Uncommon Stock: Version 1.0

James is a software genius who developed a program which he referred to as “quantitative pattern recognition.” In Uncommon Stock: Version 1.0, he came up with the idea when he was looking for a way to shortcut grading a lot of exams for the professor for whom he was working a TA at University of Colorado Boulder. But then, he realized that he could use quantitative pattern recognition to uncover financial fraud, and then he broke into one seemingly innocuous university affiliated program to test out his theory on real data. It worked better than he dreamed, but in the process, he tipped off some people who did not want to be discovered, at any cost.

James was ready to drop out of college to start a company, Mozaik, based on the idea that large banks would want to know if their institutions were being used to launder money. Therefore they could avoid the huge fines that had to be paid once such discoveries were made by the Feds. But, James was a computer guy who had limited people skills. He certainly did not know how to create an organization, so he turned to his long time friend Mara Winkle. Mara had been geared to follow her successful parents into the law, not be a drop out who chased Silicon Valley dreams. But, Mara liked the idea of catching bad guys, and she blew off her parents to pursue James ideas. It’s not that Mara had any start up business experience, but James had faith she could figure it out, and he trusted her.

This is the first book in a trilogy, all of which are quick and intense reads. The author, Eliot Peper is self-published, and I already wrote a very favorable review of his stand-alone novel, Cumulus. It was that book which teased me into jumping at this trilogy, and Peper has done it again. Character and plot development are excellent. I found myself pulling for James and Mara to be successful against all odds, while at the same time being fearful for their survival since they had awakened some very sinister forces. Be prepared to read the next two books in quick succession. You’ll want to know what happens to these characters and where Peper takes the story.