Business journalism and fiction writing

Business journalists in fiction books is a growing field.

There is, of course, the Millenium series by Swedish author Stieg Larsson, which feature business magazine editor Mikael Bloomqvist as one of the protagonists.

One of my personal favorites is “Deadline Man” from 2010 by Seattle Times business columnist and blogger Jon Talton, which features a business columnist for a daily paper in Seattle who uncovers a plot involving a local company.

Now comes a novel by CNBC.com managing editor Allen Wastler titled “Cargo Kills,” which he self-published earlier this month and which features a business reporter covering the Port of Long Beach.

Explains Wastler in an e-mail to Talking Biz News:

When  I was a reporter on the West Coast many, many moons ago I wrote a mystery novel based on the stuff I covered day in and day out.  It got rejected a couple of times, and I let it sit on the book shelf. Then the other day it occurred to me I could just self-pub these days. So I did.

There is also Jess Walter’s “The Financial Lives of the Poets,” about a former biz journalist who tries to start a financial-journalism web site using poetry and his life completely falls apart.

And don’t forget the Starvation Lake series by Bryan Gruley — he was the WSJ bureau chief in Chicago and now writes for Bloomberg Businessweek.

If you know of any other fiction books featuring a business journalist as the central character, drop me a note at croush@email.unc.edu.