The Rules of Fortune

A Novel

By: Danielle Prescod, Mindy Kaling - introduction

Narrated by: Soneela Nankani

“A gripping novel about power, money, and secrets.”—Mindy Kaling

A daughter’s investigation into her family history threatens to destroy their legacy in a gripping novel about power, money, and secrets by the author of Token Black Girl.

On their Martha’s Vineyard estate, the Carter family prepares to celebrate. But when the billionaire patriarch dies right before his seventieth birthday, the media is quick to question the future of the multi-industry conglomerate that makes the Carters living legends. Amid the succession crisis, his daughter, Kennedy, is questioning her father’s past.

Kennedy is an aspiring filmmaker, and the documentary she’d planned to present at her father’s party begins an inquest into the life of a man she never really knew. A thoughtful outlier in an elite and fiercely guarded dynasty, she’s not interested in keeping up the appearances that define her impeccably poised mother or in the capitalist games her ruthless brother plays. Kennedy wants only to understand the origins of their empire, and the lethally ambitious man behind it. That understanding comes at a cost.

As a twisted history emerges, the fault lines in the family grow. Torn between morality and the promise of maintaining wealth, Kennedy must decide what’s most important—the Carter legacy or exposing the shocking truth of how it was built.

©2025 by Danielle Prescod. (P)2024 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“An intriguing story about wealth and power.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Twisty…Prescod keeps the reader guessing…Succession fans ought to take note.”—Publishers Weekly

“Prescod’s debut novel examines the many ways a man can use his power to take advantage of vulnerable people. [For] fans of complex fiction with suspenseful twists.”—Booklist

Good not great family saga

I think it bordered in being above average family saga and it just stayed on average

Good story

This was a good story of a very flawed family plagued by money and the drama inherent

The storytelling.

I loved everything about this book! It’s smart. It’s intriguing. It’s scandalous.

Can’t wait for the sequel.

No mystery, no drama

The description is not accurate. 1/3 of the way the central mystery is revealed and then rehashed for the rest of the novel. Not at all like succession, way too optimistic that people will “do the right thing”. It had interesting history and behind the scenes of Ivy League schools but not enough to recommend it.

Well told

No real resolution or interesting story line here. Well told and narrated. Entertaining but not engrossing.