Agent of Influence

Readers able to shoulder the technical Wall Street details that overburden this thriller set in the cut-throat world of investment banking will enjoy its bristling view of the mercenary side of moneymaking. The acquisition of News/Worldweek, a conglomerate of American newspapers, magazines and TV stations, will give Marcel Bresson, a French publisher with a shadowy past and a secret agenda, unequaled media power. Mergers and acquisitions specialist Jayson Lyman will make a fortune if he can structure Bresson's purchase, but Lyman, suspecting that his client isn't who he claims to be, is soon on a trail of money that leads inexorably to Russia. With the help of an attractive Senate staffer (who doubles as sidekick and romantic interest), Lyman works to sabotage the deal from within. While Aaron ( State Scarlet ) brings considerable knowledge of international finance to his second novel, the story's suspense is frequently lost in the miasma of monetary doubletalk delivered by its driven, humorless hero. (Jan.)