Poison Pill

Early in this melodramatic financial thriller from bestseller Kaplan (Evil, Inc.), Emma Conway, the CEO of a large pharmaceutical firm, Percival & Baxter, quarrels with her 16-year-old son, Peter, at home in Wynnewood, Pa. Peter cares only for money, just like his father and Emma’s ex, Josh Katz, who lives in a grand house in Greenwich, Conn., and is about to attempt a hostile takeover of P&B. Josh, a self-made businessman who suffered heavy losses in the 2008 crash, has borrowed $500 million from Russian billionaire Viktor Volkov, who’s hot on the trail of a female version of Viagra. Meanwhile, Viktor’s 21-year-old daughter, Tanya, wants Peter to be the sperm donor for the baby she craves. Hurtling along from one clichéd crisis to another, this shallow thriller peppers the proceedings with big-name brands, tired dirty tricks, overheated adolescent sex, and mawkish resolutions to tidy up the various messes Kaplan inflicts on poor Emma and the rest of his stock characters. Agent: Al Zuckerman, Writers House. (Oct.)