Book excerpt: Karl Tycho, a divorced, low-keyed economist in his 50's, is employed by a commercial bank in Manhattan, and finds it hard to adjust to the competitive nature of his new assignment. When he loses an important account, he is promptly fired. Just how he lost his most important customer, however, is a mystery; and the story behind it is one of financial deal-making, broken friendships, and conflicting personalities. Among them are Laura, the blunt boss who fires Karl without remorse; Roy, the wealthy and eccentric client whose money means everything to Karl's department at the bank; and Tim, the archetypal aggressive Wall Street executive. And many others. There are also Karl's conflicting love interests interwoven in the plot: Harriet, a musician who knows nothing about the stock market, and who gets Karl's attention; and Sarah, a witty ex-academician, about whom he has reservations. Look at Wall Street through the eyes of an economist, who struggles to maintain his identity in a world obsessed with competition and money making, in Different Accounts.