Customer Reviews

The Insider: A Novel

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Let me start off by saying that Stephen Frey is a very good writer, and THE INSIDER is a very suspensful and entertaining read. Unfortunately I have read some of Frey's other works prior to THE INSIDER (THE TAKEOVER, THE INNER SANCTUM, or THE VULTURE FUND for example.) The problem is that while Frey's books are very enjoyable to read, they do tend to follow the same format. That is, the hero is a recently hired investment wiz in a high rolling investment business and is tricked into either participating or covering up a scheme of some sort. One reviewer said that Frey's characters are all very attractive people that have similar personalities. That comment was well founded.

Now don't get me wrong, I loved THE INSIDER, Jay West was quite a character. But Frey uses the same character mold in his other books (THE TAKEOVER), and after reading some of his other books the theme gets played out. I gave it 4 stars because if it is the first Frey book you have read, then it is very good. However, if you have, like me, read his other material, then you will quickly find THE INSIDER to be a little anti-climatic.

Stephen Frey is a talented writer who provides his readers with main characters who have the uncanny ability to get themselves into trouble without even trying. In his latest outing, THE INSIDER, that poor unfortunate person is Jay West, an unlikely candidate for a seat on an arbitrage desk at a boutique investment house on Wall Street.

Jay is everything that he shouldn't be in investment banking. He is not an IVY grad and lacks a prestigious MBA. He holds an English degree from Lehigh University and comes from a working class family in the steel region of eastern Pennsylvania. Despite his apparent shortcomings, he is selected, recruited and hired for a position with McCarthy and Lloyd and his future looks bright.

Immediately immersed in the day-to-day activities of the arbitrage desk, Jay proves to be so insightful that he shortly realizes all is not as it should be. Once he catches on, he still tries to succeed because after all, he has a powerful incentive. At the end of one year, he stands to reap a cool million dollars as his bonus.

But that reality is never meant to be and Jay is set up to take a serious fall. Before the book is 2/3 of the way through, Jay is being pursued by the US Government and some really nasty characters from an extremist Irish liberation organization.

Another reviewer here at Amazon has stated that Frey borrows his newer characters from books he has previously written. I won't diagree completely. Some of them are starting to sound very much alike. But there is still enough of a difference to keep the reader wanting to know how Jay West will get out of his precarious position. That's what makes Frey's books such entertaining page turners. He doesn't use a lot of detail where it isn't necessary and he keeps the plot moving in a forward direction. This is not Tolstoy or Faulkner. What this book is is a quick, entertaining read with a likeable character who the reader comes to care for. A beach book or a book for when you're snowed in is what comes to mind.

I've read his other books, also sold here at Amazon and liked them enough to seek this one out. Give it a try, I think you'll like it.

Like so many modern authors of pop literature, Stephen Frey tries to be everything to everyone. He wants to be Robert Ludlum (terrorism), John Grisham (corporate espionage) and Raymond Chandler (noir heros and heroines) and fails on all counts. He's the got the set-up down pat, but after the first 100 pages, when plot development is needed, the book falls apart, clinging to a series of ridiculously convenient and contrived scenarios. There are some potentially interesting characters here like Oliver Mason and Sally Lane, but we never learn enough about what's going on inside of them to care what happens. This is in part due to Frey's frenetic point of view jumping, placing us inside the heads of every character but never delving below what we can find on the surface. This style of voice (3rd person omnicient)can work, but here it just comes off as sloppy.

All this might be forgivable, but then Frey grinds the story to a halt in the last third of the book by explaining every bit of back story (we've already gleaned 90% at this point) through one of his main characters while he's walking through the park! How many people review events chronologically and in this much detail?

Proof yet again that yarn spinning and writing are very different crafts indeed.

The prologue of The Insider is set in August 1994, in an alligator infested Louisiana swamp. There, a poacher named Neville has an encounter with a man piloting an expensive boat. The stranger claims to be an inspector with an oil company, there to inspect gauges on the company's wellheads. This sounds fishy to Neville, since he doesn't recall the company having any wellheads there. The poacher doesn't call the man on his apparent lie, however, abandoning his questions when the stranger lets it slip that he's spotted several twelve-foot alligators in his journey through the swamp. Neville, realizing the man has recognized him as a poacher, leaves the stranger to his work, but only after securing a promise from him to reveal the locations of the gators. The man tells Neville he will visit him later to do just that; Neville, who stands to make a significant amount of money from black market buyers desirous of the gators' skins and meat, departs.

Twenty minutes later, assured that he's now alone, the stranger cuts the engine, moves to the front of the boat, and removes a body from a canvas sack. Affixing cinder blocks to the corpse with thick chains, he dumps it overboard. He then leaves the bayou to keep his appointment with Neville--not to give him the information he promised, but to kill him.

Cut to June 1999. Ambitious young investment banker Jay West is interviewing for a position at the elite New York investment firm of McCarthy and Lloyd. Despite his scrappy personality, Jay feels a little intimidated. In the space of one morning, he is interviewed by three colorful, charismatic, hard driving men. The first is Oliver Mason, an aggressive lout whose arrogance is exceeded only by his success. Oliver, whose investment prowess is legendary (his co-workers refer to him as "God") takes an instant liking to Jay, later becoming his sponsor/mentor/champion at the firm. Jay is then passed on to Oliver's assistant, Bullock, affectionately known as "the Badger." Bullock doesn't share Oliver's high opinion of the candidate--in fact, he's barely able to conceal his disdain for Jay. Finally, there's Bill McCarthy, the genteel, suave, politically connected co-founder of the firm. Jay's brief session with this no-nonsense businessman leaves his head spinning.

Jay wonders if he can survive the torture these men promise to put him through--he's been told that he will be expected to devote himself to the firm 24/7. He quickly puts his doubts aside, however, when Oliver dangles the lure of a million dollar bonus in front of him. Jay signs on, effective immediately.

After working the arbitrage desk for a few weeks, Jay begins to suspect that something is very wrong at McCarthy and Lloyd, that Oliver's arbitrage success is due to something more than a combination of hard work and good luck. Jay comes to realize that Oliver owes his good fortune to his use of illegal insider information; he further realizes that his mentor has been carefully setting him up to take the fall for this illegal activity. The stakes increase when a trusted co-worker is brutally murdered and the mysterious Sally Lane, a beautiful blonde who might be in on the set up, joins the arbitrage team. Now enmeshed in an intricate web of high stakes financial, legal and political intrigue, Jay is confronted with two distinct problems--how to clear his name, and how to stay alive long enough to do so.

Okay, by now you're probably asking, what about that guy in the swamp? Well, I can't reveal just how he fits into the story, mainly because I don't want to ruin any of Frey's many surprises. I can tell you, however, that these seemingly disparate plot threads eventually intertwine, coming together in a logical, if tortured, manner. There are criticisms that can be leveled at the novel--it seems derivative of Grisham's The Firm--but they're overwhelmed by Frey's breakneck pacing and the sheer bravado he displays in following his audacious plot through to its harrowing conclusion. Frey, the author of four previous novels (The Takeover, The Vulture Fund, The Inner Sanctum and The Legacy) again offers up a tantalizing blend of action, intrigue and suspense. If it's excitement you crave, The Insider has it in spades.

What would YOU do for a million-dollar bonus? Would you quit your well-paying, career-track job? Would you pledge blind allegiance to an egomaniac boss? Would you sign your contract without reading it? Would you leap off tall sailboat perches into the briny sea? Is this beginning to sound a little like a certain Charlie Sheen, Michael Douglas movie?

Stephen Frey hooks us with the cliché filled plot. Good guy tempted by easy riches. Good guy tempted by beautiful women. Poor, working-class banker versus entrenched, well-connected aristocrats of Wall Street and Washington power. Let's see - a boy scout and a coke snorting tyrannical greed monger - you already knows who wins in the end.

You picked the book because of the passing references to the financial world. Too bad Mr. Frey doesn't give us more than an "Investment Banking for Dummies" glimpse into that world. Actually, there is even less of a snapshot of deal-making than that. So don't buy this one to learn about Investment Banking. Go find a copy of "Barbarians at the Gate" for that. The arbitrage unit in this novel executes block purchases of three equities with little more insight than "someone told me to do it." No hedging, no brilliant arbitrage strategy, and no explanation other than that the firms are takeover candidates.

Instead, Mr. Frey provides a light, fast-reading, whodunnit. Without a lot of plot twists. So it will suffice for the coast-to-coast airline ride. If you don't mind sitting in the middle seat and reading about sabotaged airplanes. Or "Greed" isn't already the inflight movie fare.

In my opinion, there are far too few mysteries and novels which are set in the corporate world. Perhaps this is because people who have little or no contact with the business world find the subject matter boring or possibly confusing. I find these stories stimulating because it deals with subjects which are so true to every day life. The world of insider trading can be very fascinating. I think Stephen Frey did an excellent job of making his readers aware of the concerns all stock buyers should have in acting on "tips". For the brokers themselves, the problem is even more fraught with danger as Frey suggests. Although short on details, the novel keeps up a steady pace. I enjoy that since I read to escape from the stress of the work day and every day life. If you want more detail, read Turow! Frey's books remind me of novels by Oksner and John Sandford (yes he did write some outside of the "Prey" series).

The Insider delves into the under-explored area of corporate management, while also tackling some terrorism and politics. For a 350-page book, it covers a lot of ground at a frantic place, which eventually prevents the book from being all that it can be. Character development is severely lacking, as is introduction and development of side plots. This book ranks 4 stars more for its quick/easy reading and corporate setting than for its plot and characters.

If you are willing to completely let go of reality, you might enjoy this one. Ok, so the plot is a little thin and the characters could definitely use a little more substance. Still, like an action adventure movie where you are entertained in spite of the stupidity going on around you, this book has something to offer. It is a quick read and it won't challenge you to think a lot. A good vacation read.

The Insider keeps me current with all Frey's novels. He writes in a understandable way for people with limited insight in the world of high finance and throws in some dirty bad guys at the same time. Keep up the good work, I will be waiting for you next offering.

Having read Frey's other books I feel he has gone back to the well one time too many. His lead character is basically the same in all his novels. I enjoy reading them but here's hoping he tries something a little more original next time around.