Near crowded elevator doors, Emma Santini bobs her head to heavy-metal muzak. Bon Jovi? Or Val Halen? Avoiding name that tune, she watches the metal hands count down to the bottom floor. Too many thoughts rush inside her head. Who is Augustin Saints? What employment test is she about to take? She recalls the conversation with her father and chastises herself for agreeing to this dangerous charade. How can she save her father’s business by acing an interview process? A coding test? Or a game that is far more sinister?

The Reaper is a novella set in the financial world of High-Frequency trades and Wall-Street lifestyles. The tale loosely follows the construct of Rumplestilkskin, where the daughter of a Pizza maker sets out to make her mark on the industry while trying to spin modern-day straw into gold. And make her mark on the world.