Jolowicz, Philip

views updated

Jolowicz, Philip

PERSONAL: Married; children: two.

ADDRESSES: Home—Buckinghamshire, England. Agent—c/o Atria Books Publicity Department, Simon & Schuster, Inc., 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

CAREER: Corporate financier, investment banker, and novelist. Has worked as an attorney.

WRITINGS:

Walls of Silence (novel), Atria Books (New York, NY), 2002.

False Positive (novel), Bantam Press (London, England), 2004.

SIDELIGHTS: A former lawyer, Philip Jolowicz drew from his legal background in crafting the plot of his first novel, Walls of Silence. Finley "Fin" Border is a lawyer at the New York branch of a prestigious British law firm. When his colleague and friend J.J. Carlson asks him to take a ride in his new, million-dollar McLaren F1, Fin agrees. After a high-speed joy ride through the streets of Manhattan, J.J. lets his friend out of the car and then drives at full speed through an embankment and onto New York's busy FDR Drive. Sixteen people, including J.J., are killed in the crash, and a police investigation reveals that the car was registered in Fin's name and purchased with money from his own account. Fin is suddenly in the hot seat, threatened with lawsuits from the families of the crash victims. To avoid a publicity scandal, Fin's firm pulls him from an important case and sends him to India to tie up the acquisition of an Indian corporation. Fin regrets the firm's choice, but reluctantly travels to the country where his father, a former firm partner, died years ago. While in India, Fin uncovers shocking and damaging secrets about the new corporation that connect to J.J.'s suicide and which might relate to his father's death as well. Fin suddenly finds himself embroiled in a mystery involving multiple murders, white slavery, child prostitution, and money laundering.

In a review of Walls of Silence for Publishers Weekly, one contributor described the book as an "engrossing, labyrinthine debut," pointing out that while some may have trouble following the "myriad Gordian plot twists," dedicated readers will ultimately find that the book has "all the diabolic undercurrents of a first-class chiller." Expressing a similar sentiment, Jo Ann Vicarel maintained in Library Journal that while the "complex plot" evolves slowly, the "pace and story ultimately carry the reader to a satisfying end." In further praise for the book, Booklist contributor Mary Frances Wilkens described Walls of Silence as a "strong first outing from a European financial industry guru."