The Power Broker

Christian Gillette #3

by Stephen W. Frey

Exposing high-level governmental corruption, conspiracy, and murder has garnered plenty of attention for Christian Gillette, the young dynamo chairman of the famous New York private equity firm Everest Capital. Now the reputation he has built taking Everest to the top has been noticed beyond the boardrooms of high finance–by powerful people with potentially devastating agendas.

Christian’s own attention is on Las Vegas, where he means to stake out a piece of the action by opening a new casino and launching an NFL franchise. But Sin City didn’t get its nickname for nothing, and the mob soon makes it clear that Christian’s company will have to pay if it wants to play in the nation’s gaming capital. Christian has already taken on corporate pirates and cold-blooded assassins and lived to tell about it, but crossing the underworld could do more than just kill his brilliant career. It could crush his chance to fulfill his late father’s political legacy.

Dynamic U.S. senator Jesse Ford is the odds-on favorite to make history as the first black president. And the man he wants beside him in the red-hot race for the White House is Christian Gillette. But Samuel Hewitt, a Texas mogul with billions to burn, has another fate in mind for Christian: to be part of a shadow organization, powered by wealth and bound by dark secrets that has manipulated the course of American history for generations.

As the pieces of Hewitt’s plot fall into place, and a twisted chain of intrigue, treachery, blackmail, and death gets tighter and tighter, Christian realizes–maybe too late–that in a grudge match between kingmakers hell-bent on victory at all costs, he may be the last pawn sacrificed.

With The Power Broker, bestselling author Stephen Frey unleashes an ever-accelerating thriller that breaks the suspense barrier–and never stops.


From the Hardcover edition.

Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, Audiobook, Suspense, Mystery Thriller, Business

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

For the last 15 years I’ve been lucky enough to be a novelist. Until recently the books were set in the worlds of Wall Street and Washington. In addition to writing, I’ve also had a career in finance with specialties including merger & acquisition advisory and private equity at firms like J.P. Morgan in New York City and Winston Partners just outside D.C. in northern Virginia.

So, it seemed natural to write about those two worlds and, fortunately, the publishing industry agreed. My first book was published in 1995, The Takeover; about a secret group of men who were trying to destroy the U.S. monetary system by engineering a massive corporate takeover. I have followed The Takeover with 13 more novels all set in high-level finance and national politics.

Recently, I decided to alter the theme. The novels will still have a financial focus, but Wall Street won’t be the backdrop. We’ll get out into the world more. And there will be a man versus nature element for the hero in every novel. Hell’s Gate, available August 2009, is set in Montana and involves forest fires and why many of them start.

I live in southwest Florida with my wife, Diana, and we have since 2004 after moving down here from northern Virginia. Given the new direction of my books, it seems like a hurricane ought to make an appearance in a novel sometime soon.

Reviews

[PamG · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a novel of intrigue centered around Christian Gillette, the chairman of a New York private equity firm. He has multiple business deals underway as well as some possible political ambitions. So....the book involves the business deals, some politics, race, treachery, blackmail,murder, money, influence, ethics, betrayal, the "good old boy" business networks at their worst, and much, much more. The plot line was compelling and Christian Gillette is a likeable main character.

There are a lot of supporting characters in this novel as well as settings in Maine, Las Vegas, Texas, and Illinois. There are some things that could have been better researched and there are clichés. Despite this, it could have been a four star book for the pure entertainment except: 1. The ending let me down and 2. It started somewhat slowly due to introducing a lot of the characters.

[Bill Keefe · Rating 1 out of 5]

Listening to this book was like watching bad television. A farsically unbelievable plot, with unidimensional characters and predictable events/ending. I can understand that someone would feel the urge to write, even if it's going to be a poor work but why would you publish this? Because people buy titles? Because the ignorant read? Who knows?

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

========================================================
== DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU ARE GOING TO READ THE BOOK ==
== Notes to myself as I read the book ==
========================================================
Chairman of Everest Capital - Christian Gillette
Exec.Asst. - Debbie

Managing partners:
--Nigel Faraday -2nd in command
--Allison Wallace -added quid pro quo, non-paid
--Quentin Stiles -

Portfolio Companies:
--Laurel Energy, Canadian Oil & Gas
--Dice NFL expansion franchise in Las Vegas
--Dice Casino in Las Vegas
--Aero Systems

Other Players:
--Faith Cassidy -Christian's rock star girlfriend
-Kurt Landry -NFL commissioner
--Ray Lancaster -Head coach & GM of Dice, new NFL team
--Jesse Wood -senator, could be 1st black president
--Elijah Forte -one of the wealthiest men in U.S.
--Heath Johnson -executive VP under Elijah Forte

The 29th Order of the Ivy (est. 1839):
---Samuel Prescott Hewitt -Texas mogul, master of the Order, Chairman of U.S. Oil
---Mace Kohler -CEO of Networks Systems International, in collusion w/McDonnell
---Franklin Laird -ex-chairman of the Federal Reserve, killed in a hit-and-run
---Richard Dahl -5-star army general, Joint Chiefs
---Trenton Fleming -Chairman of Black Brothers Allen
---Blanton McDonnell -CEO of Jamison & Jamison Pharmaceutical, in collusion w/ Kohler
---Stewart Massey -ex-senator from Texas, ex-prosecutor, was drowned in a lake
---James Benson -oldest member, ex-director of Defense Intelligence Agency, shot himself.

--Bob Galloway -CFO of Central States Telecom & Satellite
--Vivian Davis -SEC investigator
--Carmine Torino -takes care of dealings w/the mob, hung in his hideout
--Alan Agee -Chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission, threatened to not talk to Christian
--Don Roth -he & his wife caretake the Order's bldg on the island
--Patty Roth -husband, Don, had taken the fall for someone else, killed in the lodge's secret room.
--Cal Segal -owns NFL team that's trading a QB to The Dice. Somebody convinced him to settle on a deal.
--Todd Harrison -reporter
--George Bishop -snooping for Harrison
--Frank -got $1M from Christian
--Frank's real photographer
--Carl -decoy photographer for Frank
--Jefferson Roundtree -activist minister from Philly

[Malia · Rating 2 out of 5]

*1.5 stars

Finally, it's over! That sounds overly harsh, but this was a bit of a trial to get through, still I wanted to know what the end would be, so...
It's just too much of everything. There are SOOO many characters, it's hard to keep up. Also, there are several plot lines, not one of which appealed to me. There are secret societies, corporate espionage, romantic squabbles, business deals, political planning, etc. It's just too much.
Further, Christian Gillette, the main character, has gotten to the point where he is only a caricature, and a bad one at that. By this I mean he is the perfect 'hero' still he falls completely flat, with no softness, no weakness, nothing to make him remotely appealing or even human. He is extremely handsome, so handsome every woman fawns over him(except his lesbian receptionist- who he made sure was a lesbian, so there would be no chance he or she would be interested in the other- talk about EGO?!?). He went to Princeton, then made zillions on Wall Street and he's only forty, oh my! He is presented as this shiny example of a man, yet what I perceived was a dull, waxy figure with no personality and rather little in the way of common sense.
The plot...I can't even go there. It's just absurd. Constant killing, gun-fighting rubbish that seems utterly contrived (at least I rather hope it is...)

Be that as it may, I did finish, so I will give it 1.5, instead of 1 star. I hate writing bad reviews, because writing a book is hard work. But this book really disappointed me and I have to be honest. Perhaps I am not the right audience, because other people clearly enjoyed it, still I think this will be it for my and Christian Gillette.

Find more reviews and bookish fun at http://www.princessandpen.com

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Power Broker by Stephen Frey (pp. 416)
Frey is definitely a hit-or-miss writer. This was a definite miss. Christian Gillette, a New York investment banker, is again embroiled in some dangerous intrigue. A group called The Order made up of a committee of moneyed men who have influenced the direction of American politics and markets for the last 200 years have Gillette and an up-and-coming black presidential candidate in their cross hairs. The main character remains likeable, but the number of new characters and wacky layers of in-the-shadows conspiracies feels like drinking from the idea firehose. No editing of concepts. Too many rough cuts between scenes. Characterizations depends very much on current news event stereotypes for shorthand.

When most of your characters are unethicial, rich white guys, the story lacks for a lot of character development. Motivations are thin. The only real thing carrying the reader through the story is the desire to stop the confusion and figure out what the hell is happening. It’s not suspenseful. It’s irksome.

Frey is a working writer. His lack of distance from the world he bases his books on may be part of the downfall of this offering. In the past, that’s done him well. But here he seems too enamored with his main character who we’ve seen in three previous offerings. And unlike legal or military fiction there’s only so much the head of a private equity firm can do for a dramatic offering. The premise for guns, death, and blackmail become overworked.

Give the author points for imagination, but call this a bad investment of his time and the readers.

[Chris Norbury · Rating 3 out of 5]

I almost gave up about 40 pages in when I did a quick count and realized some twenty characters and half a dozen companies had been introduced or mentioned in those pages. WAYYY too many to keep track of so early in a story. (Strike one)

But I pressed on because I have an individual-investor background and I'm always interested in financial thrillers. But the author started losing me again when he got into this groove (rut? crutch?) of "flash-fiction scene changes", scene cuts that were sometimes only a few paragraphs long and had no apparent connection to the main plotline. (Strike two)

But I kept on because of the themes/concepts the author included (sort of presaging what was to come: the notion of the first black president, the systemic racism and refusal of the privileged, rich white men to willingly cede their massive power to a growing group of minorities, and how so much of politics is controlled by the "one percent."

Finally, it's always hard for most readers to feel much sympathy/empathy for the rich and powerful characters in this book. I give the author credit for taking on that challenge. He did it well enough to craft a decent story. However, the ending seemed rushed and contrived and too neatly wrapped up all the loose ends.

[tyra · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Power broker by fray concerns high finance, politics, social/economic issues, and buckets of drama/intrigue surrounding Christian Gillette, the chairman of a New York private equity firm.

The main issue with this book is that there's no character inside of it that you can really root for connected with, or even care about; as 90% of the cast are cardboard cutouts bonking around into each other in illogical or nonsense ways, paired with shock value interactions which lack any depth, since as stated before the characters do as well.

Then when the work touches on sociopolitical issues, said issues are never fully realized or explored beyond surface level exposition and cheap motivation to make x character do x thing.

So if looking for a high stakes, intrigue bleeding modern tale set in the financial world, Id look elsewhere. As this work overall is just meh.


Note: I was seeking to read the Power Broker by Robert Caro and mistakenly read this(the third book in a series no less), so that might have something to do with my dislike of the work >_>

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pros:
Another book I couldn't put down.

I appreciate the political balance in this book. It's not one side is good and the other bad. Rather, the focus is on the evil elements of the extremes of both sides.

Cons:
Again with the salaciousness. I suppose it's more relevant here than in the previous book, though, as it adds another layer of depravity to characters who have - and abuse - too much power.

It's beginning to strain credulity that Christian Gillette, a brilliant investor who - often due to his impressive ability to read people - consistently makes good decisions in business, is continuing to make such horrible decicisions in both his personal life and the specific deals around which each book revolves.

Allison is still around. I still hate her. She's conniving, obnoxious, and can't be trusted.

[Kyle Dubiel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Accidentally read the book thinking it was Robert Caro's "The Power Broker" but alas I was hooked. An entertaining read. Really ahead of its time in certain political aspects, which was a pleasant surprise. I also really enjoy the cast of characters in the story, particularly, Allison and Christian, though I can't help but think of how stupid some of the men act in this book in regards to women and their romantic interest in them.

With the way the book is written, I didn't find myself missing out on the previous to installations of this character series.

I'd figured I should finish out the series with the next book and call it a day.

[Levi Horton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a continuation of the Christian Gillette series. Gillette is now firmly in control of Everest and that is unquestioned. However, this time, a presidential election and trouble with Laurel Energy, CST, and his new NFL team are slowly converging on each other. In addition, a secretive group of “good ol’ boys” is controlling things behind the scenes.

Stephen Frey did a great at both continually building up the Christian Gillette character, while also reminding the reader of his story in case they forgot. In addition, Frey kept the reader constantly second guessing who was behind things, keeping the reader engaged and turning the age.

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not even close to being one of Stephen Frey’s stellar books. I gave up after 150 pages. Tons of characters and sub plots to remember. I had to keep going back to figure out who was who and why they were relevant and I didn’t like the racial overtones in the plot.
In the end I just gave up. I just couldn’t get into the plot. It just took too much energy to read and I wasn’t getting any excitement or suspense in return.

[Mike Nyberg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointed. The author had a chance to make this a much more intellectual thriller than how it ended up. Bogus explanations for how he gets to the end. I was hoping Christian Gillette would be another Harvey Specter, but not the case.

[Richard Guerrero · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another good book in the series, but probably my least favorite thus far. This one went even way more directions than the other and too much a lot of times. The main characters are still great and they keep me into the book.

[Lorraine Wille · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good story of Black powerful men in the big business world.

[Segun · Rating 3 out of 5]

The build up is amazing but the ending is not satisfactory in detail and length.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slow first half of the book, then fast and furious

[Beach Girl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stephen Frey has this plot so twisted that I may have to read the final chapter again to make sure I got it right. Love that in a book!!!

[Jonathan Rintala · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, a bit over the top her and there.. but overall entertaining

[Michael J Bartlett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fast moving, good plot. I will keep reading Stephen W. Frey novels.

[Mike Elder · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of characters to take in right away, but if you can manage, it's written in a compelling suspenseful way.

[Monzenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

High three. The plot is really a lot of the second book but with different flavour texts. Successor issues, relationship issues, security issues, and another secret agreement. The book was still nice, but I can afford not to have this third book in a series that seems to like telling similar stories. Definitely, the first book was the peak for this one.

[Samyann · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Chairman, The Protegé, The Power Broker, and The Successor are the four novels that are the Christian Gillette Series. Read them in order to glean the most from this story. The stories will stand alone, but you'll miss connections and scratch your head with a lack of understanding. Plus, you'll miss out on some good storytelling.

Plot. Christian Gillette, a handsome 30-something genius, is unexpectedly elevated to Chairman of Everest, a money management firm, via the unexpected death of his boss. Through the four novels, you will learn that Christian is a brilliant financier, buying and selling companies, making his clients, and his staff, multi-millionaires. Deciding 'who to trust' is paramount to his success. Romance, deal-making, back-stabbing, life and death situations, friendships, self-doubt, questions of loyalty, judgement, good guys, bad guys - all swirl through a world of high finance.

Liked. Was prepared to be unenthusiastic about a story of high finance. Boring, right? Nope! This series will hold your attention, not one math problem. It's a terrific tale of suspense, intrigue, even political espionage. There is a lot to the character of Christian Gillette; he's not "just another pretty face". Narration is fine, no issues. A bit slow in tempo, so pumped the iPhone up to 1.3 - not an issue.

Not so hot? Sometimes Christian comes across as a bit immature - most of the time a brilliant alpha male, in charge. His character could have been smoother. A bit cliché, in places, but very readable.

Recommended. High finance can be exciting stuff!

[Carl Alves · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Power Broker is a melodramatic, thoroughly unbelievable tale set in the financial world. Christian Gillette is the chairman of one of the most powerful private equity firms in the world. In this novel he is pitted against forces with even more power than him in the form of Samuel Hewitt and a former Black Panther leader. There are many subplots at play including getting licenses for Las Vegas casinos, getting players for his new NFL team, and an offer to become the vice-president of the black, democrat candidate for the presidency.

I am only willing to suspend my disbelief so far. Unfortunately this novel is so full of utter ridiculous nonsense and clichés that my disbelief was required to extend well past the Milky Way. Let me count the ways. A private equity firm cannot own an NFL franchise. Only individuals are allowed to own franchises. To think that they can shake down an NFL owner, who despite what would have to be immense wealth had no personal protection, to make favorable trades is laughable. Organized crime hasn’t run the Vegas casinos in about forty years. The Order, composed of rich, old money white males who have unlimited amounts of money, power, and influence is so utterly cliché. That Jesse Ford would select someone as a vice-president candidate with absolutely no political experience is a joke. That they would not thoroughly vet Gillette is an even bigger joke. The only thing entertaining about this novel was that it was so outlandish that it was entertaining. This is a book you will want to avoid.

Carl Alves – author of Reconquest: Mother Earth

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Deceit, trust and honesty are themes that are repeatedly surfacing in Frey's novel "The Power Broker." All relationships are questioned and tested in this action and crime packed story.

The novel encompasses several original story lines that did not seem to mesh together until the second half of the book. The two powerful, secret orders one of white and the other of black men entailed a large amount of detail on both sides that left the reader confused as to which characters belonged to which orders. Each of the orders had separate goals for a presidential hopeful.

I had great difficulty keeping track of the dozen or more characters in this novel, even though many were killed off during the course of the novel.

I did quickly become attached to the true main characters of the book Christian, Quentin, Nigel and Allison. I found that my favorite part of the novel was the dialogue between these individuals. The story that was told with these characters through their business practices was easy to follow and believable.

In all honesty, I had to force myself to read past the first few complicated and intricate chapters. There were too many characters and settings introduced in the first few chapters. I especially found myself very perplexed as to how the prologue fit in with the beginning of the novel. As the story progressed, the amount of story lines seemed to increase and did not converge until the final few chapters.

This novel could have used a character chart or map to prevent the reader being lost with too many characters and settings.

[Sarai · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED THIS BOOK, and the rest of the "Christian Gillette" series. I actually read this one first not knowing that it was part of a series and this was the 3rd book. I thought that it was a fantastic stand alone story, but of course I went on to read the 4th book right after to see where it led. I then read the first 2 books and followed it up by re-reading them all in correct order. These books are so good that it never felt redundant re-reading them. Each book can stand by itself but if I could do it again I'd start at the beginning and work my way through!

[Emanuele · Rating 3 out of 5]

Frey's books on Christian Gillette are always interesting, but this one falls short of the first two in the series.
Finance and the world of high business, Frey's forte, are just a background to what is all a very messy, intricately and fairly or unrealistic political conspiracy. Furthermore, the plot takes off very very slowly, not keeping you stuck to the book as usual and then, as it often happens with this author, speeds to a sub par conclusion,
Only for the real fans of the series, not worth your time as a stand alone

[Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another Christian Gillette novel which picks up roughly where The Protege left off. Christian is on the short list to be the Vice presidential choice for Jesse Wood an African American running for president but he has been targeted by a super secret power group known as The Order, think Skull and Bones. Like many of Frey's novels this would have benefited from an extra 75-100 pages as the plot seems rushed and the ending happens quickly.

[Kellie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to this book essentially to find scratches reported by patrons of the library where I work. There were no scratches. I have never read anything by Frey, but this did not disappoint and I was rooting for the hero Christian Gillette all the way through. Definitely a man's novel which has sexual situations that some will not like.

[Laurie (Kwiltreader) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A financial thriller. Christian Gillette, from The Protégé now powerful business man, plans to be nominated as VP for African American presidential candidate. Behind the scenes, is a group of men who run the financial world–stocks and Wall Street–buy-outs and mergers.