Stonepine Productions announces the release of its new novel, "The Bonus," free for a limited time.

Jan. 28, 2010 - PRLog -- "The Bonus," a 95,000 word ebook by Tony Spohr, chronicles the gripping journey of Tim Farley, a small time investment banker in a suburb of New York City, who sets his sights on the deal of a lifetime - a $3.5 bilion financing for a world class oil company. The bonus he could receive for the successful completion of such a deal could set him and his family up for life.

For a limited time (Saturday, January 30 through Friday, February 5, 2010) an electronic book version of "The Bonus," normally priced at $4.99, will be available to the public as a free download at Smashwords at www.smashwords.com/books/view/8489. The free coupon code is FQ69Q.

While many causes for the recession of 2007-2010 have been postulated, the principal culprit is the so-called asynchronous compensation scheme prevalent in the investment banking industry - low base pay (relative to standard of living) and huge bonuses for those who can achieve the usually unreasonable revenue and/or earnings goals forced on them by bank management. Bankers working under such regimes often have little choice but to throw caution to the winds and take on irrational risks (e.g., irresponsible packaging and reckless global marketing and distribution of sub-prime residential mortgage portfolios) to reach the bonus targets.

Tim Farley's life was at a near crisis point. His career was floundering, he'd been passed over for partnership in his firm, college tuitions for his kids were looming large before him as well as myriad other mid-life issues. Hoping the oil company deal could lead him out of his problems, he launched full tilt into obtaining the mandate, the dangerous risks be damned.  But the compounding forces of calculating oil company executives, ruthless investors, mysterious African animistic beliefs, and two desperate international organizations threatening to kill him and his family - one if he goes through with the deal, the other if he doesn't - spins him in perilous directions he never could have anticipated.

About Smashwords - Launched in 2008, privately held Smashwords operates a digital publishing platform and online book store for independent ebook authors and publishers and their readers. The free service puts authors and publishers in full control over the publishing, pricing and marketing of their works. In addition to receiving exposure to hundreds of thousands of potential readers on Smashwords web site and via distribution on Stanza, authors and publishers receive up to 85% of the net proceeds from sales of their works. For readers, Smashwords offers the opportunity to discover exciting new voices in fiction and non-fiction. Smashwords, Inc. is located in Los Gatos, California and can be reached on the web at http://www.smashwords.com. Visit the official Smashwords blog at http://blog.smashwords.com.

About Tony Spohr - Born and raised in the Bronx, Tony joined the U.S. Navy after graduating from Fordham University and served three years aboard ship as its operations officer  primarily in the western Pacific with two tours in Viet Nam. After military service he worked for two prestigious international financial firms as an international tax partner travelling extensively in that role. Later he co-founded the global structured finance group for the firm specializing in the design and implementation of highly structured, cross border investment banking transactions. He has two children and lives with his wife, Kathy, in northern California.

Contact:
Tony Spohr
stonepinep@aol.com

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Media division - creation: novels, magazine articles, screenplays, independent film, etc. content. Financial division - creation: tax, accounting, economics, investment banking and similar contemporary content.