is a financial thriller using the economic environment created by the capital markets meltdown that began in 2007 as the backdrop for a timely, dramatic, and hair-raising tale. Joseph Badal weaves an intricate and realistic story about how a family and its business are put into jeopardy through heavy-handed, arbitrary rules set down by federal banking regulators, and by the actions of a sociopath in league with a corrupt bank regulator. Like all of Badal’s novels, “Shell Game” takes the reader on a roller coaster ride of action and intrigue carried on the shoulders of believable, often diabolical characters. Although a work of fiction, “Shell Game,” through its protagonist Edward Winter, provides an understandable explanation of one of the main reasons the U.S. economy continues to languish. It is a commentary on what federal regulators are doing to the United States banking community today and, as a result, the damage they are inflicting on perfectly sound businesses and private investors across the country and on the overall U.S. economy. “Shell Game” is inspired by actual events that have taken place as a result of poor governmental leadership and oversight, greed, corruption, stupidity, and badly conceived regulatory actions. You may be inclined to find it hard to believe what happens in this novel to both banks and bank borrowers. I encourage you to keep an open mind. “Shell Game” is a work of fiction that supports the old You don’t need to make this stuff up. “Joseph Badal is like the guy in the commercials who is “The Most Interesting Man In The World.” ” —Larry B. Ahrens, CEO Dynamic Interviews.com
438 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 11, 2012
72 people are currently reading
262 people want to read
About the author
Joseph Badal
31 books135 followers"Joe Badal has had a varied and successful career. After 6 years as a decorated commissioned Army officer, having served in Vietnam and Greece, he had a long banking and finance career. He has had 18 suspense novels published: 4 stand-alones (The Pythagorean Solution, Shell Game, Ultimate Betrayal, and Payback); 7 books in the Danforth Saga (Evil Deeds, Terror Cell, The Nostradamus Secret,The Lone Wolf Agenda, Death Ship, Sins of the Fathers, and The Carnevale Conspiracy); 4 books in the Lassiter/Martinez Case Files (Borderline, Dark Angel, Natural Causes, and Everything To Lose); and 3 books in the Curtis Chronicles (The Motive, Obsessed, and Justice).
He is an Amazon #1 Best-Selling Author and has received numerous awards, including being recognized as "One of The 50 Best Writers You Should Be Reading." He is a two-time winner of the Tony Hillerman Award for Best Fiction Book of the Year and has received multiple Gold Medals from the Military Writers Society of America. He was named Write of the year by the Military Writers Society of America in 2021. His books have received Finalist honors in the International Book Awards contest and in the Eric Hoffer Awards.
He holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in International Finance and Business Administration, is a graduate of the Stanford University Law School's Director College, and of the Defense Language Institute, West Coast.
Joe has also written dozens of articles that have been published in a variety of business magazines and trade journals, and is a frequent speaker at business and writers’ events. His blog, Everyday Heroes, highlights individuals just like you who are confronted with a challenge and rise to the occasion."
He is an Amazon #1 Best-Selling Author and has received numerous awards, including being recognized as "One of The 50 Best Writers You Should Be Reading." He is a two-time winner of the Tony Hillerman Award for Best Fiction Book of the Year and has received multiple Gold Medals from the Military Writers Society of America. He was named Write of the year by the Military Writers Society of America in 2021. His books have received Finalist honors in the International Book Awards contest and in the Eric Hoffer Awards.
He holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in International Finance and Business Administration, is a graduate of the Stanford University Law School's Director College, and of the Defense Language Institute, West Coast.
Joe has also written dozens of articles that have been published in a variety of business magazines and trade journals, and is a frequent speaker at business and writers’ events. His blog, Everyday Heroes, highlights individuals just like you who are confronted with a challenge and rise to the occasion."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
December 6, 2013
A LESSON LEARNED...RIVETING AND COMPELLING!
This story struck a nerve and really hit home. Though it has been several years ago, it's like reliving the agony a loved one went through falling victim to one of the worst economic financial mayhem, like it was just yesterday.
Reading this somehow gave me a better perspective of how and what mitigating facts contributed to the great recession in the U.S. history. I can't help feeling insecure at the thought that the same government officials we elected, placed our trust in their hands to do the right thing, are the very same that played a hand in the capital markets crash and our present economic crisis...I shudder at the thought!
This maybe a work of fiction with the added murder mystery, twist and turn, greed, bribery and physical abuse, but still, it instills some fear that it is inspired by actual events that occurred in our country's economies downturn. And we have You, Mr. Joe Badal, for shedding some light what most of us Americans are painfully unaware of... that of the heavy-handed actions of Federal banks examiners exacerbated the situation. Great re-telling of factual events that is undeniably true, brilliant and well written that made all characters come alive, as if they are part of me, and I'm a part of them. I felt the pain and anguish, the love and support and true friendship, a lesson learned and I honestly did not want this to end.
I may have lost some sleep because I simply couldn't put this down, it is incredibly riveting! I also acquired some knowledge of our economic problem and great insight of the housing bubble and how badly damaged it is. I couldn't help feeling a sense of ill foreboding, ominous...what a sobering thought!
October 11, 2012
With Shell Game author Joesph Badal has knocked another thriller out of the park. The characters are well developed and interesting. The pace is fast. Included at no extra cost is a concise and clear exposition of commercial banking, banking regulation and commercial real estate financing. Don’t let this put you off. The action is well worth the education.
February 27, 2016
Excellent financial thriller.
Economic meltdown, FDIC takeover of a community bank. Poor governmental leadership and oversight, corruption, greed. There are a lot of facts, about all these bank takeovers. Wonder how many businesses suffered and still suffering?
Economic meltdown, FDIC takeover of a community bank. Poor governmental leadership and oversight, corruption, greed. There are a lot of facts, about all these bank takeovers. Wonder how many businesses suffered and still suffering?
January 6, 2016
Very enjoyable
Intriguing and fun. Plot moved along very nicely with twists and turns. Book had a villains and good guys nice read
Intriguing and fun. Plot moved along very nicely with twists and turns. Book had a villains and good guys nice read
April 9, 2014
Disclaimer the First: I received a free copy of this book for review purposes through Goodreads.
Disclaimer the Second: I did not finish this book. This is a review of the first 100 pages of Shell Game, because that's how much of it I was able to force myself to get through. For all I know it may become well-written and interesting on page 105, but I have my doubts.
I hate writing negative reviews, mostly because I really want to like the books I read. Occasionally though, there comes a book that I just can't stand, so I just have to try to be fair and honest about why.
The Writing: The writing in Shell Game is incredibly stilted. The adjectives frequently feel piled on and are occasionally baffling. I gave the book to my roommate so she could glance over a few pages and tell me whether I was being too nit-picky. She said it reminded her of her little sister's 5th grade writing assignments where they had to use all the adjectives, so it wasn't just me. Additionally, there are frequent sections of the book that read like a poorly written textbook. The characters' dialogue often comes out as a dry recitation of facts to the point where it's difficult to remember who's speaking because they all sound alike.
The Characters: God are these people boring. They have no personalities. The supposedly tragic things that are happening to them don't really seem all that tragic and with the exception of the villain, they all feel like completely interchangeable shells. And all the dialogue takes the form of whiny-sounding exposition. Seriously, these people are sitting around the room giving each other history lessons all the time, they don't talk like real people, they talk like political soap-boxes.
The Villain: Villains are almost always my favorite characters. I have a special place in my heart for a good villain. Villains show us the parts of ourselves that we try to hide from the world, they are usually the most human characters in a work of fiction. An excellent villain will make you empathize with him, even as you deplore what he is doing. It creates conflict. Conflict is a wonderful thing. You know what makes a terrible villain? Someone who is evil completely for the sake of being evil with no positive traits what-so-ever. If a villain rolls out of bed in the morning, asks "How can I be evil today?", and makes his coffee with fresh water puppies have just been boiled in we have two problems. First, he stops being a threat, because he stops being someone I could encounter on the street tomorrow and becomes a one dimensional caricature. Second, he is boring, because as stated above, he creates no conflict within the reader. The villain in Shell Game gets off on ruining people's finances, and he beats his wife just for funsies. He would have been a significantly more compelling character to read about if he enjoyed ruining everyone else but adored his wife. Alas, he does not, and he is just as boring as the rest of the book.
The Plot: This book bills itself as a thriller. I can conclusively say it is the least thrilling book I have read all week, and for proper context I am counting the Kaplan MPRE study guide. I'm still not entirely sure what the plot is. Now as I mentioned earlier, I did not finish the book. However, if I am 100 pages into a thriller and I don't know what the plot is WE HAVE A SERIOUS PROBLEM. I assume it's something about these people trying to save their business from the evil people who are taking over the banks. But as I said earlier, these characters are not compelling, and neither are their problems. The main characters are very well-to-do, and it's pretty clear that if they lose all or part of their business they're not exactly going to wind up starving on the streets. The stakes felt pretty unimportant, and I could not bring myself to care what happens to these people.
And ultimately that was the problem with Shell Game, it completely failed to make me care enough about what happened next to keep reading it. The only reason it even got a hundred pages was that I wasn't comfortable reviewing it any earlier in. I cannot recommend it.
Disclaimer the Second: I did not finish this book. This is a review of the first 100 pages of Shell Game, because that's how much of it I was able to force myself to get through. For all I know it may become well-written and interesting on page 105, but I have my doubts.
I hate writing negative reviews, mostly because I really want to like the books I read. Occasionally though, there comes a book that I just can't stand, so I just have to try to be fair and honest about why.
The Writing: The writing in Shell Game is incredibly stilted. The adjectives frequently feel piled on and are occasionally baffling. I gave the book to my roommate so she could glance over a few pages and tell me whether I was being too nit-picky. She said it reminded her of her little sister's 5th grade writing assignments where they had to use all the adjectives, so it wasn't just me. Additionally, there are frequent sections of the book that read like a poorly written textbook. The characters' dialogue often comes out as a dry recitation of facts to the point where it's difficult to remember who's speaking because they all sound alike.
The Characters: God are these people boring. They have no personalities. The supposedly tragic things that are happening to them don't really seem all that tragic and with the exception of the villain, they all feel like completely interchangeable shells. And all the dialogue takes the form of whiny-sounding exposition. Seriously, these people are sitting around the room giving each other history lessons all the time, they don't talk like real people, they talk like political soap-boxes.
The Villain: Villains are almost always my favorite characters. I have a special place in my heart for a good villain. Villains show us the parts of ourselves that we try to hide from the world, they are usually the most human characters in a work of fiction. An excellent villain will make you empathize with him, even as you deplore what he is doing. It creates conflict. Conflict is a wonderful thing. You know what makes a terrible villain? Someone who is evil completely for the sake of being evil with no positive traits what-so-ever. If a villain rolls out of bed in the morning, asks "How can I be evil today?", and makes his coffee with fresh water puppies have just been boiled in we have two problems. First, he stops being a threat, because he stops being someone I could encounter on the street tomorrow and becomes a one dimensional caricature. Second, he is boring, because as stated above, he creates no conflict within the reader. The villain in Shell Game gets off on ruining people's finances, and he beats his wife just for funsies. He would have been a significantly more compelling character to read about if he enjoyed ruining everyone else but adored his wife. Alas, he does not, and he is just as boring as the rest of the book.
The Plot: This book bills itself as a thriller. I can conclusively say it is the least thrilling book I have read all week, and for proper context I am counting the Kaplan MPRE study guide. I'm still not entirely sure what the plot is. Now as I mentioned earlier, I did not finish the book. However, if I am 100 pages into a thriller and I don't know what the plot is WE HAVE A SERIOUS PROBLEM. I assume it's something about these people trying to save their business from the evil people who are taking over the banks. But as I said earlier, these characters are not compelling, and neither are their problems. The main characters are very well-to-do, and it's pretty clear that if they lose all or part of their business they're not exactly going to wind up starving on the streets. The stakes felt pretty unimportant, and I could not bring myself to care what happens to these people.
And ultimately that was the problem with Shell Game, it completely failed to make me care enough about what happened next to keep reading it. The only reason it even got a hundred pages was that I wasn't comfortable reviewing it any earlier in. I cannot recommend it.
August 15, 2016
Corruption in the U.S. Banking System leads to recession. A psychotic investor in cahoots with an FDIC official robs the system of millions of dollars. The investor also has a penchant for violence which results in murder. This was a really good read. The author worked in the banking and financial world for 38 years. The first part of the book was bogged down in discussing the system and its potential weaknesses, but I decided to clear my eyes when they were glazing over and really study his explanations. It was the foundation of the murder/action plot of the story. Recommend if you like murder stories with an opportunity to learn something new.
March 3, 2018
Eddie Winter has a large successful restaurant business with many locations. Suddenly the bank has called all the loans and refused to grant additional credit even though they have never missed a payment and have much equity in their properties.
The federal government after the Freddie and Fanny problems previously say they can take over banks with too many bad commercial loans.
Eddie and his lawyer begin to check into this and discover many banks have been purchased at a low rate by Gerald Folsom and his company. Is there a reason why?
Very interesting novel about the working of the banking industry with a good story line, too.
The federal government after the Freddie and Fanny problems previously say they can take over banks with too many bad commercial loans.
Eddie and his lawyer begin to check into this and discover many banks have been purchased at a low rate by Gerald Folsom and his company. Is there a reason why?
Very interesting novel about the working of the banking industry with a good story line, too.
June 13, 2012
Shell Game is a roller coaster ride of action and suspense. Different from Joe Badal's international espionage/special ops books, this novel is about the repercussions of the capital markets meltdown and the impact of that meltdown on community banks, borrowers, and bank investors, and the heavy-handed treatment of banks by federal bank regulators. Although fiction, this story could have been pulled from the pages of The Wall Street Journal. Highly recommended.Joseph Badal
January 7, 2014
I am giving this book 5 stars for the superb explanation of the current banking crisis in our country. The historical overview in the introduction to this work of fiction offers a simple and succinct chronology of the stupidity (and possible corruption) of our government officials. The story itself is a really good thriller/mystery that should appeal to fans of the genre. Highly recommended!
November 7, 2015
Follow this author
I remember when the government closed Down small LI banks because of their bad commercial paper. Replaced bank presidents we're embarrassed and felt they had let the community down. Shareholders and small businesses were set adrift. I know the book is fiction but it strikes too closely to what happened. This is a well written, well researched novel. So intriguing it is hard to put it down.
I remember when the government closed Down small LI banks because of their bad commercial paper. Replaced bank presidents we're embarrassed and felt they had let the community down. Shareholders and small businesses were set adrift. I know the book is fiction but it strikes too closely to what happened. This is a well written, well researched novel. So intriguing it is hard to put it down.
January 27, 2016
Shell Game is a great read for anyone in banking and finance
This book is a great story rooted in historical fact. The author blends interesting characters with identifiable situations that take you through the financial meltdown of the last decade. Joseph Badal weaves a great plot through humanities natural greed blended with characters that make you believe there is good in the world in the midst of corruption and crime. Highly recommended!
This book is a great story rooted in historical fact. The author blends interesting characters with identifiable situations that take you through the financial meltdown of the last decade. Joseph Badal weaves a great plot through humanities natural greed blended with characters that make you believe there is good in the world in the midst of corruption and crime. Highly recommended!
July 3, 2012
I started reading the financial thriller SHELL GAME, by Joseph Badal, on Tuesday and continued reading until late Wednesday morning. I couldn’t put it down! A carefully constructed, complex plot that unfolds with growing tension and pleasing action sequences; this is a great novel written by a gifted writer. It richly deserves five stars – highly recommended.
March 21, 2016
Rallying for the good guys!
Good explanations written in the book about unethical behavior by a money crazed sociopath using the government FDIC laws involved in the maddening real estate downfall early in the new millium. Mr.Basal writes with purpose and is riveting for the reader. Would read other books by this author.
Good explanations written in the book about unethical behavior by a money crazed sociopath using the government FDIC laws involved in the maddening real estate downfall early in the new millium. Mr.Basal writes with purpose and is riveting for the reader. Would read other books by this author.
May 2, 2014
I really enjoyed reading this book. It reminded me of how bad the Financial Crisis really was in the beginning. Also, it showed how banks tried to get little companies to do what they wanted or face the consequences.
February 13, 2015
Behandelt de economische problemen en dan met name hoe de overheid deze aanpakt. Corruptie. Verpakt in een spannend en snel verhaal. Geeft toch ook wel aan dat niet alle bankmedewerkers greedy zijn. Kortom: aanrader!
February 23, 2015
Financial intrigue
Opens a pandora's box filled with current affairs and government excessive policy making that places burdens on the working class while bailing out corruptible privilege sycophant.
Opens a pandora's box filled with current affairs and government excessive policy making that places burdens on the working class while bailing out corruptible privilege sycophant.
December 17, 2015
Historically Relevant Read
Does a very good job of detailing the origins of the Sub-prime loan debacle. The government went too far with the notion that everyone should own a home ignoring the bank's time tested formulas for home ownership.
Does a very good job of detailing the origins of the Sub-prime loan debacle. The government went too far with the notion that everyone should own a home ignoring the bank's time tested formulas for home ownership.
June 11, 2016
Twists and turns
The family dynamic was interesting to follow. Showing the respect and willingness of family members to form bonds gave this book another dimension. The ending was somewhat predictable, but still a good read.
The family dynamic was interesting to follow. Showing the respect and willingness of family members to form bonds gave this book another dimension. The ending was somewhat predictable, but still a good read.
April 12, 2014
tHANKS gOODREADS!
February 25, 2014
Couldn't put this book down! Super read from start to finish. Highly recommend.
April 23, 2015
Good fast read
Too much on the govt finance screw:-P but good characters and story development. I enjoyed it and it was fast
Too much on the govt finance screw:-P but good characters and story development. I enjoyed it and it was fast
May 23, 2015
Enjoyed Philadelphia references
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was a bit complex at times. But there was enough balance. I love books with Philadelphia being the setting
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was a bit complex at times. But there was enough balance. I love books with Philadelphia being the setting
June 14, 2015
Great Read
My third book and rated each a 5 Star. Good plots judicial use of profanity
I will read all of this author
. Areal page Turner. Thoroughly enjoyed book
My third book and rated each a 5 Star. Good plots judicial use of profanity
I will read all of this author
. Areal page Turner. Thoroughly enjoyed book
June 25, 2015
Historical coverage of facts leading to recession is fascinating
Nadal brings clarity t o the events leading up to economic meltdown of 2007-2008. I cannot wait to read more
Nadal brings clarity t o the events leading up to economic meltdown of 2007-2008. I cannot wait to read more
January 12, 2017
Nice twist
This author continues to deliver a remarkable versatility in his choice of areas to express his creativity in his writing.
This author continues to deliver a remarkable versatility in his choice of areas to express his creativity in his writing.
September 24, 2021
An excellent book that tells the tale of how the banking world is run, or not run, thanks to the FDIC. But this is more than a book on banking, it has really well written characters that drive this book from page one to the end. Sure, some of the characters are a bit out there but in the scope of this book everything fits together magically.
September 14, 2024
Great story!
I was worried that I might get bored or overwhelmed with the business side of this story, but was pleasantly surprised by such a fast moving and interesting plot. It was very hard to put down! At the same time, I do find myself with a greater understanding of the banking debacle we all find ourselves involved in these days.
I was worried that I might get bored or overwhelmed with the business side of this story, but was pleasantly surprised by such a fast moving and interesting plot. It was very hard to put down! At the same time, I do find myself with a greater understanding of the banking debacle we all find ourselves involved in these days.
July 24, 2020
3.5 - good story line and characters, but there was just so much about the banking industry and FDIC regulations and takeovers and buyouts, that a lot of that was too much for my understanding and made it more difficult to slog through.
January 17, 2018
Good book
You people should just read this book yourselves and write your own review on this novel yourself and I really enjoyed reading this book very much so. Shelley MA
You people should just read this book yourselves and write your own review on this novel yourself and I really enjoyed reading this book very much so. Shelley MA
October 13, 2014
Extremely boring! Many times I almost quit reading. If it weren't for my OCD and the need to finish what I start I probably would have. The story is slow and difficult to follow. Mostly because each character seems to possess the same personality as the next which causes difficulty distinguishing the characters from one another. It's hard to figure out who is talking and what they are talking about. Maybe if u have an interest in banking? I don't know. But it was horribly painful to read all the way through.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews