Ways and Means: A Novel

**LONG-LISTED FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION FIRST NOVEL PRIZE**
**"An absolute riot... Lefferts's wry examination of the societal and economic shifts that led to the once unthinkable hits incredibly close to home." —** * **Vanity Fair***
Alistair McCabe arrives in New York with a plan. Young, handsome, intelligent, and gay, he hopes to escape his Rust Belt poverty and give his mother a better life by pursuing a career in high finance.
But by the spring of 2016, Alistair’s plan has completely come undone:
* **Mired in student debt** , his dream investment banking career has eluded him.
* **Desperate for a way out** , he enters the orbit of an enigmatic billionaire whose true ambitions turn out to be far darker than Alistair could have ever imagined.

A searing debut about a striving finance student, the fine line between ambition and greed, and the disordered politics of our era, *Ways and Means* is a propulsive literary thriller about money, power, and the cost of American success.
**Praise for** ***Ways and Means***
“An auspicious debut . . . a wildly entertaining drama of ambition and consequence.” — * **Wall Street Journal***
“A sexy political thriller.” — * **Washington Post***