LEVERAGE: A NOVEL

THE COVER

THE HOOK

“A pulse-pounding plot propels a narrative steeped in the language and culture of tech bros….An exciting and timely debut of an original voice.” —People, Best Books of the Month

A hotshot hedge fund employee must risk everything to save his job—and his life—in this timely and darkly funny thriller about race, power, and the corrupting influence of the almighty dollar.

Ali “Al” Jafar is a rising star at notorious hedge fund Prism Capital, but fortunes change fast on Wall Street. When his biggest investment goes up in smoke, Al loses $300 million—and his fragile sense of self-worth—in a single afternoon. He’s certain he’ll be fired, but Prism’s obscenely rich and politically connected founder isn’t that merciful. Instead, he gives Al an impossible ultimatum: recover the lost money in three months or become the fall guy for the government’s insider-trading investigation into the firm.

Desperate and depressed, Al turns to high finance’s dark side, where he battles back-stabbing coworkers and cutthroat competitors and digs himself into an even deeper hole. As the clock winds down, and the pressure mounts, Al’s mental health deteriorates. To survive, he’ll have to outfox one of the world’s most powerful men and decide if he values the dearest asset of all: himself.

THE BLURBS

“With LEVERAGE, Amran Gowani blows off the facade of high finance, revealing a world that is even more depraved than most think, where 'profits over people' is the rule of the day. Armed with years of Wall Street experience, the skill to weave a compulsively readable tale, and prose that'll make you go 'WHOA!', Gowani reminds us that the most valuable commodity on Earth isn't oil or gold, but the unshakable spirit to do better and be better which dwells within us all. A bell-ringing debut with high ROI."

—MATEO ASKARIPOUR, New York Times bestselling author of BLACK BUCK

“LEVERAGE is a wild ride that is, at various turns, funny, dark, and heart-wrenching. This thriller will make you burn through the pages and revel in twist after twist. By the end, you’ll leave satisfied, entertained, and in possession of a far greater understanding of both the Wu-Tang Clan's discography and what can happen when capitalistic greed is stretched to its furthest extremes.”

—ANDREW BORYGA, author of VICTIM

“No one else is doing what Gowani is. He’s smarter than funny people, funnier than smart people, and has more heart and edge than both.”

—DENNARD DAYLE, author of HOW TO DODGE A CANNONBALL

“Told in a dazzling, wildly assured narrative voice, LEVERAGE is a by turns tense and hilarious thriller set against the backdrop of a financial crisis which doubles as a sly dissection of the exploitation and structural inequity buttressing that very system. Amran Gowani’s debut—part social satire, part tale of self-discovery, and part love letter to hip hop culture—announces the arrival of a writer to be reckoned with.”

—ELIZABETH MCCULLOUGH KEENAN and GREG WANDS, international bestselling authors of TRUST ISSUES

"LEVERAGE is a high-octane, high-finance thriller set in the mid-2010s when stocks were flying high yet there was a sense the whole ship might be sinking and Wall Street’s rats were gorging instead of fleeing. Gowani writes in hardboiled-tinged and always hilarious prose, and his narrator Al is a lovable fuckup you can't help but root for."

—LINCOLN MICHEL, author of METALLIC REALMS

“Fast and funny, appalling and appalled, LEVERAGE absolutely nails the rats-eating-each-other vibe of the post-Great-Recession, pre-Trump era. Al Jafar—who knows hedge funds like Ishmael knows whales, like Dante knows Hell—is among the most entertaining voices in recent fiction.”

—MARTIN SEAY, author of THE MIRROR THIEF

"A profanely funny and devilishly entertaining novel about the American worship of capital at the expense of all else. LEVERAGE has both the merry prankster vibes and the nerve-wracking pacing of r/wallstreetbets. I loved it."

—LEIGH STEIN, author of SELF CARE

THE REVIEWS

PEOPLE MAGAZINE (Best Books of August 2025)

"A pulse-pounding plot propels a narrative steeped in the language and culture of tech bros. The poignant personal journey of Ali, who endures racism and fantasizes about suicide, makes this an exciting and timely debut of an original voice."

BOOKLIST (Starred Review)

“[A] blistering and riveting debut...Funny and full of narrative shocks reminiscent of works by Percival Everett and Sergio de la Pava, Leverage is gloriously outlandish and compulsively readable.”

CRIME READS (Most Anticipated of the Summer)

“In this masterpiece of late-stage capitalism and its discontents, Amran Gowani uses the crime genre to eviscerate the world of finance and the psychopaths at their center. In Leverage, a successful trader is backed into a corner by his menacing boss after a shocking loss, and forced to embrace deeply unethical practices to make up for his perceived error. All is not as it seems, but even as additional challenges mount, Gowani’s scrappy hero might just be clever enough to carve out a win. This book was so ridiculously good.”

CHICAGO MAGAZINE

“Hilarious and scathing...the book’s targets—greed, elitism, and bigotry to name a few—are immaculately chosen and ripped apart with hysterical aplomb. Gowani skewers casino capitalism, racism, and the egregiousness of hedge fund managers and CEOs who view other human beings only as property to be leveraged to amass yet more assets. With snappy dialogue, plot twists galore, and a self-aware main character with a work ethic that just won’t quit, Gowani delivers a caper for the ages.”

MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW

“A simply riveting suspense thriller set in the treacherous world of high finance...Original, deftly crafted, and a compelling read from cover to cover, Leverage is especially and unreservedly recommended for community library collections.”

BEST THRILLER BOOKS

"Gowani does a brilliant job of exploring the finance culture and its cutthroat nature while maintaining the humanity of some characters and highlighting how others sold their soul a long time ago. Leverage entertains with stories of misconduct, debauchery and megalomaniacs, but balances those out with an examination of being the “other” [and] mental health challenges...Resulting in a story with depth that is equal parts crazy intense and quite profound."

SPARK

"Amran Gowani writes with humor, insight, and a highly-tuned sense of pacing. [Leverage is] a fun—and often funny—read and one that leaves you thinking after you close the book."

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

"Former Wall Street analyst Gowani parlays his financial experience into a solid debut thriller."

THE SOUNDTRACK

Nineties hip hop features prominently in LEVERAGE and fans of the genre will find plenty of easter eggs and homages throughout the narrative.

I created an unofficial “soundtrack” for the novel which everyone can access via Apple Music or Spotify.

Warning: Lyrics very NSFW.

ENTER THE 36 CHAMBERS OF LEVERAGE

Intrigued? Interested? Impelled?

I hope so.

You can procure your very own copy—hardcover, e-book, or audiobook—using any of the purchase links on Leverage's official Simon & Schuster homepage.

Click HERE to learn more.

Happy reading!