On the way into work this morning I completed the audio book, The Chairman by Stephen Frey. This was my first book by this author so far and I sufficiently enjoyed it so I will probably read more. At the same time, it was not so special that I feel the need to go out and aquire more of his work right now. I believe I had heard that Stephen Frey is to high finance thriller novels as John Grisham is to legal thrillers and that's pretty much what it was. But where most Grisham stories really captivate me and draw me in, this novel didn't quite live up to that standard.The main character, Christian Gillette, is pretty well fleshed out, and I liked it that he is not without character flaws. The author does a good job in developing a story that includes a relatively complicated plot, filled with intrigue but his minor characters are mostly one dimensional. I did like the character of Quentin Stiles, the bodyguard, mostly because his background and motivation is fleshed out well. I hadn't realized it when I began listening to this audio book that it is the first of a projected series. That's good because the fate of several characters is not depicted, including Quentin Stiles. I also found it a bit difficult to suspend my disbelief when time and again, the corporate leadership resorted to murder as a way to garner power.So overall, it was a good book, if not great and I'll definitely consider Stephen Frey for audio book options when I go to the library; but I don't think I'll add him to my home library.
OMG, what an amazingly bad book. And bad in so many ways. First, the protagonist, and he is supposed to be the hero, is the new chairman of a private equity firm. This chair is worth 70 million, and he controls multiple billions of dollars. He uses violence, when necessary, but he does do the occasional nice thing as well. The depiction of women is from the 1950s (at least). No one can be trusted at the firm. They are all out for themselves/money. Which is OK if you are the chairman, but not if you are a managing partner. And the Chair makes the most amazingly awful decisions on ethical issues, but seriously, we are to admire him for being so pragmatic and concerned about making money. He is an alpha male and proud of his strength. Wow--the more I talk about this book, the more I hate it. It is so strange. This guy (named Christian Gilette--really?) is only good in that the people he primarily surrounds himself with are worse than he is. It is a bizarre apologist account for capitalism that makes it look even worse than I thought it was. I can't believe his books are so popular. What is wrong with people? In other words, I will not be reading further in the series.
What do You think about The Chairman (2005)?
Frey does a very nice job of painting almost all of his characters with the big a**hole of the year award. The world of high finance can only be fun if you don't mind walking over others is the basic theme in this well written novel of corporate shenanigans. Sometimes this may involve walking over someones corpse as well. I liked the levels of action played out against all of the boardroom backstabbing. And Frey does a fine job of not losing the average Joe in too much high finance jargon. A very well done corporate thriller to read after you loosen up your tie and sit down with your dry martini, shaken not stirred.
—Robert
