The Day Trader

October 22, 2001
The title and cover may suggest an intriguing look at the financial world's quick-hit specialists, but the latest from the bestselling Frey (Trust Fund; The Insider; etc.) is little more than a clumsily executed murder mystery with day trading merely a backdrop. Augustus McKnight is a man with many troubles: he's broke; his supervisor is blackmailing him; his beautiful wife, Melanie, tells him she wants a divorce. But worse is to come. Melanie is found murdered, her throat slit and her body dumped in an alley near their home in Washington, D.C. Buoyed by a couple of lucky investments as well as Melanie's million-dollar life insurance policy, Augustus launches a new career as a day trader. From this point on, the plot clanks along in implausible fashion. During the day, Augustus spends time with his new group of wacko friends at work (their nicknames include "Freak-Show" and "Slammer"). In the off-hours, he follows the police investigation of Melanie's death and does some sleuthing of his own. When Augustus discovers that Melanie held a secret job as an erotic dancer at a local strip club controlled by the mob, it dawns on him that he may be getting in over his head. As in his other financial thrillers, Frey keeps the action lively by setting up confrontations in almost every scene, then quickly moving on. The dialogue tends to be laughable: "Sometimes I think you care about the Wall Street Journal
more than you do about me." Credit Frey, however, with coming up with a zinger of an ending, one that's so preposterous that even the shrewdest of day traders won't see it coming. 5-city author tour.

September 1, 2001
For Augustus McKnight, there's good news and bad news: he's just made a killing, but his wife wants a divorce. Then she's murdered, and McKnight gets her juicy life insurance policy and a whole lot of trouble.

Copyright 2002 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2001
On the basis of previous novels such as " The Vulture Fund "(1996) and " The Inner Sanctum "(1997), Frey could be called the Grisham of financial thrillers. Here, he tarnishes that reputation a bit by offering an interesting but implausible story of the mixed-up world of a novice day trader. Augustus McKnight, married to his high-school sweetheart, has noticed that the spark has faded from their relationship. He figures it is due to their financial problems; he is a salesman, and she is a legal secretary. Augustus is obsessed with the financial market, managing a ghost portfolio that triples in value in a short time, and with the encouragement of his laid-back, playboy friend, Vincent, Augustus considers changing occupations. That decision is hastened by the murder of his wife. In his grief, and with a million-dollar life insurance policy in his future, Augustus takes the plunge and signs on with a day-trading group. The husband is always a suspect, of course, so adding to the stress of his newfound livelihood is the constant appearance of homicide detective Dorsey. As Augustus is investigated, he ventures on his own search, finding disturbing connections among his wife, her boss, his motley crew of coworkers, a certain gentleman's club, and his supposed best friend, Vincent. Frey attempts to paint Augustus as a tragic hero, his fatal flaw being his naivete, but it's hard to buy. He is intelligent, strong, insightful, but incredibly blind to his surroundings. Nonetheless, expect demand for this page-turner.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2001, American Library Association.)