Nineteenth Street NW

A captivating financial thriller with a fast-paced plot, this novel offers a rare glimpse into the mechanisms behind world economies. Freedom fighter Sophia Gemaye comes from an obscure, mineral-rich, third-world nation where the ruling elite plunders much of the country's wealth. Western governments, greedy for the natural resources, turn a blind eye to the routine oppression, deaths, and disappearances. To bring attention to the plight of her people, Sophia turns to economic terrorism, devising a plan to sabotage world currency markets. The goal: bring the mightiest corporations and economies to their knees. Her scheme will be neither cheap nor easy. Money she gets from some dubious backers, but she is also needs highly secret financial information--and some very special software to manipulate it. For these, she heads to the International Monetary and Financial Organization (IMFO) where she must woo Harry Hoffinger, whose cutting-edge computer model is crucial to Sophia's plan. Sophia's penchant for confidential data -- and for Harry -- catches the eye of Celine O'Rourke, an embittered IMFO veteran, whose dogged pursuit of Sophia's secret takes her from the riot-torn streets of Jakarta to the corridors of power in Washington DC and the hallowed halls of the Palais des Nations in Geneva. As the financial markets begin to crumble, and the lives of key finance ministers hang in the balance, both women will learn the price of love -- and the cost of betrayal.