About this item
New York Times bestselling author James Grippando ventures into the world of astrophysics, high-stakes trading and the algorithms that up the game with THE PENNY JUMPER, a thrilling novella about a young scientist lured to Wall Street by the promise of a pay-day that will offset her student loans and jump start her life. Things haven t come easy for brilliant young astrophysicist Ainsley Grace. Her mother, an equally talented astrophysicist, died when Ainsley was just a child. A brainiac who started college at age sixteen and earned her Ph.D. before most people her age had even settled on a major, Ainsley struggled to fit in. But the pieces of her life seem to fall together when Ainsley teams up with her mother s former colleague at MIT to finish Project Cosmic Company, which her mother had been working on when she died. Then the dream unravels. A short-term opportunity to pay off her mountain of college debt by writing stock-trading codes for a high-frequency trading firm on Wall Street turns into a nightmare. Her job is to make sure that her firm s supercomputers are faster than any others on Wall Street. Because she is able to draw on the same algorithms she s been writing for Project Cosmic Company, it s a snap. And because astrophysicists are Wall Street s new whiz kids, it pays well. But there is a hidden price that comes with Ainsley s work. The world of high-frequency trading is survival of the quickest, and the difference between making a billion and losing a billion dollars could be less than a nanosecond. With stakes this high, Ainsley finds herself caught in the middle of a secret and deadly battle for speed. When Ainsley is framed and indicted for stealing Wall Street trade secrets, her personal life, her career dreams, and even her groundbreaking research at MIT are turned upside down ... and the terrible truth about people she trusted most is revealedWith THE PENNY JUMPER, James Grippando brings us into a high tech, high risk world where only the most cunning come out on top until they confront the amazing Ainsley Grace.
About the Author
James is the winner of the Harper Lee Prize for legal fiction and the New York Times bestselling author of 28 novels of suspense, including the popular series featuring Miami criminal defense attorney Jack Swyteck. His latest, "The Big Lie," is the 16th in the Swyteck series, and No. 17, "Twenty," will be published in January 2021. His novels are enjoyed worldwide in 28 languages. When James walked away from a partnership at Miami's most prestigious law firm to become a writer, most people said he was clueless. "Not so," says James, pointing out that "A James Grippando Novel" was a clue for #38 Across in the New York Times crossword puzzle. James's first job out of law school plunged him headlong into death penalty cases. That experience was an inspiration for his 1994 debut novel, The Pardon, a legal thriller that critics heralded as a "bona fide blockbuster." Beyond Suspicion (2002) was the long-awaited sequel to that first novel, and it launched an exciting series that features Miami criminal defense attorney Jack Swyteck and his irreverent sidekick, Theo Knight. James's writings also include "Leapholes" for young adults and numerous short stories. As a trial lawyer, James was an avid writer. His numerous scholarly articles appeared in some of nation's top law reviews, and they are frequently cited with approval by the courts. His trial practice ranged from complex corporate litigation to class actions on behalf of chicken farmers. As a frequent volunteer in Florida's guardian ad litem program, he helped provide legal representation to neglected children in family court proceedings. He was a faculty member with the National Institute of Trial Advocacy and an adjunct professor of trial advocacy at Nova Southeast University. He was named by Florida Trend Magazine as one of Florida's emerging leaders, and in 2006 he received the Distinguished Author Award from Scranton University. His alma mater is the University of Florida, where he graduated second in his undergraduate class and earned his law degree with honors. James is a practicing attorney specializing in entertainment and intellectual property law, representing clients who have won more than 30 Tony Awards. He is also an adjunct professor of Law & Literature at the University of Miami School of Law.He lives in south Florida with his wife, three children, two cats and a golden retriever named Atlas who has no idea he's a dog. Visit his website at www.jamesgrippando.com
