Den of Thieves

By: James B. Stewart

Narrated by: Johnny Heller

Length: 19 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

A number one best seller from coast to coast, Den of Thieves tells, in masterfully reported detail, the full story of the insider-trading scandal that nearly destroyed Wall Street, the men who pulled it off, and the chase that finally brought them to justice.

Pulitzer Prize winner James B. Stewart shows for the first time how four of the biggest names on Wall Street - Michael Milken, Ivan Boesky, Martin Siegel, and Dennis Levine - created the greatest insider-trading ring in financial history and almost walked away with billions - until a team of downtrodden detectives triumphed over some of America's most expensive lawyers to bring this powerful quartet to justice.

Based on secret grand jury transcripts, interviews, and actual trading records, and containing explosive new revelations about Michael Milken and Ivan Boesky written especially for this new edition, Den of Thieves weaves all the facts into an unforgettable narrative - a portrait of human nature, big business, and crime of unparalleled proportions.

©2012 James. B. Stewart (P)2013 Simon & Schuster

Autopsy of a story of greed and power intoxication

Very captivating and relevant, but you have to be patient for the reward as the set up for multiple players and situations can be and a bit boring weighted by the unavoidable traders lingo and technicalities

Awesome book

Awesome book detailing an era of unparalleled greed and organized crime rarely exposed in such detail. The persons becomes alive and you sense their character, rotten and flawed, yet human. The book could use an update with some of the later developments such as how the main criminal Michael Milken was allowed only to serve a few years of his 10 year sentence. Also it’s surprisingly suspicious how most of the involved are still highly rich, Milken even a billionaire to this day, even though they have all been banned from the industry. It could indeed be interesting with an update that covers these recent events. Nevertheless it’s a great book and a worthwhile listen.

Very telling story

I enjoyed the story of this book and it makes you question who is watching over the rich.

long book

a lot of the book was minutae that made me fast forward... other then that a good book. this can be a good way to brush up for your cpa, ha!

So many names

Overall a good book. Not great as there isn't that much to it (at a hight level and it does go into lots of detail) and I felt it lacked drama. Or a satisfactory outcome for the villains. Great people went to jail but ... it leaves you with an 'is that it?' which is more about justice than the book.

The books main flaw (and this is more my flaw than the book) is the number of names which don't mean anything to me. I guess it would be less bad in print because you can check back easily but audiobooks don't.

Bottom line, it was interesting and I enjoyed it in the space of a week which for a book this long is unusual so that's a good sign, but I feel I won't remember it for years to come.

GREAT BOOK!!!!

I had so much Boesky, that why I bought this book. In my listening, I found out and learned much more.

Great insight

Definitely one of the most interesting book on the events it cover. Very well written and narrated.
Read it if you like this topic.

Great story

The book is divided into two parts. The first deals with the individual stories of the participants in the crimes and wrongdoings and is very interesting, fast paced, etc. you basically can't stop listening to the story. The second part, which focuses on the investigation and trials, contains a lot of detail on the legal proceedings, which I particularly did not enjoy as much as the first part. Overall, it's a great book, and the audio performance is terrific, maybe the best I've heard so far.

Great content…poor delivery

Constant mispronunciations of names of famous and widely known individuals…. Carl Eye-can, Coe-No-coe. Funny at first but became sort of pathetic. Great story reported in great depth.

A buildup then the chase

Coming off the heels of barbarians at the gate, this was another Wall Street thriller. The author meticulously builds up the characters while explaining their foibles and lawbreaking and then pivots to the ‘good guys’ chasing them and what the prosecution went through. Great view into the worlds of high finance and law.