The Fund

International investment banker Narea brings 20 years of financial experience to his less than successful debut, a near-future thriller that plays off current anxieties about technology gone wrong and the vulnerabilities of Wall Street. At the Defense Intelligence Agency in Washington, D.C., 30-year-old analyst Kate Molares uncovers key pieces of information that hint at a vast conspiracy against America and the West. In Europe, Nebibi Hasehm, a charismatic financier born in Milan to immigrant Egyptian parents, plots to bring down the U.S. through its corrupt and overextended financial system. Hasehm orchestrates a diverse anti-U.S. alliance, which includes traditional foes like Cuba and more recent adversaries like Venezuela and al-Qaedaesque Muslim extremists. Weapons at his disposal range from dirty bombs to a serum that enhances the fervor of the men set to carry out his evil schemes. Though Hasehm comes across as more than a cardboard villain, the other elements of this predictable effort never rise above clich%C3%A9. (May)