The Darlings

A Novel

De: Cristina Alger

Narrado por: Jonathan Fried

A sophisticated page-turner about a wealthy New York family embroiled in a financial scandal with cataclysmic consequences.

Now that he's married to Merrill Darling, daughter of billionaire financier Carter Darling, attorney Paul Ross has grown accustomed to New York society and all of its luxuries: a Park Avenue apartment, weekends in the Hamptons, bespoke suits. When Paul loses his job, Carter offers him the chance to head the legal team at his hedge fund. Thrilled with his good fortune in the midst of the worst financial downturn since the Great Depression, Paul accepts the position.

But Paul's luck is about to shift: a tragic event catapults the Darling family into the media spotlight, a regulatory investigation, and a red-hot scandal with enormous implications for everyone involved. Suddenly, Paul must decide where his loyalties lie-will he save himself while betraying his wife and in-laws or protect the family business at all costs?

Cristina Alger's glittering debut novel interweaves the narratives of the Darling family, two eager SEC attorneys, and a team of journalists all racing to uncover-or cover up-the truth. With echoes of a fictional Too Big to Fail and the novels of Dominick Dunne, The Darlings offers an irresistible glimpse into the highest echelons of New York society-a world seldom seen by outsiders-and a fast-paced thriller of epic proportions.

Okay, not great

This book is a good glimpse into New York society but the characters are flimsy and the story is only so-so. This would be a good book to read on an airplane-and sometimes you need books like this to take you into another world for a little bit. Unfortunately, it wasn't very memorable.

Not sure

I liked Alger’s novel, The Banker’s Wife, and so I tried The Darlings. I don’t know if it was just not what I wanted at the time, but I could not get interested. The character’s seemed flat and I didn’t like them, so I didn’t care much what happened to them. I may not have given it enough time to develop, but, based upon other reviews it was a probably enough to know.

Another Madoff Spin-off

Fundamentally a fictional version of - or perhaps an "homage" to - the Madoff family saga, this book is every bit as gripping as the true story. Even without the presence of young children on stage in this particular iteration of the "deal with the devil", the book has depth, suspense, and ingenious twists and turns, especially at the end. The writing is fast-paced, descriptive and multi-layered, but watch out if your attention wanders because you may lose track of the character connections.

The author manages to get in something for everyone - there are personal histories, backstories and lots of front-end action - it all comes into play and it all works. The timeline structure functions well and adds to the suspense, with the primary action taking place during a Thanksgiving weekend (similar time frame as the Madoff story), and each section is given a clock point (5:45, 8:15 etc.) which functions as an effective and ominous narrative device.

The narration could not have been better. Fried gives an evenly-toned performance, with subtle cues when needed, but never turns up the volume for the sake of histrionics.

I may go back and re-read this one - I am sure there are many details that I missed the first time around.

Great book!

This book is a timeless story set in modern Manhattan amongst old money and movers & shakers in the financial world. Charismatic characters I was rooting for & a just a wonderfully written page turner.

Fun Novel (Early Beach Read)

Perfect beach read (listen) for anyone connected to finance. Also good for running (plot moves nicely). Thei book might not endure, but it's a well constructed, sophisticated and believable Madoff-type drama. Reminded me a bit of the JC Oates book "We Were the Mulvaneys." I don't often comment on the narration, but the reader of this one was outstanding -- nuanced voices without screaming for attention.