(1888PressRelease)
March 08, 2007 - Magalia, Ca., March 7, 2007 -- When business guide author Jack Payne came out of retirement for one last book--after fifty-five business books with over one million total sales--he expected it to be still another non-fiction work of little-known crimes business con men legally commit.
But when Payne, the founder and first editor / publisher of Business Opportunities Digest, realized he was sitting on a pile of information that could incriminate more than a few American businesses, he decided to give his findings a fictional slant. The result is the new legal thriller Six Hours Past Thursday (ISBN 1-59113-502 8, Impact Books, http://www.sixhrs.com), recently released.
Although it is a novel, Six Hours Past Thursday is also a virtual encyclopedia of legal crime; indeed, that was the title Payne originally had in mind for the legal thriller before changing tack. Woven into the story are explanations of such descriptions as unlisted and undervalued inventories, short selling, the smoke-and-mirrors inflating of the value of a business up for sale, collecting multiple fees, kickbacks and commissions from a single business transaction, and many other means of unethical—yet entirely legal scams for profit. “However”, says Payne, “this book certainly does not advocate the shell games it depicts.”
"Being aware of such practices can only be helpful to anyone engaged in a business of any kind, for 'defensive mechanism' purposes," the author explained. "Six Hours Past Thursday will help equip readers to defend themselves from many of the commonly used types of legal crimes out there in our big, ever ethically-challenged jungle of American Business."
Detailing under-the-table deals, kickbacks, now-you-see-it, now-you-don't escrow accounts, and many other forms of barely legal crime, Six Hours Past Thursday centers on the double life of Steve Draves. Draves, the devoted husband, father, respected business broker, enjoys a solid reputation in his community and a modest living as a small business owner. Under wraps, it turns out, Draves, the Martini-swilling con man, is worth millions, taking businesses for all they're worth while endlessly pursuing beautiful women. But his delicate balance of shady business practices, rampant sexual conquests and respectable family life begins to collapse after he gets involved with a mobster—and the mobster's daughter, leading to a price even Draves cannot afford to pay.
Kate St. Amour, reviewer for BookReview.com, writes, "Death of a Salesman character Willy Lohman has nothing on Jack Payne's loathsome, womanizing, dirty-dealing protagonist Steve Draves."
"...a gut-wrenching probe of the psyche," is the way retired publications guru, Lane Stevenson, puts it. "The inner workings of the devious mind are stripped bare for all to see.”
For more information on Six Hours Past Thursday or to read the first chapters of the book, visit http://www.sixhrs.com.
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