In an enraging expos of the mercenary subprime mortgage industry, Hudson reveals how a gang of predatory lenders and Wall Street bankers fleeced America--and spawned a global crisis.

Reviews

#1 Book of the Year "Baltimore City Paper

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"Reads like chilling and compelling fiction. But the facts are true and the story is all too real." - Simon Johnson, coauthor of "13 Bankers"

"Magnificently and heartbreakingly told. . . . This tremendous, well-documented book shows vividly that really filthy, face-to-face fraud and hard-sell bullying ... brought the economy down."--"The Boston Globe"

"Remarkably comprehensive . . . a sweeping, detailed, and forceful account of the events, the people, and the policies that led to our current economic woes.... and the brave few who tried to stop it."--"The New Republic"

"Hudson has a talent for describing what was happening on the ground. He takes us on a tour of the financial carnival tent pitched by subprime factories like Ameriquest."--"Time""Magazine"

"As engagingly written as Michael Lewis' "The Big Short" (which chronicles the struggles the winners endured during the last bubble), as caustic and trenchant in its analysis of the dotty economic theories that underpin our bubble economy as Yves Smith's "ECONned"; and at least as cogent of the big-picture power politics as Simon Johnson's "13 Bankers," "The Monster" also does what those books don't: It reveals the inner lives of both the victims and the perpetrators of predatory lending."--"Baltimore City Paper"

"Hudson's book is a guide to the worst excesses of the mortgage business . . . [and offers] a deeper, truer understanding of the many-headed subprime monster. . . . ["The Monster"] succeeds by entertaining us with behind-the-scenes moments and personal stories from people trading their ethics for all-expenses-paid trips to Hawaii." --"The Seattle Times"

"Terrifically readable. . . . Hudson gives readers piercing insight into the booze, broads and cocaine that fueled the buccaneers in the mortgage game. . . . Though I thought myself too old to be shocked, the revelations here shocked me. Read it and weep."--"Chico News & Review"

"Michael W. Hudso