"Can I interest you in saving America?"
That's the text message Peter Fallon receives from a Wall Street bigwig.
It's not a challenge he can turn down, especially since the country is
in the midst of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.
The stock market is wobbling. The Chinese have stopped buying our
T-bills. If we don't get control of our deficit, our economic future
looks grim.
But all may not be lost. Hidden somewhere in New York City is a box of
1780s bonds with a face value of ten thousand dollars, part of a series
of bonds called New Emission Money. The Supreme Court is about to decide
if these bonds still have value. If the decision is yes, those ten
thousand dollars, at 5 percent interest, will be worth a very pretty
penny.
A lot of very pretty pennies.
Suddenly, their race against time becomes a race through time as Peter
and Evangeline track the stories of New Yorkers whose lives have been
changed by the bonds. They'll confront frightened booksellers, heartless
businessmen, former flames, renegade treasury agents, and the Russian
mafia...and all the while they unravel the thrilling and inspiring
origins of the City of Dreams.