The Inner Sanctum [Hardcover]

Stephen W. Frey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 7, 1997

Jesse Hayes, a young tax agent, finds herself in the middle of a terrifying mystery when her boss dies suddenly during the investigation of a high profile candidate for the Senate. The hottest issue in the election is defence spending and the Senator's connections to the military's industrial complex run far deeper than he has acknowledged. Jesse uncovers hard evidence to back up her suspicions but begins to attract unwelcome attention from powerful quarters.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

If you need a good business thriller to keep your mind off the stock market, you can't do much better than this one from Stephen Frey, former Wall Street insider and author of two previous barn burners, The Takeover and The Vulture Fund, both available in paperback. The Inner Sanctum pits smart, ambitious, underpaid IRS agent Jesse Hayes against smart, ambitious, overpaid portfolio fund manager David Mitchell in a story about corporate greed and political corruption that reads like a cover of Time or Newsweek. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Jesse Hayes, the unlikely hero of this latest financial thriller from Frey (e.g., The Vulture Fund, Dutton, 1996), is a young IRS agent who investigates a shady Senate candidate.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Michael Joseph Ltd; 1st Edition - Print Run edition (August 7, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0718142608
• ISBN-13: 978-0718142605
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,716,525 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Dissapointing overall..., September 19, 2005

By 

Brosamj (East Coast) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Inner Sanctum (Paperback)

I am a fan of Stephen Frey. His book 'Take Over' was fabulous. This one though seems to stumble around quite a bit.

First the story: It deals with an investment firm, the government, a huge airplane contract and a young IRS agent. This young IRS agent, Jesse, finds out that her admired boss, who was just killed, had some damning information on some illegal activities of a government contract and a political candidate. The boss knew that this was some explosive information he was uncovering so he set up a safeguard that if he was killed, he would have this information sent to someone that could figure out the entire web and uncover all the deceit. So who did he send it to? The FBI, the Police? Nope. He sent it to a 25 year old woman. He was killed for this information and he sent it to his employee, a friend, who is 25 years old to unravel it all. Huh? Well, the plot takes us to Jesse running for her life at times, having friends she is not quite sure she can trust (David, an investment banker who is a member of a firm that Jesse is interested in but he is a man that she may not be able to trust...and Todd who is a good friend of hers who has gambling problems and issues and a man that Jesse may not be able to trust as well) all the while trying to figure out who the bad guys are and what they are trying to acoomplish. Convuluted story.

The characters--nobody comes off real likeable. Even Jesse has some issues, some of which are brought up but not really explored The guys are even worse. You never really get to know either one of them real well and even worse, you don't really like either one of them.

The book has so many characters and it has such a weak plot that you as a reader end up just plodding along. Disappointing effort from an author that I very much enjoy.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable, if you don't expect too much., August 3, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Inner Sanctum (Paperback)

This book isn't great literature and doesn't claim to be, but it's fine for a lazy afternoon when you just want something to read. It's the kind of book you can enjoy but forget you read a year from now. It also has what you might expect: a plot based on a string of incredible coincidences and 'not-very-deep' characters (I found myself actually hoping that the bad guys would snuff-out the heroine at one point just to shut her up). It provided a pleasant diversion for a few hours which is all I really expected.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A big disappointment, April 26, 2000

By 

Samuel J. Wammack (Missouri) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Inner Sanctum (Paperback)

This is the WORST plot I have read in years! I am quitting it today after 98 pages, and I'm writing this review. The story is about a heroic, wonderful black Democrat senator from Maryland whose Senate seat is being stolen be evil Republicans. The Democrats have no money, but they are fine and honest - the Republicans are filthy rich and they're having people killed to steal this election. What a crock! I'll never buy another Stephen Frey novel, and I wish I had my money back for this one!