Jim Wedick and Jack Brennan--two fresh-faced, maverick FBI agents--were about to embark on their agency's first wire-wearing undercover mission. Their target? Charismatic, globe-trotting con man Phil Kitzer, whom some called the world's greatest swindler. From the Thunderbird, the three men took off to Cleveland, to Miami, to Hawaii, to London--meeting other members of Kitzer's crime syndicate, known as The Fraternity, at each stop and witnessing the big cons he pulled there. As the young agents became further entangled in Kitzer's outrageous schemes over the next year, they also grew to respect him--even care for him. And Kitzer began to think of Wedick and Brennan like sons, schooling them in everything from writing bad checks to picking up women.Kitzer was at the center of dozens of multimillion dollar scams, but the FBI was reluctant to turn its attention away from the anti-communist initiatives left over from J. Edgar Hoover's tenure. Wedick and Brennan disobeyed direct orders again and again on their yearlong adventure with Phil, but, ultimately, they triumphed and took down The Fraternity. The case resulted in dozens of arrests and forever changed the FBI, ushering in an era of undercover work and a focus on organized and white-collar crime that continues to this day.The bonds that Kitzer formed with Wedick and Brennan, amazingly, survived his arrest--they convinced Kitzer to work for them after he'd been caught. The relationships between these three form the emotional center of this jet-setting sting. Anchored by big characters, Chasing Phil is high drama and great fun, delivered by an effortless storyteller.

    Jones, leader of the famed Stax Records house band, architect of the Memphis soul sound, and one of the most legendary figures in music. From Booker T. Jones's earliest years in segregated Memphis, music was the driving force in his life. While he worked paper routes and played gigs in local nightclubs to pay for lessons and support his family, Jones, on the side, was also recording sessions in what became the famous Stax Studios-all while still in high school. Not long after, he would form the genre-defining group Booker T. and the MGs, whose recordings went on to sell millions of copies, win a place in Rolling Stone's list of top 500 songs of all time, and help forge collaborations with some of the era's most influential artists, including Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, and Sam & Dave. Nearly five decades later, Jones's influence continues to help define the music industry, but only now is he ready to tell his remarkable life story. Time is Tight is the deeply moving account of how Jones balanced the brutality of the segregationist South with the loving support of his family and community, all while transforming a burgeoning studio into a musical mecca. Culminating with a definitive account into the inner workings of the Stax label, as well as a fascinating portrait of working with many of the era's most legendary performers-Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, and Tom Jones, among them-this extraordinary memoir promises to become a landmark moment in the history of Southern Soul.

    Tom Hayes, a brilliant but troubled mathematician, became the lynchpin of a wild alliance that included a prickly French trader nicknamed “Gollum”; the broker “Abbo,” who liked to publicly strip naked when drinking; a nervous Kazakh chicken farmer known as “Derka Derka”; a broker known as “Village” (short for “Village Idiot”) who racked up huge expense account bills; an executive called “Clumpy” because of his patchwork hair loss; and a broker uncreatively nicknamed “Big Nose” who had once been a semi-professional boxer. This group generated incredible riches —until it all unraveled in spectacularly vicious, backstabbing fashion.With exclusive access to key characters and evidence, The Spider Network is not only a rollicking account of the scam, but also a provocative examination of a financial system that was crooked throughout.