Matthew McCleery
Combining ship finance with a jet setting geopolitical romp, Viking Raid picks up where The Shipping Man left off – on a journey into the famously private world of international shipping tycoons and their financiers. At the conclusion of The Shipping Man, Robert Fairchild is sipping rosé on the Côte d’Azur with Coco Jacobsen and toasting to the success of their $300 million junk bond offering; six months later the CEO is in the 120-degree engine room of a supertanker discharging two million barrels of Saudi crude oil – afraid for his job and afraid for his life. Fortunes change quickly in the volatile world of international oil shipping and Fairchild knows that unless he can find another $500 million soon his powerful Norwegian tanker tycoon boss will have little use for him. When Robert convinces Coco to attempt an Initial Public Offering of Viking Tankers on Wall Street, the desperate American thinks his problems may have been solved – but the former hedge fund manager couldn’t be more wrong. Instead, Fairchild finds himself stuck between an American shale gas wildcatter and The Peoples’ Republic of China in their competition for clean energy. Combining swashbuckling shipping adventure with corporate finance derring-do, Viking Raid puts Fairchild back at the table in the highest stakes casino in the world – with more than just his deal at risk.
