Eight months ago was when we first met with Memento, Inc. about the possibility of designing their first book. A few weeks ago, we celebrated with fine wine and cheese at their internal release party.

Insidious: How Trusted Employees Steal Millions and Why It's So Hard for Banks to Stop Them was released on October 5, 2009 via Amazon.com.

 

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Insidious discusses employees who steal and how they have the potential to devastate banks, swindle customers, tarnish reputations, and demoralize good employees. The book tells tales from fraud analysts and investigators on the front lines of fraud prevention as well as a devastating story from a trusted former bank vice president—now in federal prison.

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Compared to the status quo (read: ho-hum) business books we find on shelves in our local book stores, Insidious has an approach that is not only informative and eye-opening, but entertaining and humorous at times. It is a very serious book about a very serious problem. And at the same time, it's a pleasure to read. The 156 page book builds on this to take on a casual feel with ragged text, call outs, and high readability. The book was written to be picked up and read from any of its 12 chapters. A cover to cover read will do just fine, but beginning in a chapter you find compelling will also get you informed without having to start from the very beginning.

The cover design went through numerous iterations until we learned of the types of individuals that commit bank fraud. Most of the time, they're the people you'd least expect. Thieves hiding in plain sight that fellow bank employees work with everyday. And most of the time it takes years before banks discover them for what they really are—criminals.

We were honored that Memento chose Alphabetica for the design of Insidious. And we look forward to their next one!