TIMELY TIE-INS

2025

December

• International Anti-Corruption Day – 9

SUGGESTED INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

Power, Corruption, and Capital

• What do you think happens when profit becomes more important than principle?
• Is war becoming a business model in today’s world — and if so, who benefits?
• How do wealth and secrecy create power that’s beyond democratic accountability?
• What’s more dangerous: a corrupt politician or a silent investor?
• Do you believe there are still ethical limits in high finance, or have they eroded entirely?

Narrative Ethics and Truth

• Why did you choose fiction to tell a story rooted in real systems?
• How did the current war in Ukraine, as well as other recent global conflicts, inform the writing of this novel?
• Is it possible to write something more honest through fiction than nonfiction?
• What responsibility do storytellers have when writing about systems of power?
• Can fiction ever hold the powerful accountable the way journalism or law cannot?

Global Finance and Modern Warfare

• How do financial markets influence war today in ways most people don’t see?
• What role do shell companies, offshore accounts, and asset managers play in global conflict?
• How close are we to a world where private investors can start wars for profit?

Identity, Betrayal, and Agency

• How much of Alex Morgan’s paranoia is justified — and how much is self-inflicted?
• Can a person be part of a system and still claim innocence?
• Do you believe there’s a way to work inside finance without being corrupted by it?
• What does redemption look like in a world built on secrets and leverage?
• What does Alex Morgan ultimately choose — truth, survival, or revenge?

PRAISE

“Rapid pacing and tight characterizations make the book both compulsively readable and smartly efficient as readers follow Alex’s entertaining arc from capitalist frat boy to enlightened truth-seeker. A propulsive debut that grips with its intelligence and frightening what ifs.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Brown offers an interesting question through Alex’s eyes: what if ethics are redefined—not by God or enlightenment, but by “anyone who’s not profiting from the suffering”? Brown capably probes how to make the world a better place without losing competitive excellence.”
—BookLife

“[Prophets of War]is a thriller about money and morality, but also about family, ambition, and the unbearable weight of knowing too much. Reading it was both exciting and unsettling. I found myself drawn to the writing in a way that made it difficult to put down. Jack Brown’s prose is sharp, direct, almost conversational, and it has this raw energy that carries you forward.”
—Literary Titan