The Vault
by Stuart Z. Goldstein
Style: Thriller, Thriller & Suspense / Literary
ISBN: 9781736632239
Print Size: 304 pages
Reviewed by Erin Britton
A nail-biting thriller centering on an audacious heist that coincides with a spectacular pure catastrophe
Even one of the best of individuals will go to excessive lengths when pushed too far. Stuart Z. Goldstein’s The Vault is a gripping story by which ideas of proper and fallacious are upended and the excellence between heroes and villains is blurred past recognition. The stakes are excessive from the outset, however as each the authorities and Hurricane Sandy shut in, the hazard mounts and the chance of double-crosses will increase exponentially, all resulting in a tense and unguessable denouement.
New York is residence to many secrets and techniques, not least a cache of wealth virtually past comprehension. “Nobody might think about that down a rabbit gap close to Wall Road stood the most important financial institution securities vault on this planet, holding greater than $37 trillion in property.” One one that could be very conscious of this hidden treasure beneath Manhattan is Andy Russo, the Head of Vault Operations. Having been with Americlear for the reason that Seventies, he has witnessed the vault’s development and growth, in addition to the rewards that its operation has introduced, however he’s beneath illusions concerning the firm.
“Andy knew a reckoning was coming.”
There has lengthy been a distinction between the haves and the have-nots, however the actual rot units in when Daeva Connolly is appointed CEO of Americlear. In contrast to the earlier CEO, who had eliminated a number of the conventional and discriminatory limitations throughout the firm, that means that “Black, Latin and Asian faces started exhibiting up in jobs and on flooring they might solely beforehand go to,” Connolly solely cares concerning the backside line, “however any collateral injury to our staff.” As a consequence, working circumstances are diminished, well being and security is imperfect, and jobs are misplaced.
Regardless of the worsening circumstances, “None of his staff ever doubted how far Andy would go to guard them.” Nevertheless, when a freeze on salaries and a discount in each bonuses and pensions is introduced, and solely a short while after Russo suffers a private tragedy, the employees of the subterranean vault are shocked when he means that they take motion in opposition to Americlear. When Andy reaches a tipping level, he means that his workforce commit a daring crime: “We’re going to steal $100 million in bearer bonds from the vault. It’s going to require everybody on our workforce to make this occur. However nobody will ever have to fret about Americlear doing the correct factor any longer.”
Whereas The Vault takes some time to get so far, Stuart Z. Goldstein makes use of the buildup to Russo’s masterplan properly, introducing the person himself, his position and historical past throughout the firm, and the loyalty that he evokes in his employees. Provided that Russo decides to finish his decades-long exemplary profession by stealing tens of tens of millions of {dollars} from his employer, it’s no shock that he’s a fancy character. Certainly, whereas Russo is most undoubtedly a person of layers, nobody would suspect how far he’s keen to go to safe the longer term for his household and his staff.
Regardless of being the boss within the vault, Russo sees himself as one of many employees, not one of many higher-ups. What’s extra, he’s keen to place his cash the place his mouth is, confronting firm management about proposed job cuts, for example, and guaranteeing that his division is spared. And although he has all the time been loyal to Americlear, he’s not blind to the corporate’s faults: “in the event you had been white you labored above avenue degree within the constructing, however minorities and immigrants had been relegated to work in a basement with out home windows.” Nonetheless, whereas he does what he can for his folks, he’s nonetheless a part of the company machine, not less than till he reaches his tipping level.
Maybe relatedly, though Russo positions himself as an underdog all through The Vault, he has to acknowledge that even he has benefited from some privilege, not less than again within the day. “Coming back from his army service in Vietnam and with a school diploma, Andy’s uncle leveraged the ‘previous boy’ community to land him a job on Wall Road.” This implies, after all, that he has benefited from precisely the form of discrimination that he now rails in opposition to, though his good nature and real want to assist others makes it straightforward to miss the potential hypocrisy right here. And that is simply one of many intriguing ethical quandaries that Goldstein introduces into the story.
One other useful consequence of the gradual buildup to the heist is that the varied members of Russo’s crew—extra formally often known as the loyal staff of the vault—are launched in flip. From the relative newcomers similar to Stella Jones and Reggie Seawright to the stalwarts like Edith Colon and Bea Siegel, all of them have complicated private lives that lend credence to their loyalty to Russo and their willingness to commit a significant crime. Whereas Russo’s suggestion of the heist appears sudden and the others’ openness to it moderately shocking, the element that Goldstein presents concerning their characters makes it doable to miss such quibbles.
Goldstein does a superb job together with his antagonists—each believable and properly detestable. Daeva Connolly is a correctly terrible company bigwig, and he or she gives an ideal face for the in any other case faceless specter of company greed. Simply wait till you pay money for this appallingly mercenary persona.
Given how they’re handled, it’s actually no surprise that Russo et al. really feel they don’t have anything to lose in stealing all that cash, particularly when unchecked company cost-cutting is sarcastically a key motive why the heist is feasible within the first place.
Unsurprisingly, when it will get to the purpose that Russo explains his plan and the crime begins coming collectively, the tempo of The Vault actually accelerates and the stress ramps up. The strategy planning stage is each partaking and thrilling, and the entire thing appears scarily believable.
After all, even one of the best laid plans typically go awry, and Russo’s heist isn’t any exception. In having the theft coincide with Hurricane Sandy bearing down on New York, Goldstein provides an additional layer of hazard and suspense to the story. What’s extra, there are a number of different hitches alongside the best way, which makes the entire enterprise much more exhilarating and amusing.
Because the ragtag bunch of unlikely crooks make their transfer, questions on loyalty come up and suspicions are triggered, and as all this unfolds, The Vault begins to construct towards an exhilarating conclusion the place you may’t assist however root for the anti-heroes.
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