What do you think?
Rate this book
The Insider
New York Times bestselling author Stephen Frey writes thrillers of "ruthless financial terror" (Chicago Tribune), intricately plotted, fast-paced novels where "Grisham meets Ludlum on Wall Street" (USA Today). Now Frey has written his most exciting novel yet, taking us even deeper into the volatile world of raw ambition, million-dollar deals, and wide-eyed dreamers willing to risk everything for a profit.
Hungry to leave his dead-end banking job and to play in the big leagues, Jay West lands a coveted position with the powerful investment firm of Donovan & Lloyd, working for the influential, charismatic Oliver Mason, a deal-maker with the Midas touch, a fierce ally who handpicked Jay for the job. With the incentive of a million-dollar bonus at the end of the year, Jay strives to make his mark, unaware that he is stepping into an elaborate trap--baited with the seductive promise of power and influence.
Jay soon suspects that Oliver's stellar track record is more than a result of hard work or good luck. The man seems to have everything--not just fast cars and a luxurious home in Connecticut, but a violent temper, a strained marriage, and a boundless hunger for money and prestige. The stakes are raised when a trusted coworker is brutally murdered and the beautiful Sally Lane joins the team, a mysterious blonde with the ability to coax secrets out of others--while seductively keeping her own.
With a conspiracy of deceit and corruption beginning to close around him, Jay races to untangle the sordid lies that have quickly and too conveniently blackened his name. Trusting no one and remaining one step ahead of both the law and his unknown adversaries, Jay must rely on his own cunning and wits to stay in the game--and to stay alive.
With breakneck pacing from the opening bell, The Insider is a multilayered, action-packed thriller of wealth and the lust for it, heated passion and ruthless competition, survival and power--no matter the cost.
From the Hardcover edition.
Hungry to leave his dead-end banking job and to play in the big leagues, Jay West lands a coveted position with the powerful investment firm of Donovan & Lloyd, working for the influential, charismatic Oliver Mason, a deal-maker with the Midas touch, a fierce ally who handpicked Jay for the job. With the incentive of a million-dollar bonus at the end of the year, Jay strives to make his mark, unaware that he is stepping into an elaborate trap--baited with the seductive promise of power and influence.
Jay soon suspects that Oliver's stellar track record is more than a result of hard work or good luck. The man seems to have everything--not just fast cars and a luxurious home in Connecticut, but a violent temper, a strained marriage, and a boundless hunger for money and prestige. The stakes are raised when a trusted coworker is brutally murdered and the beautiful Sally Lane joins the team, a mysterious blonde with the ability to coax secrets out of others--while seductively keeping her own.
With a conspiracy of deceit and corruption beginning to close around him, Jay races to untangle the sordid lies that have quickly and too conveniently blackened his name. Trusting no one and remaining one step ahead of both the law and his unknown adversaries, Jay must rely on his own cunning and wits to stay in the game--and to stay alive.
With breakneck pacing from the opening bell, The Insider is a multilayered, action-packed thriller of wealth and the lust for it, heated passion and ruthless competition, survival and power--no matter the cost.
From the Hardcover edition.
384 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
46 people are currently reading
378 people want to read
About the author
Stephen W. Frey
28 books281 followersFor 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.
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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
April 3, 2015
I was blown away!
This book is over 25 years old but - except for the characters using PAY PHONES and the incongruity of Jay West having a home computer not connected to the internet - it rings true as timeless. The timeless theme of course, is that the LOVE of money is the root of all evil. Not money, per se, since money can do so much good; rather the LOVE of money. The obsession with money.
More timelessness is evident in the various back-stories. An economy recovering from. A recent setback. Politics being corrupted by money. Political patronage. The 1% controlling it all. Indeed, go back and look at the Front Page of the NY Times for any day in 1915, not 2015, and you'll see the same stories you see today. Sure, the names change, but the stories remain the same; war, economy, greed, political misbehavior and the good guys never quite catching up to the bad guys.
Good job, Stephen Frey. I'll be reading more from your pen. Grisham does law. Clancy does special ops. LeCarre does spies. They all do their "thing" very well. Frey does Wall Street just as well.
This book is over 25 years old but - except for the characters using PAY PHONES and the incongruity of Jay West having a home computer not connected to the internet - it rings true as timeless. The timeless theme of course, is that the LOVE of money is the root of all evil. Not money, per se, since money can do so much good; rather the LOVE of money. The obsession with money.
More timelessness is evident in the various back-stories. An economy recovering from. A recent setback. Politics being corrupted by money. Political patronage. The 1% controlling it all. Indeed, go back and look at the Front Page of the NY Times for any day in 1915, not 2015, and you'll see the same stories you see today. Sure, the names change, but the stories remain the same; war, economy, greed, political misbehavior and the good guys never quite catching up to the bad guys.
Good job, Stephen Frey. I'll be reading more from your pen. Grisham does law. Clancy does special ops. LeCarre does spies. They all do their "thing" very well. Frey does Wall Street just as well.
March 23, 2018
The Insider by Stephen W. Frey, a story written depicting a man’s love of money or rather the love for/ of money that seems to take over businesses and life itself. Originally published in september of 1999, many of this book’s common themes and details are very similar if not the same to today. Of course not everything is the same, as society has progressed a bit and devices like phone booths have been phased out.
Stephen W. Frey is, by most standards, a well known and respected author who tends to stick with what he knows, Wall Street and Wall Street business. With that being said, if you are looking for a book based around money and big, high risk deals then this may be the book. It is pretty obvious that Frey knows Wall Street and big business, as i have mentioned, but beyond this he tends to struggle to effectively continue the story.
Many of the aspect to this book are believable, such as the description of the trading schemes, and others feel like Frey is grasping at straws, like the money trail, it is almost believable but not quite. If you have read The Wolf of Wall Street or seen its movie adaptation under the same name then you already have an idea of what Wall Street traders are like. This book confirms this and takes that image to another level. Many of the characters are made out to seem immoral and drab.
Overall I will say i enjoyed this book, though my eview may not reflect this. I’ll give the book a ⅗ stars and probably will not recommend this to others unless they know exactly what they are getting when reading Stephen Frey.
Stephen W. Frey is, by most standards, a well known and respected author who tends to stick with what he knows, Wall Street and Wall Street business. With that being said, if you are looking for a book based around money and big, high risk deals then this may be the book. It is pretty obvious that Frey knows Wall Street and big business, as i have mentioned, but beyond this he tends to struggle to effectively continue the story.
Many of the aspect to this book are believable, such as the description of the trading schemes, and others feel like Frey is grasping at straws, like the money trail, it is almost believable but not quite. If you have read The Wolf of Wall Street or seen its movie adaptation under the same name then you already have an idea of what Wall Street traders are like. This book confirms this and takes that image to another level. Many of the characters are made out to seem immoral and drab.
Overall I will say i enjoyed this book, though my eview may not reflect this. I’ll give the book a ⅗ stars and probably will not recommend this to others unless they know exactly what they are getting when reading Stephen Frey.
December 13, 2023
Bon livre de vacances! Bon rythme, une histoire un peu classique sur wall street mais suffisamment de rebondissements pour tenir en haleine le lecteur.
March 9, 2015
Can't say I liked this book. Like the other Stephen Frey book I read, this too lacks credibility. The insider trading scheme is believable enough (and rather simple), but the rest of it pushes credibility. The money trail, for instance, is sketchy, and it's lack of detail robs it of credibility.
Once again, the author makes Wall Street look dark, and its people utterly immoral. We are to believe that all bigwigs there are crooks. And they make tons of money far too easily to be believable.
Pulp fiction.
Once again, the author makes Wall Street look dark, and its people utterly immoral. We are to believe that all bigwigs there are crooks. And they make tons of money far too easily to be believable.
Pulp fiction.
April 21, 2018
Insider-trading thriller.
Jay West joins the arbitrage desk at a trading company, a special position for which he is not sure he is fully qualified. The head of the desk, Oliver Mason, though, pushes him there, assuring him that if he makes it to January he will get a million-dollar bonus. Quite an incentive.
Much of what the team does it guess what companies are likely to be the targets for a buy-out. Buying shares at the right time can mean raking in a huge windfall. Jay does his research and makes his recommendations. But sometimes Oliver and his top man, Bullock, made moves that got him thinking. And instructed him to do things that didn't always make sense. He starts to do a little investigating on his own.
After a coworker is murdered, Jay knows he has to watch his back. Indeed he does. Here is where it becomes Thriller, right to the end.
Good airplane reading.
Jay West joins the arbitrage desk at a trading company, a special position for which he is not sure he is fully qualified. The head of the desk, Oliver Mason, though, pushes him there, assuring him that if he makes it to January he will get a million-dollar bonus. Quite an incentive.
Much of what the team does it guess what companies are likely to be the targets for a buy-out. Buying shares at the right time can mean raking in a huge windfall. Jay does his research and makes his recommendations. But sometimes Oliver and his top man, Bullock, made moves that got him thinking. And instructed him to do things that didn't always make sense. He starts to do a little investigating on his own.
After a coworker is murdered, Jay knows he has to watch his back. Indeed he does. Here is where it becomes Thriller, right to the end.
Good airplane reading.
December 20, 2018
One of those very 90s thrillers where all the characterizations feel extremely dumbed down, and all the rich people are hopelessly corrupt. The plot is confusing up to the point where it is just stupid. And the women are just around to make sure there’s a sleazy sex scene, and a little hot kissing for our brilliant, capable, but still flamingly dense hero.
So why three stars rather than the one all my clever sarcasm seems to suggest? Well, this is a page turner where you really do keep turning the pages, even while blessing yourself out as an idiot. And there are a few central mysteries in this bonkers plot that are hard to guess. So it’s a fun enough read as long as you have absolutely no expectations.
So why three stars rather than the one all my clever sarcasm seems to suggest? Well, this is a page turner where you really do keep turning the pages, even while blessing yourself out as an idiot. And there are a few central mysteries in this bonkers plot that are hard to guess. So it’s a fun enough read as long as you have absolutely no expectations.
October 24, 2017
This is an older book, first published in 1999. I vaguely remember reading a book or two by this author. And I like to read books that have a business setting.
Unfortunately, I did not care much for this book. It was pretty dark and depresssing, with lots of hiding and chasing. None of it seemed very credible, with the plot revolving around an insider trading scheme at a New York investment firm. I have run into some crooked people in my business career, but nothing quite as rampant and widespread as what transpires in The Insider.
Unfortunately, I did not care much for this book. It was pretty dark and depresssing, with lots of hiding and chasing. None of it seemed very credible, with the plot revolving around an insider trading scheme at a New York investment firm. I have run into some crooked people in my business career, but nothing quite as rampant and widespread as what transpires in The Insider.
October 21, 2019
Well, I did enjoy the fast pace of this thriller. I did enjoy learning more about trading. I did enjoy the conspiracy and intrigue of the story. It did become a bit complicated however and I needed to re-read a few of the sections! But I absolutely did not enjoy the final ending when she leaves him. It just didn’t feel like it fit at all; it could have been tied up so nicely...... but I guess someone would say that it was predictable and I really don’t like predictable..........
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 6, 2022
This is definitely a mixed bag. Jay is likeable, though naïve, and parts are suspenseful. There were plot gaps--Jay went from avoiding "Sally" and Kevin to cooperating and wearing a wire in one unexplained leap. It was nice to know the US attorney wasn't as corrupt as it appeared, though I wouldn't put anything past the southern district of New York. Insider trading is a crime unless your spouse is in Congress.
October 31, 2024
What a great read! I was slow getting into it, because I had too many books going at once…Once I started focusing just on this book, I couldn’t put it down. Book is over 25 years old, but I kind of enjoyed the cultural throwbacks.This story is comparable to The Firm, but deals with a corrupt investment firm. It was really complicated, which was satisfactorily resolved without being overly saccharin.
September 15, 2025
Personal five stars. The combination of descriptive financial transactions and thrilling plot continues to tickle my reading nerves (in a good way). While my favorite Frey combination is still either the first part of the Gillette series, or the one about day trading, this one about insider trading is also great reading. I also had to laugh out loud at the end-of-plot character reveal and sequence of events (someone went Batman on someone else). A bit trite, but satisfying for me.
June 8, 2024
I enjoyed reading this book, but I have a 4 star review because I struggled to understand the ending of the book. The suspense throughout the whole book kept the pages turning, but I could not understand the ending. This definitely felt more complicated than other Stephen Frey books.
July 8, 2025
Well done for the most part. The author resorts to narration to explain the convoluted plot at times, which is why I'm giving it 4 stars instead of 5. If you need a chapter to recite the workings of a plot, then you did something wrong in the telling of the story.
January 9, 2018
wow! very exciting story of Nefarious activities in the investment banking world. includes undercover agents foreign bad guys and one poor victim who manages to overcome and survive
July 14, 2018
I'm sorry. This one just wasn't for me. I liked Jay but the plot isn't something that caught my interest.
February 7, 2020
Great read, after a third through, I literally couldn't stop reading.
March 31, 2020
The fact that money isn't everything comes through in the end. Through very intricate and unexpected plots this book surprised me and I really enjoyed it.
July 14, 2020
Amazing
September 24, 2020
Fair to middling
September 6, 2021
Hard to put down
March 8, 2017
n/s
this book took me a little while to read. it was one that I started, put down, read another book & picked back up. it was somewhat confusing due to trader topics/wording that I didn't really understand.
this book took me a little while to read. it was one that I started, put down, read another book & picked back up. it was somewhat confusing due to trader topics/wording that I didn't really understand.
August 18, 2011
Some days after finishing the book I can hardly remember what was it about. Or better to say - everything except for the main idea has gone - this phase actually could sum up all my thoughts concerning the story.
Coming closer to the plot - detective story set in backstage of finance or more exactly big money world with Hollywood style happy-ending.
I am not going to explore all the plot and details, as usully, there are good guy, hiding bad guy who looks like good, relatively bad and just characters. Actually full scale between bad and good guys are completely represented in the story. And still, after finishing the book, I didn't feel anything, I didn't have any idea to think about, to discuss inside or outside myself. Thus the book itself could be valued as plain, still enjoyable for detective-story lovers or someone who just need something to read lying in the beach.
Nonetheless, one detail caught my attention - all the money in our world is relative, just numbers (sometimes not even on the paper but somewhere in virtual environment written by use of 1 and 0)...
Coming closer to the plot - detective story set in backstage of finance or more exactly big money world with Hollywood style happy-ending.
I am not going to explore all the plot and details, as usully, there are good guy, hiding bad guy who looks like good, relatively bad and just characters. Actually full scale between bad and good guys are completely represented in the story. And still, after finishing the book, I didn't feel anything, I didn't have any idea to think about, to discuss inside or outside myself. Thus the book itself could be valued as plain, still enjoyable for detective-story lovers or someone who just need something to read lying in the beach.
Nonetheless, one detail caught my attention - all the money in our world is relative, just numbers (sometimes not even on the paper but somewhere in virtual environment written by use of 1 and 0)...
February 26, 2011
You might call this an investment company thriller. I know a little about stocks and bonds, but nothing about artitrage. Jay West is anxious to make the big bucks. If he does what his bosses tell him to do, he is promised a bonus of a million dollars come January. They, however, don't plan to pay up, and are in an illegal scheme to make money for themselves. Can he keep from getting framed, or killed?
February 17, 2016
I have read all his previous books and scored 5* for all but one. Always at the centre of the plot is a young financier who finds him or herself in the middle of some financial skullduggery by others. Although the formula is the same the characters, plots and storylines are always intriguing and well developed. Frey's writing style is smooth and never boring which lends itself to an always entertaining read.
December 29, 2013
This is the first book by Stephen Frey that I have read and it was quite enjoyable, full of villians and suspense. The main character Jay West was very likeable and was certainly set up very nicely by his new employers. The plot was intriguing if somewhat predictable with only a few twists and turns to keep me guessing.
December 27, 2014
Jay West is given many red flags as he is just about to begin his new job at McCarthy and Lloyd and he ignores them all.
November 6, 2008
Frey delivers another very good novel. His books are not literary masterpieces; he builds suspense through good protagonists and even better antagonists.
This one was a little predictable, especially if you know the Frey formula. But still very good.
This one was a little predictable, especially if you know the Frey formula. But still very good.
August 3, 2010
Not too much of a page turner, but an okay read. Pretty predictable, I guessed from the beginning what Sally's true character was. Not so sure I would read other books from this author, unless I am on a really long flight or something of the like.
Read
December 17, 2007Don't bother!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews