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Butterfly Effects of Globalization
MERRY-GO-ROUND BROKE DOWN features nine connected stories that lead back to a high-stakes hostage crisis in a Manhattan hotel in 2008. Where did the idea for this novel come from?
We borrowed the structure from Arthur Schnitzler’s 1897 play La Ronde. In that play, the characters are connected through a chain of sexual relationships. In our book, the characters are connected through money.
Merry-Go-Round Broke Down explores the butterfly effects of globalization. The hostage crisis that brings the story together reflects both the darker side of globalization and its unintended consequences: in a tightly interconnected world, the same forces that create winners can also create losers.
What is it that draws you to the thriller genre?
We wanted to write a serious book that could also reach a wide audience. We thought the thriller genre—with its suspense and fast pace—would be the right vehicle for telling a complex story and the best way to bring the story of globalization to life.
Do you have a favorite scene in this thriller? One that was especially fun to craft?
My co-author and I have different favorites. Hers is the third chapter, about Simon, a British proprietary trader. Mine is the eighth chapter, about Arkady, the son of a Russian oligarch. Both stories are fast-paced and dramatic, with surprising endings.
What is the next book you are working on, and when will it be available?
We are working on a few different projects, but no timetable yet.
Author Links: GoodReads | Amazon
Fall 2008. The Waldorf Astoria New York. Two armed men storm the hotel’s famed bar and hold the occupants hostage: an American corporate raider, a Chinese tycoon, a British hedge fund manager, a Japanese housewife-turned-celebrity, a Mexican undocumented worker, a Wall Street bond salesman, and a Norwegian environmentalist.
Who are these terrorists? What do they want? And what ties them to their captives?
Merry-Go-Round Broke Down is a genre-breaking novel that explores globalization’s “butterfly effect”: how choices made in one corner of the world ignited an unstoppable chain of consequences that upended lives across continents.
