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.

July 1, 2006
Christian Gillette, chairman of the largest private equity fund in the country, is poised for even greater things when he becomes the running mate for the Democratic presidential candidate. Although his late father was a Republican senator, Gillette shirked politics in favor of adventure, but being part of a history-making ticket (the presidential candidate is African American) qualifies as adventure. But someone is out to get him. Could it be his managing partner? Or is there really a conservative secret society determined to discredit the Democrats? Although veteran thriller author Frey gives in to some over-the-top plot elements, he still manages to generate enough tension to please action-oriented thriller fans.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)