Customer Reviews

The Trust Fund

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

Comparisons of his family are always to the Kennedy clan as the Hancock shares the same level of wealth, charisma, and political connections. There are five children in the family and their father, similar to Joe Sr. holds a taut reign on Paul, Tommy, Catherine, Bo, and Ashley even as he treats his two youngest as changelings.

Paul is running for president and with his dad's backing easily will win. Bo runs the family's Wall St. brokerage firm. That changes when Bo's alleged drinking and philandering reaches the ear of his father who exiles his youngest son to Montana a la Hoover. When his father becomes ill, Bo returns home to retake control of Warbled Capital even though his siblings prefer he remain in Big Sky country. Bo fights for his position, but soon learns his opponent is an invisible cabal of powerful people running the country from behind the scenes. Bo realizes he has a difficult decision whether to challenge this Goliath or not.

People not familiar with the intricacies of Wall St. probably will find this novel sells them short as it assumes full understanding of the financial markets. Yet, this does will not deter anyone from the full enjoyment of Stephen Frey's clever tale that obviously imitates real life. TRUST FUND will enhance Mr. Frey's reputation as one of the leaders of the political-financial thriller.

Harriet Klausner

See story summary above.

I must admit that this is Stephen Frey's best novel so far. I know it sounds cliched, but it really grabbed me from the start and wouldn't let go. This book is definitely best read in one to three sittings because it is a little complex sometimes. As far as entertainment and pure escapist fiction goes, this was a great read. Power and Money make this suspenseful novel tick. Keep up the good work Mr. Frey.

Highly recommended.

Trust Fund grabbed me right from the start (a dead body in the beginning always helps). I have read all of Stephen Frey's books and this is one of his best, but one of his bad habits rears its ugly head again. Bo Hancock, the main character is an interesting character and I felt that I could relate with some of the decisions he made. The Hancocks are an interesting clan and they have a lot of problems, but they all seem to believe that money makes it all better, except our hero Bo of course.

I thought that the story flowed very well until the last quarter of the book, when Stephen Frey fell into the habit of making everything huge and corruption everywhere. It ended up having a little too much conspiracy theory for me. But if you can accept that this is a great read.

While I didn't feel that this was Freys best book (The Takeover and The Insider in my opinion), it was still pretty good. The main character is good because he is flawed and is not the "perfect" character you often see. The secondary characters are all pretty one-dimensional however. The plot is lightning paced, with a steadily rising body count, and plenty of twists, making for an interesting, quick read. The only complaint about the plot is that it comes off as somewhat "trashy", soap operaish at times. And the ending is definitely a bit overblown. Still, it is an enjoyable novel that is easy to read and can be quickly polished off in one sitting. Frey is still the master of the financial thriller genre.

The Hancock family is the most influential family in Connecticut, they also happen to be behind Warfield Capital, a multi-billion dollar investment firm.

Bo Hancock is the youngest son of the family, always living in the shadow of his two brothers, Paul, and Teddy.

After covering up a crime involving his brother Paul and a call girl, he is banished to Montana, where he is to live and not make trouble for his family.

The rest of the Hancock family live each day as if nothing ever happened, until poppa Hancock is struck ill, and his last wish is for Bo to take control of the family business. Of course this decision will not sit well with Teddy and Paul, as well as Frank Ramsey, the man currently in charge.

A chain of events will erupt, culminating into a series of killings that have will have Bo wondering if he really new his family at all.

"Trust Fund" is lightning-fast entertainment, that should be finished in one sitting. From page one, the reader is pulled into a complex and twisted thriller, with one shock after another.

Stephen Frey, bestselling author of several novels, has outdone himself with his new book; he keeps his story of family secrets, and greed moving along, while throwing in his trademark investment banking thrills.

Mark this novel a winner, and Frey's best novel to date.

A MUST read!!!

Nick Gonnella

How the heck can Stephen Frey even put his name to this one? How can Fawcett even have agreed to publish this; oh, wait a minute, this is Fawcett Books. Stephen Frey sure as heck is not a John Grisham or Tom Clancy or Dan Brown, but come on...

The writing is cheap. The characters are lacking, and their development (along with the story's) is reminiscent of "see dog run." "Trust Fund" had to have been a joke or a mistake.

I started reading this book on a flight to LA, but found it more interesting and stimulating to put it down and stare at the seatback in front of me. I tried again at my hotel during my stay; no luck, anything was better than trudging through the "Trust Fund" muck with Bo & Co. Finally, before checking out, I made the decision to leave the "Trust Fund" in the hotel room. Good riddance.

I have always been impressed to see Stephen Frey weave his Wall Street expertise into his usual interesting fiction. In the trust fund he did not weave and the novel is not interesting. In fact he really blows it in the end with his absurd,unrealistic potential global distruction. The plot was probably developed one evening and the book written over a weekend. Shame.

I've read all of Stephen Frey's books and can say that I've been very disappointed with his more recent work. Trust Fund isn't about a Trust Fund. The main character is not very likeable. There are too many shady, behind the scenes characters that make cameo apperances making the book a choppy read (because the book really isn't that long). I'm always disappointed when a new author starts churning out a book a year, grisham-like, while quality suffers... Wait for the paperback...

I've read all of Stephen Frey's books and this was the best to date. A number of interesting twists and revelations kept my attention throughout the whole book. I couldn't put it down. I guarantee you'll be glad you read it.

Prophetic, Frightening, Realistic and Discouraging - An Indictment of Congressional Politics

These are not great adjectives, but they are amazingly accurate in this 2001 book I just finished. I write more reviews on business and motivational books than fiction, but this one warrants attention.

Other reviewers have commented that the characters in this book (and others) sound a bit like the Kennedys and there may be some truth in that. There are monied families in politics, business, the military, sports and all walks of life and I do not find the comparison meaningful.

Prophetic
This "novel" written in 2001 anticipated accurately what would occur in 2007-2008 when the "big banks and brokerage firms' houses of cards" came tumbling down. We the taxpayers are the one who suffered, not the politicians or the money handlers.

Frightening
On page 339 of the paperback , one business character restates what he heard a politician state " you mean you intimidate the process. You make people do what you want by scaring them, people like politicians and judges who are unfriendly to you way of thinking." The infrastructure now in place certainly sounds very much like the McCarthyism era in the 1950s with widespread surveillance and questionable checks and balances. If those checks and balances are there, why is that not reported in the news cycles?

Realistic
On page 343 of the paperback, a government official (elected to SERVE the constituents) is looking for public funds to cover one of the money handlers "errors in judgment" says, " (A certain department) has a HUGE budget, with the least amount of oversight. A little-known and well guarded Washington secret", he added.

This book describes a world of dirty politics (as seen on the daily news), deceit, and self-serving actions. The manipulation is staggering, yet believable.

Discouraging
This book appears to be an Indictment of Congressional Politics - at least seven years before the most recent Congressional failure to act. These comments are not aimed at a particular party but at the Congress of the Whole.

If a writer who understands how the banking and financial systems work and could collapse, how then can the elected Congress and Executive branch with unlimited resources and knowledge centers not be aware?

In 2011, the Congress again failed to balance the following year's budget. The so called "Super Committee" failed to reach a compromise and we are all too aware of the ability of Congress after the next election in a lame duck session to undo anything they decide to. They can do this with no fear of recourse, as of course they make all the rules.

On page 7a of USA TODAY on 11.29.11, it infuriated me to see a photo of the US President with German and Spanish leaders holding an informal summit at the White House. The story title reads OBAMA TACKLES EUROPE's DEBT CRISIS. It makes me wonder how he and the Congress can possibly think they can help Europe when the domestic issues cannot even be tackled.

Stephen Frey writes novels that are realistic and interesting. The characters want to work with people they trust, especially in hard times. Frey's stories have different story lines, characters and settings. I compliment him on his savvy and hope he can inspire someone to begin to think and act differently in government and business circles.

John Hogan