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The Day Trader: A Novel of Risk and Reward
 
 
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The Day Trader: A Novel of Risk and Reward [Hardcover]

Stephen Frey (Author)
2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)


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Book Description

January 15, 2002
Some people risk everything once in their lives.
Day traders do it every time they go to work.


The exhilarating and addictive world of point-and-click stock market trading takes on a lethal new dimension in this riveting thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of The Insider and Trust Fund.

Augustus McKnight wants a better life than the one he’s got: toiling as a sales rep for a paper products company and suspecting his wife, Melanie, of cheating on him. His only solace is managing his tiny stock portfolio. . . hoping to strike it rich. Then a shrewd investment actually earns him a windfall. But it’s too late to save his marriage. In a bitter, violent confrontation, Melanie admits to a secret affair and demands a divorce. One day later, she is found brutally murdered. And Augustus is the sole beneficiary of her million-dollar life insurance policy.

Suddenly, Augustus has the better life he’s always longed for–but at a devastating price. To escape his pain, he plunges into the world of the full-time day trader, surrounded by like-minded loners who risk it all to run with the bulls and bears. Yet even as his financial fortunes begin to soar, dark circumstances threaten to send his life into a tailspin. A suspicious insurance investigator is determined to prove that Augustus committed the murder to get the million. And a relentless police detective is watching Augustus’s every move–with the help of a mystery informant.

Augustus’s only ally has is Vincent Carlucci–an old friend and high-living player, who offers Augustus a sweet gig managing the money of some big shots who’ll pay handsome commissions on winning investments. But when the deal is sealed with a night on the town at an exclusive after-hours club, Augustus stumbles on the first of many shocking revelations about the events that have rocked his world–and discovers he is both a pawn in a complex game of manipulation and betrayal . . . and the target of a twisted quest for revenge.

The Day Trader is as thrilling–and terrifying–as gambling on a hot stock in this lightning-fast world where fortunes are made or lost at the touch of a button, where being rich means being ruthless, and where quick wits and killer instinct make the difference between success and slaughter.


Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

For Augustus McKnight, there's good news and bad news: he's just made a killing, but his wife wants a divorce. Then she's murdered, and McKnight gets her juicy life insurance policy and a whole lot of trouble.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

On the basis of previous novels such as The Vulture Fund (1996) and The Inner Sanctum (1997), Frey could be called the Grisham of financial thrillers. Here, he tarnishes that reputation a bit by offering an interesting but implausible story of the mixed-up world of a novice day trader. Augustus McKnight, married to his high-school sweetheart, has noticed that the spark has faded from their relationship. He figures it is due to their financial problems; he is a salesman, and she is a legal secretary. Augustus is obsessed with the financial market, managing a ghost portfolio that triples in value in a short time, and with the encouragement of his laid-back, playboy friend, Vincent, Augustus considers changing occupations. That decision is hastened by the murder of his wife. In his grief, and with a million-dollar life insurance policy in his future, Augustus takes the plunge and signs on with a day-trading group. The husband is always a suspect, of course, so adding to the stress of his newfound livelihood is the constant appearance of homicide detective Dorsey. As Augustus is investigated, he ventures on his own search, finding disturbing connections among his wife, her boss, his motley crew of coworkers, a certain gentleman's club, and his supposed best friend, Vincent. Frey attempts to paint Augustus as a tragic hero, his fatal flaw being his naivete, but it's hard to buy. He is intelligent, strong, insightful, but incredibly blind to his surroundings. Nonetheless, expect demand for this page-turner. Mary Frances Wilkens
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 304 pages
  • Publisher: Ballantine Books; 1st edition (January 15, 2002)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0345443241
  • ISBN-13: 978-0345443243
  • Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,707,711 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Stephen Frey is a managing director at a private equity firm. He is the bestselling author of fourteen previous novels, including The Fourth Order, The Insider, and The Takeover. He lives in Florida.

 

Customer Reviews

42 Reviews
5 star:
 (3)
4 star:
 (8)
3 star:
 (12)
2 star:
 (5)
1 star:
 (14)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
2.5 out of 5 stars (42 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars The Day Trader - Does Not Deliver, February 10, 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: The Day Trader: A Novel of Risk and Reward (Hardcover)
Day Trading may someday define the late 1990's. The boom, the bust, the empowerment of the individual. Unfortunately, Frey squanders his opportunity to help us make sense of it. If the title, THE DAY TRADER, attracts you (like it did me), do not be misled. The scope of the book is very small-minded. I was hoping to better understand the fullness of this huge phenomenon (through the power of fiction). So I expected good fictional characterizations and a more even-handed plot than Frey provided. His characters never really convince you and there's a plot that seems just too darn cooked up. I wanted a good fictionalized view of this phenomenon and I sure didn't find it here.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Personal Review, February 11, 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: The Day Trader: A Novel of Risk and Reward (Hardcover)
Day Trading was certainly one the most dynamic infatuations of possibly America's greatest decade. So when Frey chose to call his latest, The Day Trader, I was hoping he might capture the deeper meanings of such an interesting phenomenon. Unfortunately, I think Frey squandered a terrific opportunity. Instead of characterizing this naturally dramatic period fairly, he opted for plot devices and broad character portrayals. After it's over, you don't feel any clarity or much of anything, it's a few hundred pages of typical mystery that any subject normally provides. When fiction works well, it provides insight, gusto, and obvious enjoyment. I just didn't get it here.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Average, January 23, 2002
By 
Konrad Kern (OFallon, MO United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Day Trader: A Novel of Risk and Reward (Hardcover)
`The Day Trader'is Stephen Frey's latest foray into the financial thriller. Not his best but still quite enjoyable.

When Augustus McKnight gets lucky on one of his stocks and makes a significant profit he thinks it'll make things all better for him and his wife. Wrong. Before he gets a chance to say anything she tells him she's leaving him and wants a divorce-it seems there is a greener pasture with her boss. The next day she is found murdered. He will be the beneficiary of a one million dollar life insurance policy taken out six months earlier. So he quits his regular job and decides to become a full time day trader. Needless to say there is a detective on his case as well as an insurance investigator. Now for some reason this seems very surprising to the, obviously very naďve, Augustus.

With some neat twists and turns, Frey has written an entertaining novel. The biggest flaw in this book (fairly significant) is the protagonist. Through most of the novel I could not have cared less about Augustus. As mentioned by other reviews, and to put it plainly, he was just too dumb to care about.
I kept waiting for him to get smart but the book ended before I got there.
Though the novel tells you a little about trading, it mostly deals with the murder mystery.

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Inside This Book (learn more)
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First Sentence:
I'm not a religious man, but I make the sign of the cross over my heart just in case. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
slayer statutes, day trader, day trading firms, preferred clients, trading floor
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Frank Taylor, Two O'Clock Club, Great Western, Reggie Dorsey, Father Dale, Vincent Carlucci, Wall Street, Trader One, Champagne Room, Jack Trainer, Kitten Closet, Mary Segal, Michael Seaver, New York, Freak Show, Russell Lake, Scott Snyder, University of Maryland, Department of Energy, Capital Grill, Jackson Hole, Jake Lawrence, Jesus Christ, Detective Dorsey, George Wayne Franklin
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