At Bay Press

Your cart is empty

  • Books
    • Books
    • Ephemera
    • Book Supplements
    • Catalogue
  • Creators
  • Submissions
  • Ordering
  • Updates
  • Podcast
  • Videos
  • About
  • Contact

Pitfall

by Terry Kirk

Historical Fiction     Paperback

Frank Cork is head trader at Chicago’s leading brokerage firm. It’s October 1929, and Frank has made a killing trading wheat futures on the city’s commodities exchange. At thirty-two, Frank and his wife, Katrina, have climbed from the South Side to the tony northern suburbs. They’re at the top of their game in their stunning modernist home with two young children. But on October 29, 1929, Frank watches in the trading pit as his fortune is wiped out in a single day. Some traders skulk home while others lurk in the shadows of the Clark Street Bridge. Frank drags himself to Grand Central Station. Hawkers scream, “Black Tuesday, Market Crash,” as Frank staggers onto the nearest train. Flattened by shame, the fallen trader finally debarks a thousand miles later as his train crosses the border into Saskatchewan. Holed up in a shed on the Canadian Prairies, Frank wrestles with how to redeem himself and return home. The only opportunity in sight is selling Canadian whiskey to the Chicago mob. Frank faces setbacks at every turn, including a terrifying visit to the still in the tunnels under Moose Jaw. In Chicago, Frank’s firm is looking for him. Was it suicide? Murder? Everyone’s a suspect, from the managing partner to the mob-boss mayor.

This book was made with the generous support of the Manitoba Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts.

Canada Council for the Arts Manitoba Arts Council
  • Published: May 16th, 2025
  • Or Buy Local

Related Books

  • Out of the Shadows

    Gordon Henderson, David Bouchard

    Equal parts spy thriller and love triangle and, in a time of reconciliation.

    More…

  • City Rising

    David Rotenberg

    The first book in a historical epic ‘The Shanghai Tetralogy’.

    More…

  • Book cover showing a dark blue profile of a person's face in silhouette, with the text DWELLING overlaid

    Dwelling

    Laurie Freedman

    The debut thriller from Laurie Freedman

    More…

  • BookNet Canada
  • Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artists Guild
  • Association of Canadian Publishers
  • Association of Manitoba
Book Publisher
  • Fine Press Book Association

At Bay Press acknowledges we are located on original lands of Anishinaabeg, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota, and Dene peoples, and on the homeland of the Métis Nation.

  • Canada Council for the Arts
  • Manitoba Arts Council

At Bay Press gratefully acknowledges the financial support provided for its publishing program by the Government of Canada; the Canada Council for the Arts; as well as the Manitoba Department of Sport, Culture and Heritage; and the Manitoba Arts Council.

All contents copyright ©2025 At Bay Press
Top of page