Financial thriller is a subgenre of

thriller fiction Thriller is a genre of fiction, having numerous, often overlapping subgenres. Thrillers are characterized and defined by the moods they elicit, giving viewers heightened feelings of suspense, excitement, surprise, anticipation and anxiety. S ...

in which the

financial system A financial system is a system that allows the exchange of funds between financial market participants such as lenders, investors, and borrowers. Financial systems operate at national and global levels. Financial institutions consist of complex, c ...

and

economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...

play a major role.

History

The novel ''

The Financier ''The Financier'' is a novel by Theodore Dreiser, based on real-life streetcar tycoon Charles Yerkes. Dreiser started writing his manuscript in 1911, and the following year published the first part of his lengthy work as ''The Financier''. The s ...

'' (1912) by

Theodore Dreiser Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser (; August 27, 1871 – December 28, 1945) was an American novelist and journalist of the naturalist school. His novels often featured main characters who succeeded at their objectives despite a lack of a firm mora ...

displays elements of a financial thriller and is an early example of the genre.

Paul Erdman Paul Emil Erdman was a Canadian-born American economist and banker who became known for writing novels based on monetary trends and international finance. Early life Erdman was born in Stratford, Ontario, Canada, on 19 May 1932 to American parents ...

helped popularize the modern financial thriller, with ''The Billion Dollar Sure Thing'' (1973). The former president of a Swiss bank, he penned the novel while in jail awaiting trial on fraud charges related to speculating in the cocoa market.

Overview

In many cases the protagonist of a financial thriller is a financial professional such as

Christian Slater Christian Michael Leonard Slater (born August 18, 1969) is an American actor and producer. He made his film debut with a leading role in ''The Legend of Billie Jean'' (1985) and gained wider recognition for his breakthrough role as Jason "J.D." D ...

’s character in the 2005 film '' The Deal'', or John Kent in Martin Bodenham's 2011 novel, ''The Geneva Connection''. Often, the plot centers on a financial crime. It may be a crime that merely enriches a small number of individuals as with ''The Millionaires'' by

Brad Meltzer Brad Meltzer (born April 1, 1970) is an Americans, American novelist, non-fiction writer, TV show creator, and comic book author. His novels touch on the political thriller, legal thriller and conspiracy fiction genres, while he has also writte ...

, or one that threatens the entire financial system, as in

Tom Clancy Thomas Leo Clancy Jr. (April 12, 1947 – October 1, 2013) was an American novelist. He is best known for his technically detailed espionage and military science, military-science storylines set during and after the Cold War. Seventeen of ...

’s ''

Debt of Honor ''Debt of Honor'' is a techno-thriller novel, written by Tom Clancy and released on August 17, 1994. A direct sequel to '' The Sum of All Fears'' (1991), Jack Ryan becomes the National Security Advisor when a secret cabal of Japanese industria ...

'' (1994). In
Flash Crash
" by Denison Hatch the financial crime involves an algorithmic programmer ("quant") who is blackmailed into writing a program that will crash the international gold markets. Financial thrillers are often used as

morality play The morality play is a genre of medieval and early Tudor drama. The term is used by scholars of literary and dramatic history to refer to a genre of play texts from the fourteenth through sixteenth centuries that feature personified concepts ( ...

s to illustrate the evils of greed, as in ''Black Money'' (1995), by

Michael M. Thomas Michael Mackenzie Thomas (April 18, 1936August 7, 2021) was an American author of nine bestselling novels and a partner at Lehman Brothers. Best known for his financial thrillers, he published his first novel, ''Green Monday,'' in 1980. He also p ...

. In the wake of the late-2000s financial crisis, some financial thrillers took on educational roles. The 2011 HBO TV-movie ''

Too Big to Fail "Too big to fail" (TBTF) and "too big to jail" is a theory in banking and finance that asserts that certain corporations, particularly financial institutions, are so large and so interconnected that their failure would be disastrous to the great ...

'' is, in the words of Jesse Eisinger, "extraordinarily revealing about the financial crisis" but not always in a helpful way. For example, Eisinger says, "The government gave the banks money but didn't get voting rights and didn't prevent the banks from using the money to pay dividends or bonuses. They wrote what was essentially a blank check...It's left to the hapless PR woman...to wonder why, if the government is saving these institutions, it couldn't impose any limits on how the money be used." Another film in this genre is

J. C. Chandor Jeffrey McDonald Chandor (born November 24, 1973), better known as J. C. Chandor (), is an American filmmaker, best known for writing and directing the films ''Margin Call'' (2011), '' All Is Lost'' (2013), '' A Most Violent Year'' (2014), '' Tri ...

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

-nominated ''

Margin Call ''Margin Call'' is a 2011 American drama film written and directed by J. C. Chandor in his feature directorial debut. The principal story takes place over a 24-hour period at a large Wall Street investment bank during the initial stages of the ...

'', also from 2011. The novel ''The Economics of Ego Surplus: A Novel About the Global Economy'' (2010) by Paul McDonnold (originally subtitled "A Novel of Economic Terrorism") involves Kyle Linwood, a teacher, graduate student going for his doctorate in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

, and former victim of Libyan terrorist kidnappers, whose knowledge of Africa and economics become important when the U.S.

stock market A stock market, equity market, or share market is the aggregation of buyers and sellers of stocks (also called shares), which represent ownership claims on businesses; these may include ''securities'' listed on a public stock exchange, as ...

begins crashing due to massive and inexplicable sales. According to the Book Dilettante, "The author explains

supply and demand In microeconomics, supply and demand is an economic model of price determination in a Market (economics), market. It postulates that, Ceteris paribus, holding all else equal, in a perfect competition, competitive market, the unit price for a ...

recession In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction when there is a general decline in economic activity. Recessions generally occur when there is a widespread drop in spending (an adverse demand shock). This may be triggered by various ...

and

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...

, the history of economics and

Adam Smith Adam Smith (baptized 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the thinking of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Seen by some as "The Father of Economics"——— ...

, Keynes economic theory, the theory of contemporary neoclassical economists, and does so in a way that even high school students would understand In the 2010s, ''

The Big Short ''The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine'' is a nonfiction book by Michael Lewis about the build-up of the United States housing bubble during the 2000s. It was released on March 15, 2010, by W. W. Norton & Company. It spent 28 weeks on '' ...

'' was adapted from a

non-fiction book Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with b ...

into a movie, and it is also a prominent financial thriller.

List of financial thrillers

*''

Wall Street Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...

'' (1987) *''

Rogue Trader A rogue trader is person who makes financial trades in an unauthorised manner. Rogue trader may also refer to: * ''Rogue Trader'' (book), the autobiography of (and later a movie about) Nick Leeson, the man who caused the collapse of Barings Bank * ...

'' (1999) *''

Money Monster ''Money Monster'' is a 2016 American crime thriller film directed by Jodie Foster, with a screenplay by Jamie Linden, Alan Di Fiore, and Jim Kouf from a story by Di Fiore and Kauf. The film stars George Clooney (who also co-produced), Julia Ro ...

'' (2016) *'' Boiler Room'' (2000)Virgin Film: Oliver Stone - Google Books
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History

Overview

List of financial thrillers

References

See also