The Chairman

A Novel

By: Stephen Frey

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

No one knows the dark side of "The Street" better than master storyteller Stephen Frey, author of such riveting novels as Shadow Account and The Day Trader. Now, in his most ambitious work to date, Frey proves that no writer can put a high-powered hero at greater risk, nor offer listeners more thrilling rewards.

A towering legend among New York private equity partnerships, Everest Capital is aptly named. When its founder meets an untimely death, 36-year-old superstar Christian Gillette gets the top job. But with the power and prestige come risks. The day he narrowly escapes a fiery explosion that consumes his limo and takes two innocent lives, Gillette instantly understands how intense those risks are.

It comes as no surprise to him that he has enemies in the world of multibillion-dollar deals. But now that he controls Everest, he's not going to let those enemies keep him from taking the firm - and himself - to even greater heights. Gillette has never hesitated to be aggressive, even ruthless, in his pursuit of success. This time will be no exception.

But in order to forge the alliances necessary to achieve his goals, Gillette forsakes a cardinal rule: Never trust anyone. The only certainties are the insidious campaign of corporate sabotage that could cost Gillette his job and the relentless assassination attempts that could cost him his life. To break a deadly conspiracy of greed, he'll be forced to walk, then run, an ever-blurring line between loyalty and betrayal, attack and retreat, survival and destruction...in the ultimate game of profit and loss.

With The Chairman, Stephen Frey presides with intensified skill over the market he has so dramatically cornered - sharpening his patented brand of hard-boiled high-finance intrigue to its keenest cutting edge yet.

©2005 Stephen Frey (P)2005 Books on Tape, Inc.

Excellent

Great listening experience.

There were just a few minor things that bothered me. The first is the the author pushed the envelope just a little too far in the area of coincidence. Suspension of reality is necessary in a novel - especially a mystery. I do understand that but there were just a couple of things that I though were tied together a bit too easily.

There were also one or two continiuty issues that bothered me. Don't want to say here - would spoil the plot. Nothing that would really change the structure of the book - just little things.

Scott Brick, as always us just fantastic. I can't say enough about his ability to bring a book to life. The only thing that bothered me about the performance may have been the fault of the producer or it might have been Scott's - not sure. IT has to do with pauses. The author tends to jump from one scene to another very frequently. In a written book the publisher can add an extra blank line to let you know the scene is changing. In this particular audio it seemed that Scott moved from one scene to another too quickly. Sometimes it wasn't clear that the scene had changed. I had to rewind frequently to see where I was in the story. With the creative Muvo not having a counter like the old OTIS player it was a challenge rewinding while driving.

None of these picayune complaints should stop you from this book. It is very, very enjoyable.

Great Listen

Loved it, going to get all of the Christian Gillette books, he sounds like a guy that gets _hit done.

An Excellent Book

This book was a pleasant surprise. Well written and Scott Brick was at his best. Highly recommended.

Could have been great

I loved the intrigue. The main character wasn't developed enough for me. Actually I never "felt" anything for any of the characters. Too many unnecessary deaths to be even remotely believable.

one of the best

it's been a long time since I read a book that is this good. story great. narrator excellent. plot incredible. .. good characters.

Boring

This was a total waste of a credit. Flat characters and uninteresting storyline. I won't buy more by this author.

The Chairman

riviting

Cliche'

This book is terrible. It is predictable and almost cartoonish in its lack of realism. The story and the writing would be laughable if I hadn't paid for the book. How many times in one book can a person's eyes "flash" to the eyes of someone else? That line was in this book at least a dozen times. I was tempted several times to stop listening. I like escapist fiction as much as the next person, but this book really is dreadful.

Excruciatingly Slow and confusing

I could not get through but a few chapters of this book. I dont know of it was just lazy writing but it did not have a clear transition from one character to the other or from one scene to the next. Maybe it ties together somewhere down the line but it just wasn't worth the wait.