: Silent Partner
Author: Stephen Frey
Strange book. It’s both well-written and poorly written, as though the author’s schizophrenic. At time’s the writing’s just bad, with trite phrases and cheesy scenes, then there’ll be a portion of remarkable psychological insight. The problem is that the book isn’t consistent, which makes for awkward reading. You’re just not sure you trust the author. The plot’s decent, at least in the sense of keeping you motivated to read, but unravels and bit at the end, with a pretentious and unrealistic resolution. The basic idea is that a reclusive billionaire — worth an absurd $500 billion, ten times more than Bill Gates — hires a pretty bank officer to handle a corporate merger. Why her? That’s one of the mysteries. There’s a whole lot of manipulation going on and we’re not sure who is who and what is what. Unfortunately, indentities are at the core of the plot, and since everything isn’t revealed until the end, it makes for a frustrating read since most of the time you don’t really trust — or like — any of the shifty characters. Most of the characters are cardboard, anyway, typical for this genre, but Frey tries a little too hard to make them 3D and that shows. It’s not that bad, but this must be one of Frey’s earlier novels, because it comes across that way. Still, it’s got a few good moments and isn’t terrible.
Topic: [/book] |
