Customer Reviews

The Vulture Fund

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

 

 

Stephen Frey should go back to being an I-banker because he sure can't write. His writing makes Grisham look like Faulkner. The plot is not only bad, but stretches the limits of imagination and fictional generosity. The CIA is a spy organization. It does not train special counter-terrorist military units. That's what the Defense Department and the FBI does. Also, apparently the bad guys brought Mace (the protagonist) to run the vulture fund -- even though they know he's smart and could very well be a threat -- because they needed his contacts. This doesn't make any sense. Surely the head of the bank (who masterminded the illicit fund) would have had far more contacts in the financial world than a vice-president in his bank. The dialogue is no better than the plotting, and perhaps even worse. One would hard pressed to find a vice-president in a prestigious I-bank who talks like some inexperienced high school teenager when it comes to relationships with women. In sum, the book has all the signs of a bad writer: nonsensical plot, cardboard characters, banal dialogue, and badly researched facts. This is the second book I've read by Frey (the first being The Takeover, which was also a waste of paper), and I will never read him again. I've read all the authors in the new genre of "financial thrillers" (Frey, Michael Ridpath, Linda Davies), and they should all go back to banking. A message to John LeCarre: could you please write a spy novel involving banking world.

Cardboard characters.

Cheesy plot.

Little or no basis in reality - like how would the CIA director (yet he's called "General" even though he's the Director of the CIA) who wants to run for President explain the hundreds of millions of dollars he wants to use for his campaign that he skimmed from his evil plan?

This book is a little Iran-Contra, a little Trading Places and a lot of silly garbage all rolled into one.

And - to make it all the worse, I heard it as a book on tape and the reader made nearly EVERY male bad guy voice the same - a raspy, impatient tone. Kind of like James Garner with a sore throat.

I appreciate good suspense fiction, and this is not it! The book starts out with a fine premise but less than laudable prose. And the writing style only deteriorates. The last third reads like a hastily composed first draft--a barely fleshed-out outline. I couldn't help but conclude that Frey was in a big hurry to get this one into print, and so was his publisher, because no one polished or edited it. If I read one more time that someone's hand was "large" or "huge," or that someone "hesitated for several moments," I was going to recycle my copy. I don't care how successful Frey is, he should be embarrassed by the quality of the writing he turned in here. It shows a lack of respect for his craft and his readers.

Please do not let me waste my hard earned money on another of these cookie-cutter Frey books. To be compared to Grisham is an injustice to Grisham. Grisham has shown versatility in characters, unlike Frey (have you heard of a young,hot shot, investment banker at Wall Street's most exclusive...etc, etc before??) Likewise, story lines of Grisham's (convicted murderer on death row, tobacco trial, poor man's lawyer, etc.)have shown versatility and impressive literary growth. The Vulture Fund had me scratching my head shortly after beginning, as I seemed to be reading the same sentences in several chapters (narrowed eyes, etc.). The plot seemed almost ludicrous at times as I tried to imagine the hard to fathom, splintered direction the novel was travelling. I enjoyed The Takeover in total, although I groaned at the cliches and completely unrealistic plot twists. I decided to try the next, hoping for an exciting, improved finance-based thriller for my business-fiction appetite. I am sorry for this. The books had so many similarities in characters and so little literary range it was frustrating. Please let me know of a true Grisham-caliber business/fiction writer. I would love to read an improved Frey book that takes some of the good of The Takeover and runs with new ideas and direction.

I just discovered Stephen Frey recently and really enjoy his books. This one, however, was a big disappointment. I read a few reviews and found I should have paid attention because they were right on the money. This book has a great beginning that really drew me in, but as it went on, the writing went downhill and the end really seemed to be slapped together. What could have been a fabulous final third of this book, had it been developed, just kind of fell apart. He must have been in a hurry to meet a dealine or something - totally unpolished.

I highly recommend The Day Trader, and The Legacy, but would not recommend The Vulture Fund at all.

The guy on the train with A.D.D. (see 6/30/97 comments) should buy the book on tape...or if he's lucky, they'll make a movie out of this one!

Stephen Frey has a definite gift in story writing. He has a way of capturing the reader emotionally into the hearts and minds of the characters...so that you feel what they feel and you think what they think. It's an ingeniously creative plot which takes you on an exciting journey through the streets of New York, the jungles of Honduras, the backroads of West Virginia, and the lawns of Washington D.C. The old fashioned ideals of hard earned money and tales of rags to riches are challenged by modern day political scandals and schemes of greed and desperation... testing the humanly elusive values of faith, hope, and love.

As a Wall Street professional, I found myself living vicariously through the adventures and heroics of Mace McLain...rather than falling asleep on the train.

This book will make you wonder if things like this really happen on Wall Street and in the White House...and it will make you wish the characters were really real

Ok, comparisons to the "Takeover" would be inevitable. Yet, Vulture Fund though failing to reach the heights of it predecessor does fairly well. Problem is the plot will not probably appeal to those familiar to dealings in the financial world as such but if you want a good story, its definitely worth the money.

The plotline, while preposterous, was at least entertaining and fast-moving. Unfortunately character development doesn't seem to be the author's strong suit - suitable for those looking for something one step beyond a comic book (heroic, ex-quarterback young investment banking stud saves the world). OK beach reading, that's about it.

Stephen Frey must have been in a big hurry to finish this one. Likewise, his publisher must have needed it fast. That's the only plausible reason something so unpolished could have gone to press. I like Frey's premise, but his character development, plot structure, and writing style are amateurish at best. I challenge anyone to track the point of view in this book! In addition, Frey manages to offend most female readers with supposedly high-powered women characters who are obsessed with pleasing a man. And the ones over age 35 are terminally depressed about their fading looks. Please! Frey makes Grisham look like a literary genius. I recommend instead any novel by Andy McNab.

Most of Stephen Frey's novels have the common thread of big time financial dealings. He manages to come up with different twists, plots and characters. This one is about a top Wall Street firm where the Senior Partner is planning to make billions thru devious and quite illegal means. Along the way we find the head of the CIA,who is running for President, implicated. Terrorists take over a nuclear facility as part of the scheme. Mace McLain is the hero in this read. He suffers from something common in Frey's writing. His hero's are just too

perfect and superhuman to be believable. Still, it's not a horrible read. But, not top notch.