While low interest rates have made carrying the extra debt bearable for more Americans, these days will end eventually. The Federal Reserve has nudged them up from near zero in a bid to reach the old levels, despite a pushback from the White House. A chilling statistic from a Federal Reserve survey found that 35 percent of U.S. adults couldn’t pay their bills if faced with a $400 emergency.
WHAT’S NEXT? Either massive defaults occur—think of the chaos if Washington can’t pay interest and principal on Treasury bonds—or Americans see their taxes double. Or both. The doubling of taxes is predicted by the former U.S. comptroller general, David Walker.
If companies, states, and individuals go bust, the nation has a big problem. And America has an even bigger problem if the federal government can’t cover its obligations. The United States, its full faith and credit, and its universally used currency, underpin the entire world’s economy.
That’s the nightmare scenario we explore in Crash.
ALSO BY DAVID HAGBERG
Twister
The Capsule
Last Come the Children
Heartland
Heroes
Without Honor*
Countdown*
Crossfire*
Critical Mass*
Desert Fire
High Flight*
Assassin*
White House*
Joshua’s Hammer*
Eden’s Gate
The Kill Zone*
By Dawn’s Early Light
Soldier of God*
Allah’s Scorpion*
Dance with the Dragon*
The Expediter*
The Cabal*
Abyss*
Castro’s Daughter*
Burned
Blood Pact*
Retribution*
The Shadowmen*+
The Fourth Horseman*
24 Hours*+
End Game*
Tower Down*
Flash Points*
Face Off*
First Kill*
WRITING AS SEAN FLANNERY
The Kremlin Conspiracy
Eagles Fly
The Trinity Factor
The Hollow Men
Broken Idols
Gulag
Moscow Crossing
The Zebra Network
Crossed Swords
Moving Targets
Winner Take All
Kilo Option
Achilles’ Heel
WITH BYRON L. DORGAN
Blowout
Gridlock
NONFICTION WITH BORIS GINDEN
Mutiny
*Kirk McGarvey adventures
*+Kirk McGarvey Ebook original novellas
ALSO BY LAWRENCE LIGHT
Too Rich to Live*
Fear & Greed*
WITH MEREDITH ANTHONY
NONFICTION
Taming the Beast
SHORT STORIES IN:
Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine
Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine
Thriller 2
Wall Street Noir
NONFICTION PERIODICAL ARTICLES IN:
Barron’s
Bloomberg Businessweek
Chief Investment Officer
Columbia Journalism Review
Financial Planning
Fortune
Investopedia
HuffPost
Money
TheStreet.com
The Wall Street Journal
Yahoo! Finance
*Karen Glick thrillers
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
DAVID HAGBERG was a former U.S. Air Force cryptographer who traveled extensively in Europe, the Arctic, and the Caribbean and spoke at CIA functions. He spent more than thirty years researching and studying U.S.-Soviet relations during the Cold War. Hagberg has received numerous award nominations for his writing and published more than seventy novels of suspense, including Face Off and First Kill of the New York Times bestselling Kirk McGarvey series. You can sign up for email updates here.
LAWRENCE LIGHT is an award-winning financial journalist who now works as an editor and writer for CBS MoneyWatch. Previously, he has served as editor in chief of investing site AdviceIQ.com, investing editor of The Wall Street Journal, finance editor of Forbes and Money magazines, and the corporate finance reporter for Bloomberg Businessweek, where he was part of the team that won the National Magazine Award. He started his news career as a police reporter at Newsday, where he was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Light is also the former executive vice president of Mystery Writers of America, where he now serves as treasurer and is a national board member. He has been an Edgar judge several times and most recently served as as chief judge for paperback originals. His short stories have appeared in numerous outlets such as Wall Street Noir, Thriller 2, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, and Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, or sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
One: Opening Bell Day One
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Two: Mid-Morning
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Three: The Russians
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Four: Warning Signs
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 25
Five: Project W
Chapter 26
Six: Confrontations
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Seven: Glimmerings
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Eight: Kidnapped
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Nine: The Flash Drive
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Ten: Closing Bell Day One
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Chapter 82
Chapter 83
Chapter 84
Eleven: Crisis Arising
Chapter 85
Chapter 86
Chapter 87
Chapter 88
Chapter 89
Chapter 90
Chapter 91
Chapter 92
Chapter 93
Chapter 94
Chapter 95
Twelve: Rescue
Chapter 96
Chapter 97
Chapter 98
Chapter 99
Chapter 100
Chapter 101
Chapter 102
Chapter 103
Chapter 104
Chapter 105
Chapter 106
Chapter 107
Chapter 108
Chapter 109
Chapter 110
Chapter 111
Chapter 112
Chapter 113
Chapter 114
Chapter 115
Thirteen: Opening Bell Day Two
Chapter 116
Afterword
Also by David Hagberg
Also by Lawrence Light
About the Authors
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the authors’ imaginations or are used fictitiously.
CRASH
Copyright © 2020 by David Hagberg and Lawrence Light
All rights reserved.
Cover design by Michael Graziolo
A Forge Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates
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New York, NY 10271
www.tor-forge.com
Forge® is a registered trademark of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC.
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-1-250-24989-0 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-250-24988-3 (ebook)
eISBN 9781250249883
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First Edition: April 2020