The Power Broker

May 22, 2006
Murder, global conspiracy, treason, blackmail, sexual infidelity and perversity propel bestseller Frey's entertaining, if highly implausible, third financial thriller starring Christian Gillette (after 2005's The Protégé
). Christian, the CEO of Everest Capital, a hugely successful Manhattan-based investment firm, faces a host of adversaries, chief among them the Order, a secret society made up of nine white American businessmen and government leaders whose predecessors have been manipulating financial and historical events since the society's inception in 1839. Led by Jackson Prescott Hewitt, chairman of U.S. Oil, the Order fears that America is falling under the control of minorities whose agendas include statehood for Puerto Rico and Mexico and the election of the nation's first African-American president. Christian comes to the attention of this cabal and, aided by series regulars Allison Wallace and Quentin Stiles, is soon fighting for his very life. The action roars along like a small tsunami, sweeping logic aside and carrying aloft those readers willing to suspend a substantial amount of disbelief.

The third in the Christian Gillette series combines politics and power brokers, the latter determined to influence the future of the United States. While the story requires listeners to take some wild leaps of imagination in following its unlikely and convoluted plot lines, Holter Graham's use of a wide range of voices and emotions can't help but draw listeners in from the very first words. There's a sense of doom and foreboding, of expectation and terror as we try to distinguish the heroes from the villains, with the true motivations of all not revealed until the end. Happily, Graham's voice softens during the romantic scenes while overall his ability to adapt his voice to the action is truly impressive. S.S.R. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine