The Winner's Curse — David Fisher

Full of dry wit, this modern love story and suspenseful political thriller is set in the mountains and lakes of Switzerland and the medieval town of Zurich. The central character, Mark, an anti-hero type and moraliser, loses his job as an investment manager under mysterious circumstances. While he and his IT guru friend, Fred, are bent on clearing his name of any wrongdoings, he discovers a scam in progress which involves the man who fired him. Mark's search for the facts takes him to Switzerland where he meets the inscrutable Nathalie who is tied up in an unhappy marriage to, it turns out, the mastermind behind the scam. Mark and Nathalie begin an affair seemingly based on mutual convenience but it soon turns to love. For them, the road is by no means smooth as the husband is not willing to give up his wife and is prepared to go to extremes to get rid of Mark. When it appears that some mysterious figures are waiting in the wings ready to cash in on the scam, Mark and Fred and Natalie soon find themselves unwillingly drawn into the epicentre of a conspiracy and their lives in danger.
Updated 2018.