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Grove O'Rourke, one of Wall Street's best stockbrokers, falters in performance in the wake of the brutal murder of his dear friend, Charlie, a philanthropist and supposedly well-loved man about town. O'Rourke uses his financial connections to investigate the killing and unearths a deep conspiracy. While the book is an entertaining primer on Wall Street life, Mel Foster's toothless delivery strips the plot of its momentum and urgency. While Foster reads smoothly and creates distinct characterizations, his voice is a poor fit for the highly charged first-person narration. Rather than matching the style with an intensity of his own, Foster sounds slightly nasal, aloof, and overly deliberate. A Minotaur hardcover (Reviews, June 22). (Oct.)