Winner Takes All

Spiked with black humor, this compulsively readable debut takes a fish-eyed look at the frantic pace of a Wall Street law firm where the partners squeeze 25 hours out of each day and overworked associates are expendable. It's not a job, it's a religion, observes Peter Courage, an associate caught in the cross-fire between a power-hungry partner who dreams up a shady financial coup that makes leveraged buy-outs seem like child's play and a faction that tries to squelch it. Drucker, herself a former Wall Street attorney, pushes a memorable cast to the point of parody: one loose-cannon litigator wallows in the bottle, two attorneys seek release in recreational S & M, and a fourth--a driven, single mother determined to make partner--whips out her checkbook every time her understandably delinquent son runs riot at school. Except for an overplayed mystery behind the death of an associate, the well-woven plot lines contribute to a narrative with plenty of tension and commercial appeal. (Apr.)