Arthur Hailey (April 5, 1920 – November 24, 2004) was a British/Canadian novelist.

This is the story of the happenings at a major bank. The first of which is that the bank's president announces that he is dying and that with no heir to take his place, he informs the bank's officers that he is letting them choose a successor. The two vice presidents who are the front runners for the job are Alex Vandervoort and Roscoe Heyward. Now Alex is not exactly running around looking for support, Roscoe can only see the benefits the presidency can give him. So he goes around looking for people who would like to do business with the bank. He goes to George Quartermain, who wants the bank to give him more than they are allowed to. While most of the board are excited of the possibility of going into business with Quartermain, Alex is the only one who is weary of it, as it's a big risk. Alex is not popular also because, while his wife is mentally ill and confined to an insane asylum, he is having an affair with a lawyer, who specializes in helping the disadvantaged, the bank was originally suppose to fund a project to help them but has pulled out, and Alex is also asking them not to. Also the bank is plagued with false credit cards being circulated, so the bank's security officer, who was hired by Alex is not having much luck in finding them, which is another reason why Alex is not so popular. Written by