The Successor: A Novel (Christian Gillette) [Kindle Edition]

Stephen Frey (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

While still a high-finance guru at heart, Christian Gillette gradually has been turning his focus away from Everest Capital, his big-bucks private equity firm, in favor of politics. In his last adventure (The Power Broker, 2006), he contemplated running for vice-president, and here he is ensnared in political intrigue once again when his almost running mate, Jesse Wood (now the first African American president of the U.S.) enlists his help. Rumors of Castro's death may result in Cuba becoming the next addition to the global market, and Wood needs Gillette to lead the effort to secure America's part in that new prosperity. Meanwhile, back at Everest, Gillette's second banana, the beguiling, wealthy heiress (and top-notch rainmaker) Allison Wallace, is running the firm. Being separated from one another leaves both Wood and Wallace feeling vulnerable, each in different arenas. Whether in the boardroom or on Air Force One, Frey knows how to deliver intrigue with just enough thrills to keep the pages turning. Mary Frances Wilkens
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

Praise for Stephen Frey

The Protégé

“When it comes to high-finance intrigue, this series continues to look good on the bottom line.”
–Booklist

“Fast-paced thrills, chills . . . The Protégé won’t disappoint.”
–San Antonio Express-News

The Chairman

“[Frey’s] best yet . . . twists galore, great action and crisp dialogue. With his lively writing and cynical humor, this author . . . is a captivating tour guide to a Wall Street wonderland of greed, folly and deceit.”
–Forbes

“High-stakes power play at its most ferocious level. Read it!”
–Donald J. Trump

Shadow Account

“This is the sort of fiction that skates dangerously close to truth.”
–Los Angeles Times

“Action-packed . . . Big-business conspiracies abound.”
–The Wall Street Journal





From the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 294 KB
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (January 16, 2007)
• Sold by: Random House Digital, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B000PDZFHU
• Text-to-Speech: Not enabled
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #221,591 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

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

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Hopefully The End Of The Series!, February 8, 2007

By 

Melvin Hunt (Cleveland,, Texas United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Successor: A Novel (Hardcover)

This is the fourth book in this series.Our hero is once again Christain

Gillette.He was elected Chairman of Everest by one vote.Since being the chairman he has had phenomenal sucess at making money for the firm.

In this newest book there is once again a plot to do Christain in.Victoria Graham,the chairperson of PennMu and members of the Washington D.C. power trust have hire Melissa Hart to get close to Christian Gillette and keep them informed of his plans.Victoria Graham and her cohorts have also hired Steven Sanchez a contract killer to deal

with Christian Gillette.

Christian Gillette is called upon by President Jesse Wood to act as a laison in Cuba.Wood is the first black American President.Cuba is about to undergo a coup.Wood wants Christian to talk to the leaders of the coup,

a group called Secret Six.Victoria Graham and her coconspirators want to use this event to nail President Wood and Christian for their part.They

want revenge on Christian for stopping the nano technology plot.

This would have been a good book if you would have left out the Cuba

plan.This dropped the book several levels.Our friend Quentin Stiles was also killed in this latest book.I hope that Frey goes back to writing good business books.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A Dissenting Opinion, February 12, 2007

By 

Richard A. Mitchell "Rick Mitchell" (candia, new hampshire United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Successor: A Novel (Hardcover)

This is the fourth in a series and although other reviewers have said the predecessors are better, I do not think I will indulge. I did not think this book was very good.

The premise of this book is that a rich capitalist is, for some unfathomable reason, picked by the president to decide if a group of revolutionaries in Cuba are the right ones to accomplish a coup. Getting there is apparently the trick. As absolutely loveable as this icon of capitalism is, it is somewhat - and only somewhat - apparent that there are at least two groups who want to kill him. When and where and why are all left to the last pages. There are women all over the place fawning over him and yet possibly conspiring against him. Very little makes sense for the first 198 pages. The book is written with glances at all the characters a few pages at a time. These glances are as disorganized as the rest of the book. I am not sure why this is described as a "thriller". It was a hard journey to get to Cuba with many asides that did not add to the plot or the characters.

The characters are all cardboard cut-outs. How's this for an original character? The icon's best friend is his black security director who was saved from gangs by his grandmother who enlisted him in the Army. Of course, he was Special Ops and then retired to go into private security. That's about all the depth you get of him. No character had any particular depth, which you would expect from a fourth book in a series.

In the end, the parts do come together. The coup is accomplished in about 2 1/2 pages and Gillette, the star, is only in country for about 8 pages. It did not seem as if Mr. Frey knew how to get from point A, the assignment, to point B, the coup in Cuba. He tried to get all sorts of intrigue with love and spies, but it just didn't work. Just to complete the formulaic nature of this book. At the end, the star leaves, waling into the sunset. Literally.

I would suggest passing over this book. If you want corporate intrigue go with Finder's books and skip this one.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Redux, May 27, 2007

By 

W. P. Strange "Bill's shelf" (Williamstown, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Successor: A Novel (Hardcover)

I liked the first few Frey novels of high finance and the people who deal with money - good and especially the bad, but now I have the feeling that I am re-reading the same book over and over. The writing is adequete, and the characters are interesting, but sorry to say it seems to be the same plot over and over. The author has come to a point where he needs to stretch a little more or risk losing his audience.