The Day Trader, by Stephen Frey
By Peter on Feb 7, 2010 in Stephen W. Frey, Thriller, book review
Day trading is a new practice that emerged with the Internet. 
Stephen Frey, the author of previous novels such as The Vulture Fund
The story is interesting but a tad implausible: The world of Augustus McKnight, a newcomer to day trading, is just a little too messed up and complicated, and events are just a tad too much interwoven in one another. And the character of Augustus McKnight is drawn in a way that doesn’t really make him very interesting.
McKnight is married to his high-school sweetheart, but she wants to divorce him. And he has just quit his job to become a day trader. Then his wife is killed, and he has no real alibi. If he is not convicted of murder, he stands to benefit from a one million dollar life insurance policy on his wife. And to top it off he gets involved, without knowing it, with the Mafia, who via a friend wants him to launder some money. As the story progresses, he finds that his wife has been engaged in some very dubious activities, and probably has been unfaithful as well. So life is pretty complicated for McKnight – the police are after him, his wife is dead, his married life needs reinterpretation, he is trying to make money, and the Mafia expects results from him.
So, while Augustus is investigated, he simultaneously starts his own investigation, and uncovers one unpleasant truth after the other. Hardly anything in Augustus’ world is what it seems.
Augustus is a bit of a tragic and reluctant hero, a bit naïve and stubborn, and overall a bit hard to understand. The Day Trader is an interesting and entertaining book, mostly an exciting amateur sleuth novel with some neat twists, but it isn’t really a page turner. OK for light weekend reading, though!
, 
, and 
.
You must be logged in to post a comment.