The Inner Sanctum

* Stephen Frey is the New York Times bestselling author of The Takeover * Both The Vulture Fund and The Takeover were optioned by ParamountPictures and Neufeld/Rehme Productions, the producers of Tom Clancy's

Hunt for Red October and Clear and Present Danger * Published to coincide with the Dutton hardcover publication of Stephen Frey's The Legacy * The Inner Sanctum includes a teaser chapter for The Legacy

Reviews:

There's more realism here than most would like I think. One of the problems for many people is that they don't move in those circles where people really do talk to each other like little-lord-fauntleroy. So I think that many people are put off by what they see as unrealistic when it is completely realistic. This is a combination of slice of life from that class, with some imaginative stuff. But this is not the potboiler that many are saying.

Avoid this one. This is not really a "financial" thriller at all -- it's a lame attempt at a political thriller, written by someone who apparently knows very little about politics. This book is not badly written, but is severly hindered by a highly unrealistic plot and cardboard characters. I'll make an effort to read another book by Stephen Frey, to see whether this book is an aberration (I hope so).

The prologue to this book holds promise, a darkened room, a mysterious character. That promise quickly dissipates in Chapter 1 with artificial dialog like, " You know, I'll always be grateful to you for writing that recommendation, Neil. I think it made the difference in my being accepted to Maryland Business School." Do you know anyone who talks like that? Don't you suppose Neil knows the name of the school, since he wrote the doggone letter? Of course he was happy to do it. "I had people help me, and I promised myself to do the same thing for others when I got to this level." With tripe like that, I'm ashamed to admit I kept reading, but I did, only to learn what a remarkable character Neil really was. As he lays dying on the floor from a remarkably fast-acting poison, Neil realizes (1) that the man he met for drinks has poisoned him, (2) that the man asked for a glass for Neil's beer to make it easier to add the poison, (3) that the man chose a secluded table on purpose and (4) that the commotion at the bar was designed to distract Neil. Thank heavens that Neil can think so clearly in his last moments, because the reader certainly would not be able to figure any of that out without help. I did quit reading at that point. I'll spend my time with authors who give me credit for having a little intelligence.

In previous novels author Frey, thru has main characters, has taken on what might be called The Evil Empire. Perceived Racists, Government officials out for personal gain,crooked financial manipulators. This time he seems to combine it all with a plot reaching up to the U.S. Senate, Military Black Budgets and insider stock trading. Nevertheless, the book holds ones attention as the pages fly by.

I am a fan of Stephen Frey. His book 'Take Over' was fabulous. This one though seems to stumble around quite a bit.First the story: It deals with an investment firm, the government, a huge airplane contract and a young IRS agent. This young IRS agent, Jesse, finds out that her admired boss, who was just killed, had some damning information on some illegal activities of a government contract and a political candidate. The boss knew that this was some explosive information he was uncovering so he set up a safeguard that if he was killed, he would have this information sent to someone that could figure out the entire web and uncover all the deceit. So who did he send it to? The FBI, the Police? Nope. He sent it to a 25 year old woman. He was killed for this information and he sent it to his employee, a friend, who is 25 years old to unravel it all. Huh? Well, the plot takes us to Jesse running for her life at times, having friends she is not quite sure she can trust (David, an investment banker who is a member of a firm that Jesse is interested in but he is a man that she may not be able to trust...and Todd who is a good friend of hers who has gambling problems and issues and a man that Jesse may not be able to trust as well) all the while trying to figure out who the bad guys are and what they are trying to acoomplish. Convuluted story.The characters--nobody comes off real likeable. Even Jesse has some issues, some of which are brought up but not really explored The guys are even worse. You never really get to know either one of them real well and even worse, you don't really like either one of them.The book has so many characters and it has such a weak plot that you as a reader end up just plodding along. Disappointing effort from an author that I very much enjoy.

This is an enjoyable book, although not Frey's best. This book will take you through many twists and turns in a fast paced action thriller. It's definitely worth reading, but don't get your hopes up too high -- especially if you are expecting a thriller to match his book The Takeover.

From what I see of the reviews shown, that people either liked the book or didn't. Well, I really liked it. I have been reading a lot of political books lately, and this is indeed a book based on reality in many ways. A reality that many of us don't want to believe because we all hope that integrity and honesty is the basis that our businesses and the people in our government hold to, but, alas, money and the power that it can produce is far too hard for many to resist.It is a political story about how an investment group, a crooked senator, military people and others manipulate to get defense contracts so that certain people can make a lot of money. We have seen a lot of this lately ourselves. I am sure there are a few details that someone who is more familiar with the procedures involved in acquiring defense contracts could disagree with, but as a novice myself, and as this is just a book of fiction, I found it to be fascinating.David Mitchell, a young man who came up from a poor background, has been working at a job that he hopes will fulfill his dreams of becoming rich, even if he has to do a few things that aren't exactly kosher in the legal department. As he isn't a crook by nature, he is having doubts about his job. He has been manipulated by the people he is working for into using poor judgement in his actions and now it may be too late to get out.Jessie Hayes' boss, in the IRS, dies suddenly of a mysterious heart attack, and she receives a delayed memo from him about a case he was working on-very secretive. She finds the file where he said he had hidden it and is almost killed in the process. There is murder, mystery and thrills to the end of the book. I wasn't disappointed.

I've read a bunch of Frey books (The Vulture Fund, The Takeover, The Legacy) and have enjoyed each one of them. This book seems to be written during a period that Frey may have been tired!Unlike other Frey books, this one slogs along at a very slow pace with incredibly boring characters. The whole thing revolves around a conspiracy to get a new Navy bomber built. The company vying for the contract is owned by a group of Washington politicians, some military bigwigs, and a bunch of investment brokers. The group meets in secret in a secured room (why the inner sanctum of course!) to discuss the progress of the project and to decide what to do with things or people that might jeopardize the project.The main character, Jesse, is a woman whose boss was killed when he suspected that there was a conspiracy going on to rig the upcoming senatorial election. Jesse receives a posthumous email from her boss that tells her where she can find a folder with evidence about the conspiracy. Through some magic or some whim of the author, we are led to believe that the system can fire off the email without leaving an audit trail of where it went to just because it left the company and was later delivered from an external address back to the company. Doesn't the author know that most systems would have a copy of all incoming emails so it would be fairly simple to compare the outgoing message to all incomings to figure out the recipient. Some problems I have with the book. First we have a methodic hit man who becomes a bumbling dolt when he has to go after Jesse. Secondly, we are expected to like one of the main characters, David. David is a stock trader who has very "dirty hands" and is highly involved in insider trading, performing [illegal] corporate transactions, possible money laundering, and hiding records of financial transactions. We are expected to like him. Thirdly, another main character, Todd, has been late in paying back the mob for his gambling debts. They seem to go way to easy on him.If you read this book, try not to judge Frey on it. Just about everything else I read by Frey merits 4-5 stars.

This book isn't great literature and doesn't claim to be, but it's fine for a lazy afternoon when you just want something to read. It's the kind of book you can enjoy but forget you read a year from now. It also has what you might expect: a plot based on a string of incredible coincidences and 'not-very-deep' characters (I found myself actually hoping that the bad guys would snuff-out the heroine at one point just to shut her up). It provided a pleasant diversion for a few hours which is all I really expected.

I read about 30 to 40 novels a year. Through the first five months of 2001, this is far and away the worst book I've read this year. Since it's also one of the worst books I've ever read, it is definitely in the running for my trash novel of the year award. In "The Inner Sanctum", every character is incredibly stupid, as in of questionable intelligence. Also, with the exception of one guy who is killed at the very beginning of the book, every character is driven in part or in whole by greed; not just the desire to be wealthy, but out and out greed. Even the "hero" of the book, an IRS Agent (can you believe it) named Jesse Hayes, is a bit slow on the uptake and looking to make it big. She's also supposed to be about the best the IRS has to offer. Ah, if it were only the case, I would start claiming my dog as a dependent tomorrow. Actually, this is one of those books that depend on the stupidity of the characters. If anyone were capable of an original idea, like taking evidence of political and financial malfeasance to the FBI, SEC, or the New York Times, the book would have ended in the second chapter. Instead, it plods along with one of the most contrived and poorly planned plots I've ever encountered. Most of the time I found myself pages ahead of the author in knowing what was going to happen next. Also, Frey has a problem with "action" sequences. He can't write them in any manner that either makes sense or can be followed. So, he depends on that old standby of hack writers everywhere, a professional killer who either keeps killing the wrong people or who loses his ability to shoot straight when he encounters his true target. (I did like the part where Jesse hides behind a tree while the killer is running all around her. That raised stupidity to an almost Homeric level.) Actually, this book holds out some hope for one segment of the population, wannabe writers. Anyone out there with a really bad novel in the bottom drawer of their desk or on their hard drive should immediately send a copy to Signet books. If they'll publish this drivel, they're likely to publish anything.

Rarely do I ever give up on a book that I have started. This was an exception-DRIVEL!

This is the WORST plot I have read in years! I am quitting it today after 98 pages, and I'm writing this review. The story is about a heroic, wonderful black Democrat senator from Maryland whose Senate seat is being stolen be evil Republicans. The Democrats have no money, but they are fine and honest - the Republicans are filthy rich and they're having people killed to steal this election. What a crock! I'll never buy another Stephen Frey novel, and I wish I had my money back for this one!

I eagerly looked forward to reading this novel after having read two other works by Stephen Frey. This one was definitely a disappointment. Frey has also stepped partially away from the financial world with this one and seems to be on somewhat unfamiliar ground.Once again the main characters come from impoverished backgrounds that they prefer to hide - where have we heard that before? David Mitchell is almost a cookie cutter copy of Andrew Falcon and Mace McClain, although a bit more suspicious. At least the ending was a bit different from the Frey formula of the previous two books.I would have given this book 1 star except the last 100 pages or so were pretty gripping.

This book took me close to three months to read it whereas usually I can finish a good book in a few days. I would go weeks without reading this. The only thing that kept me going is my stubborness that I finish every book I start, no matter how boring. After reading The Vulture Fund and The Takeover I eagerly looked forward to this book. Boy, was I disappointed. Save your money and your time.

It's unfortunate that so many writers, who have had some success, suddenly lose their touch. That's certainly the case with Stephen Frey's latest book, The Inner Sanctum. His two previous books were fairly well developed and rather interesting books based on his knowledge of the financial community. But he's totally off base on this one. An unbelievable plot (even for thriller authors) and wooden characters make this book one that can be passed up.

From the moment I picked up this book and read the brief description on the back, I simply could not put it down. Frey had my undivided attention from page to page. The drama and suspense had me biting my nails! A real thumbs up. I just can't wait to read The Legacy. This book will not disappoint thriller lovers.

A great book written by a great professional storyteller. You can feel the authors background of the world of business. I've had a great time with this book and for Germans it's a great view into the American way of politics and business. Thank You for this wonderfull thriller and I'll read also the other books of Mr. Frey.

I really enjoyed both The Takeover and The Vulture Fund but this book was really a disappointment. The best part was the few pages of The Legacy included at the back of the book. Hope Frey returns to his previous form soon.

This is the third S. Frey book that I've read. Never again!! His plots are so lame they make Ludlum appear believable. Mid-20's IRS accountants taking on investment firms and thugs. Give me a break. I am glad I read this to remind me how bad these books are. The only book worse than Inner Sanctum was Vulture Fund. Sure, lenders and investors will sell hundreds of millions of dollars worth of NYC real estate cheap because of a terrorist threat. Get real.

I have to agree with most of the other folks whose reviews appear here...the book read like a made-for-tv movie, and not a very good one at that. Boring and predictable, I found myself rolling my eyes as I progressed from one absurd scene to the next. Not a good book.

Truman Capote once said "A writer goes through three stages: Learning his craft, producing his best work...and typing." We've seen it with Ludlum, King and others, Frey breaks new records by reaching the "typing" stage in his third book. Wholly unbelievable dialogue,stunningly obvious plot (especially for a "thriller"), lookalike character cliches, etc.In a word? Boring.

As usual, Frey gives the layman good insight to the inner world of Wall Street but the political setting was preposterous; an evil Republican Senator from Georgia who has been a Committee Chairman for 15 years??? Impossible, Republicans have only controlled the Senate for 6 years!!! A faceless career bureaucrat or "military-industrial" corporate type would have been more realistic; also, the heroic liberal African-American Democrat Senator is just as unlikely; unfortunately because of the racial (and racist) demographics of statewide politics it is almost impossible for an African-American to get elected to the Senate (I believe there have been only two this century); a more realistic position would have been a Congressman; however aside from the implausible politcal setting, the book is a good read; although it may be difficult for some to accept an IRS agent as a protaganist, Frey keeps the reader guessing right to the last page; unfortunately the reader has to accept a political fantasy world to enjoy the book

The Inner Sanctum has a solid story line and is a fairly good page turner. I would have given the book 4 stars, but the ending is a little weak. The author trys to have the conspiracy go a little too far. Also, the "super action" resolution of this novel is its weakest point. Overall "The Inner Sanctom" is a good if light read.

I'm a Stephen Frey fan, so bear with me. This was a stinker...a financial thriller version of 'The Firm.' Not nearly as good as The Takeover or Vulture Fund. Why? Unrealistic and grossly cliched dialogue and description primarily.For instance: Pierce, a military guy, is described as "steely-eyed" and with "ramrod" bearing. Characters are always "interjecting" or "replying" or "shooting back" or "interrupting" or "uttering" as opposed to just "he said." And the redundancies: "...he murmured quietly" (how else?) and "it was a Manichaean struggle between good and evil" (is there any other kind?). And the cliches: She was "like a cat on a hot tin roof trying to get off." Actually, I fault Frey's Dutton editor on this (you can see who she is in the acknowledgments section), because this book has a complex plot and fast-paced story, and Frey pulls it off, albeit just barely. I'm a fan. I'll give him another shot.

Sorry, but a book of card board cut outs, washington defense cliches and simplistic dialogue seems a poor third novel for Frey. For those who say they couldn't put it down, a real page turner, what do they usually read--the telephone book?