Shadow Account (Frey, Stephen)
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Product Description
His novels of big money and murder in the world of finance have earned New York Times bestselling author Stephen Frey a richly deserved reputation as a master of suspense who always delivers a high yield. Now he raises the stakes, and the risk factor, in a new thriller that pits a young Wall Street player against corporate conspiracy and White House intrigue—in a dangerous game of double crosses, dirty tricks, and deadly consequences.
An investment banker in the maverick firm Phenix Capital, Conner Ashby is doing all right for himself. At twenty-seven, he’s practically the right-hand man of the company’s founder—a wealthy old pro looking to make a big comeback on The Street while grooming Conner for a place at the top. Between his career and his gorgeous girlfriend, it’s a good life, with every indication of getting even better—until a wayward E-mail crosses Conner’s computer, and plunges his near-perfect world into a terrifying downward spiral.
“The ‘operation’ is way out of hand. If we don’t do something, it’s going to detonate.” It’s a communication not meant for Conner’s eyes, between people he doesn’t know, about a company he’s never heard of—a company that’s engaged in corporate fraud on a massive scale. With no way to trace the E-mail, it’s impossible for Conner to act on the volatile discovery. But with millions of dollars at stake, high-powered careers in the balance, and hell to pay if the truth comes out, whoever clicked the “send” button by mistake isn’t about to take any chances. And for Conner, the evening that began in the arms of a beautiful woman ends in a harrowing race for his life.
As he follows a twisting trail of misdeeds and misinformation that stretches nationwide, Conner slowly uncovers a shocking plot as undeniably real as the gunshot wound in his arm. Now, surviving will mean struggling to expose the truth as relentlessly as his shadowy enemies seek to conceal it— and fighting for his life as ruthlessly as those determined to end it.
At every unexpected turn, Shadow Account deftly reveals Stephen Frey’s many and considerable gifts: his genius for plotting, his mastery of suspense, and his unmatched insight into the dark territory where finance meets felony, money meets mortality, and profit and loss are matters of life and death.
From the Hardcover edition.
An investment banker in the maverick firm Phenix Capital, Conner Ashby is doing all right for himself. At twenty-seven, he’s practically the right-hand man of the company’s founder—a wealthy old pro looking to make a big comeback on The Street while grooming Conner for a place at the top. Between his career and his gorgeous girlfriend, it’s a good life, with every indication of getting even better—until a wayward E-mail crosses Conner’s computer, and plunges his near-perfect world into a terrifying downward spiral.
“The ‘operation’ is way out of hand. If we don’t do something, it’s going to detonate.” It’s a communication not meant for Conner’s eyes, between people he doesn’t know, about a company he’s never heard of—a company that’s engaged in corporate fraud on a massive scale. With no way to trace the E-mail, it’s impossible for Conner to act on the volatile discovery. But with millions of dollars at stake, high-powered careers in the balance, and hell to pay if the truth comes out, whoever clicked the “send” button by mistake isn’t about to take any chances. And for Conner, the evening that began in the arms of a beautiful woman ends in a harrowing race for his life.
As he follows a twisting trail of misdeeds and misinformation that stretches nationwide, Conner slowly uncovers a shocking plot as undeniably real as the gunshot wound in his arm. Now, surviving will mean struggling to expose the truth as relentlessly as his shadowy enemies seek to conceal it— and fighting for his life as ruthlessly as those determined to end it.
At every unexpected turn, Shadow Account deftly reveals Stephen Frey’s many and considerable gifts: his genius for plotting, his mastery of suspense, and his unmatched insight into the dark territory where finance meets felony, money meets mortality, and profit and loss are matters of life and death.
From the Hardcover edition.
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"What are you looking at?" Conner Ashby glanced up from his computer. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
"What are you looking at?" Conner Ashby glanced up from his computer. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Conner Ashby, an investment banker, receives an email detailing a major corporate scandal, seemingly in error. From that moment on his life is turned upside down. Concurrently, a presidential aide is assigned to check out any financial scandals members of the President's administration may have been involved in (or are involved in) - this to clear the road for the President to introduce new and very strict regulations governing corporate behaviour. The two themes become linked and, of course, not all is at it seems as Conner tries to save his life and find out what is going on.
It is clear that Frey comes from the financial world so he writes about the subject matter with ease. But his writing style is not classy and there is little depth in this tale, perhaps as one would have expected - indeed, I've been impressed with some of his earlier stuff. Perhaps he's run out of ideas. This is a fast-moving story, but it relies on coincidences, luck, the improbable, and you name it, without some of the complexity a good financial thriller should have.
A reviewer on the American site suggested this book should actually have been called "Shallow Account" and it is not difficult to see why some would form this view. If you're after a fun ride without too much depth, this book will suit you fine; if you're looking for a bit of a challenge, you'd be better off looking elsewhere. 7/10
It is clear that Frey comes from the financial world so he writes about the subject matter with ease. But his writing style is not classy and there is little depth in this tale, perhaps as one would have expected - indeed, I've been impressed with some of his earlier stuff. Perhaps he's run out of ideas. This is a fast-moving story, but it relies on coincidences, luck, the improbable, and you name it, without some of the complexity a good financial thriller should have.
A reviewer on the American site suggested this book should actually have been called "Shallow Account" and it is not difficult to see why some would form this view. If you're after a fun ride without too much depth, this book will suit you fine; if you're looking for a bit of a challenge, you'd be better off looking elsewhere. 7/10
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
20 reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
A very light yawner
22 May 2006
Format:Hardcover
This is not the worst book ever to grace the shelves of a library. Next time you enter one, take a look at the mystery/thriller section. I myself am an avid reader, perhaps 150 books a year. Most of them are in the mystery genre. Yet when confronted with a mystery section that has been compiling books for sixty years its hard to say that even 5% of the authors are familiar to me. Most of the books are covered with decades of dust and forgotten tombs of years gone by. That is the way 'Shadow Account' strikes me as being remembered in the years to come. It is a book you will find at the bottom of stacks in yard sales and church functions. This is not a book or an author whom like Chandler, Christie, or Hammett will be read far into the future.
The writing is plodding, sections of the novel are well done, but the tempo and style of these individual pieces clash with other sections so that you are left with a soup of mushy ideas. To put it another way, this book does not hold up well as a whole.
Another thing is the plot. Frey starts the story off with a brutal murder in young Conner Ashby's apartment. Conner is pulling down a couple of hundred G's a year so this is probably a posh place were talking about. He is having a daliance with a lady, leaves to hit up the local supermarket, spends a few minutes there, comes back, and she is dead. Conner had recieved an email a few moments before he left and it comes to his attention that the murder was done so that the evidence of the email could be covered up. OK, I can live with that. But the way Frey unfolds it all is so goofy that it pretty much destroys the rest of the book. Some CEO character sends out an email to Conner and with in 20 minutes he hires a hit man, sends him to Conners place, tears it apart, kills a girl, and then confronts our protagonist. Conner then chases the bad guy around NY for an hour, comes back to his place with some cops, and everything that was destroyed is put back into place without a sign of anything wrong happening. Whats up with that?
I am not giving away anything here. This occurs in the first few pages and sets up the rest of the book. Conner just had the lady he loves murdered in his place and then over the next few chapters he misses time from his insanely competitive job to have flirtatious hours long conversations and seems to have not been affected at all by the terrifying events. Repetedly in this book he is attacked and then a few pages later he is suave and making moves with young ladies.
This book is slow. This book goes into chapter long discources on the corruptability of fortune 500 companies. This book has long episodes of buildup that leads nowhere, not even as a diversionary plot thread.
All in all this is a trainwreck of a novel and I suggest that you leave it alone. I would point you towards 'Mystic River' by Lehane or 'Tell No One' by Coben for novels in this style that actually work.
The writing is plodding, sections of the novel are well done, but the tempo and style of these individual pieces clash with other sections so that you are left with a soup of mushy ideas. To put it another way, this book does not hold up well as a whole.
Another thing is the plot. Frey starts the story off with a brutal murder in young Conner Ashby's apartment. Conner is pulling down a couple of hundred G's a year so this is probably a posh place were talking about. He is having a daliance with a lady, leaves to hit up the local supermarket, spends a few minutes there, comes back, and she is dead. Conner had recieved an email a few moments before he left and it comes to his attention that the murder was done so that the evidence of the email could be covered up. OK, I can live with that. But the way Frey unfolds it all is so goofy that it pretty much destroys the rest of the book. Some CEO character sends out an email to Conner and with in 20 minutes he hires a hit man, sends him to Conners place, tears it apart, kills a girl, and then confronts our protagonist. Conner then chases the bad guy around NY for an hour, comes back to his place with some cops, and everything that was destroyed is put back into place without a sign of anything wrong happening. Whats up with that?
I am not giving away anything here. This occurs in the first few pages and sets up the rest of the book. Conner just had the lady he loves murdered in his place and then over the next few chapters he misses time from his insanely competitive job to have flirtatious hours long conversations and seems to have not been affected at all by the terrifying events. Repetedly in this book he is attacked and then a few pages later he is suave and making moves with young ladies.
This book is slow. This book goes into chapter long discources on the corruptability of fortune 500 companies. This book has long episodes of buildup that leads nowhere, not even as a diversionary plot thread.
All in all this is a trainwreck of a novel and I suggest that you leave it alone. I would point you towards 'Mystic River' by Lehane or 'Tell No One' by Coben for novels in this style that actually work.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Not Frey's best
2 July 2005
Format:Hardcover
Disappointing, but I read until the end and then laughed at myself for doing so. If you are reading this review to decide whether or not to read this book next - my recommendation is grab another book from your stacks.
The storyline is more fantasy (silly) with a splash of romance than thriller. It is unfortunate because the storyline could have been solid with a bit more focus and character development.
So many books and so little time - pass on this one unless you have a need to read every book Stephen Frey puts his name to.
Two ½ stars.
The storyline is more fantasy (silly) with a splash of romance than thriller. It is unfortunate because the storyline could have been solid with a bit more focus and character development.
So many books and so little time - pass on this one unless you have a need to read every book Stephen Frey puts his name to.
Two ½ stars.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Not at all what I was told it would be
11 Feb 2011
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
I bought this because I told a friend about a great new international thriller I loved with an investment banker as one of the lead characters. She told me if I liked that I'd eat this up. I'm a financial professional, I'm home sick and read this in one day, and let me tell you, if I wasn't sick before I'd be now. In the first place, the setting and characterizations in the financial sector are not real or believable. Next, the story has events that are so hard to swallow (the guy's girlfriend is murdered in the first scenes, and he's romancing somebody else within a few chapters--offensive to me as a woman--this after uncovering major fraud involving his firm, then chasing the assassin around NYC, all within an hour) that you can't let yourself get drawn into the story. Finally (and I could keep going on, but I won't), the ending was not at all satisfying after all the convoluted sub-plots going on, and I didn't feel everything was satisfactorily resolved. Please don't bother with this one. On a sick day (or any day), if you want a well-spun, believable tale of a financial type caught up in events beyond his control, then has to rise to the occasion, read Trojan Horse. Or try an old classic like The Day Of The Jackal (I just read it).
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