Customer Reviews

Takeover

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Awesome.

I loved this book. I had bought this book second-hand at a street sale because it sounded ok from the description and the reviewer quotes, and also because it was only $1 - and I'm really glad that I did. Right now, I'd definitely include The Takeover in a list of my favorite books. To put it into some context, I'm also a fan of Michael Crichton and Tom Clancy books.

This is the first book by Stephen W. Frey that I've read - I will definitely look for and read other books by him.

The story is fast-paced and entertaining, and the plot is terrific. One thought that I had as I read it was "This would make a great movie!" And obviously others, including Paramount, thought that too as I believe Paramount has optioned it.

The depiction of Wall Street, and its reach into the Federal Reserve, the SEC, the press, and Washington is spot-on. A few years ago I might have thought it far-fetched, but since Bush, Enron, the market action of recent years, etc. I've become much more aware/cynical of how things work in the US and in the world. The Takeover was published in 1995, but I found I related it to recent events and the current corporate and political environment (ie. Enrons, Wall Street scams, CEOs, questionable elections, generally self-enrichment at the expense of the public.) Again, to put this in some context, the author, Stephen W. Frey, is a Wall Street investment banker at the executive level so he's able to provide insights into that world.

Wall Street has too much power for my taste and this book reinforced that opinion. Yes, it's fiction, but so was Tom Clancy's Debt of Honor's incredible closing scenario - until it happened.

Great read, definitely worth it. This is the first time I've been moved to write a positive review for a book.

Having been a banker myself, I am always disappointed at how badly financial mysteries are researched and don't really capture the dynamics of the market. However, Frey, who is a banker himself, knows exactly what he is writing about. The plot is superb, with its many twists and surprises. This is a book that gives you a glimpse into the high powered world of investment banking and is extremely entertaining, for both insiders and outsiders. I lent the book to my brother, who is an investment banker and never has time to read for pleasure. He read the book in a couple of days and loved it! What else do I need to say?!

Mr. Frey outdid himself in this book. Andrew Falcon is the epitome of the hyper over-achieving investment bankers that control the pursestrings on Wall Street. A million dollar first year bonus? Not good enough for this investment banker. Falcon goes out and tries to start up an internet style company, which through various circumstances, including his former employer's tampering, fails.

From there Frey weaves a trap for our hero Falcon, a trap that is ends up involving a Presidential assassination and a super secrete seven society from Harvard (presumably based on the UVA sevens.) While some elements of the story, and even Falcon's abilities, seem to be a bit to extraordinary, Frey still does a superb job in telling it.

Of his work, this one is clearly Frey's best and most suspenseful. There were so many details that Frey dove into that made the book really enjoyable.

My only real problem is not of this book, but of Frey's other works, which happen to mirror each other. If you have one financial thriller (doesn't that sound like an oxymoron?) to chose from, pick this one and you will be very well rewarded.

My biggest problem with this book is that the characters are all shallow and stereotyped, and none of them are at all likeable. The supposed hero, Andrew Falcon, comes across as totally self-centered and selfish and amoral, just the kind of person anyone in their right mind would avoid having as a friend or lover. I'd prefer to read a book where I can identify with the hero.

Another problem is that the book is unrealistic in its description of how top businessmen interact. There are descriptions of meetings at the Federal Reserve Bank, where the Chairman acts like a petty dictator and treats the other committee members like school children. These supposedly high-level, experienced and intelligent bankers accept the chairman's treatment submissively! This is totally crazy. Nobody gets to rise to the top of the business world with the kind of personality problems being described here.

Finally there's a major plot problem at the end of the book. The "hero" and the bad guys both have incriminating evidence on each other, so the hero is prevented from sending the bad guys to prison. But then, after we're told that the bad guys have succeeded in toppling the President of the United States and bumping off one of the hero's girlfriends, then the hero does go to the authorities and gets the bad guys sent up. There's no explanation of why he couldn't have done that six months earlier and thus saved the President and his girlfriend. (Fortunately, he has a "reserve girlfriend" that he can spend his declining years with, so the loss of one girlfriend is no major problem.)

There are some positive things in the book, for example the interesting information about how investment banking and especially a leveraged buyout work. It's also interesting to read about how the stock exchange, and Wall Street in general, functions. But this doesn't make up for the problems I've described above.

Rennie Petersen

the storyline, particularly the motive, were lacking. A very exciting scenario was built throughout the first half of the book, and then we find the motivation for this dastardly plot is...to avoid the estate tax when they die? Implausible. It took the air out of an otherwise fine story. Still worth a read, but this was disappointing.

I'm 22, in the military and currently in Iraq, and for the first time in about 2-3 years I picked up a book that i thought i might like only out of bordum. And it was by random that i picked up this book. I try to find ways to mentally leave Iraq, even if its for a few minutes, as often as i can. And this book was one that insired me to read more. I used to hate reading and now i love it. Stephen Frey is an awesome writer, and i can't wait to get more of his books in the mail to read.

Ambitious investment banker Andrew Falcon is the prime character.Unfortunately, he is just not believable. Nor is the plot theme of a group of wealthy, influential men called The Sevens. They come up with a plan to ruin the liberal President of the U.S. by disrupting the financial markets. Falcon is kind of a pawn. But is to be compensated to the tune of $5 million for his efforts in their behalf by putting together the takeover of a large chemical company. Frey's books are usually good quick reading page turners. But, this one suffers the common problem of being just too far fetched.

A friend recommended Frey so I checked two out from the library. This is not as bad as "Silent Partner" but has the same mechanical and unbelievable plotting, tiresome characters, evil old white men, and unremitting coincidence. It is irritatingly apparant that Mr. Frey has never been nearer to the world of finance than an ATM machine.

This is a fun, fast-paced book about a hotshot investment banker who becomes a puppet in the dealings of a conspiracy of high-placed Harvard alumni known as the Seven. The depiction of Wall Street is pretty amusing, but not too badly off-target. I liked it in that it was never boring and quickly moved from scene to scene, although it did get a bit unreal in places.

I'm sorry, but yes, people do rise to the top with all those personality problems. It's totally normal. I'm responding to a previous review that thought petty dictatorship at the highest levels is unrealistic. Quite the reverse is true. It is totally normal for people at the top to be the most incredibly dysfunctional (emotionally) and abusive personalities. Sure, not all, but they are very common.

Frey depicts the kinds of interactions pretty well, with a lot of realism. I like it for that. The book is pretty good.