Man in the Middle

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Summary: Wall Street Insider Reveals the Dark World of High Finance!
Review: "Man in the Middle" is an AMAZING read. The plot is rich with lots of twists, turns, & startling relationships between seemingly unrelated details. I was spellbound & I simply couldn't put it down. Ken Morris & I are old friends & I've long admired his prodigious talent. "Man in the Middle" is the product of his years as a maven of Wall Street & his razor-sharp mind. You're going to love it & so are your friends when you recommend it to them.

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Summary: Entertaining financial thriller.
Review: 'Man in the Middle' focuses on a man in his twenties, Peter Neil, whose mother has died under suspicious circumstances. Peter has recently left his last job, and is in need of a new one. A friend of the family, Jason Ayers, tells him that he can get him an interview with an investment firm that Jason is involved with, legally. At first, Peter is not interested. However, when he has trouble finding a job, he decides to take Jason's advice. Once he becomes employed with the firm, and learns the ropes, Peter makes an outrageous sum of money. However, he suspects that the firm is involved in shady activity. Eventually, Peter learns that his mother, who had had dealings with the firm, possessed incriminating evidence against the firm. He then questions whether her death was actually 'an accident.' Peter's life soon becomes endangered, as the firm goes after him and the evidence.

This was a good story. I gave it four stars, since I thought that the last part of the story got a bit out of hand and was too unbelievable. However, I recommend this financial thriller.

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Summary: Read a review of his next, not out yet, and ordered this one
Review: ...Man in the Middle is fantatstic. A young man is sucked into the world of high finance. Now I'm an idiot when it comes to Wall Street, but I understood the story and wanted to be Peter Neil, the protagonist, understood the lure of wealth, the seduction of a world that most of us only dream about. Until I realized that I too was seduced, just like he was, and his dream was no more than a bonifide nightmare. Exciting as hell, but a place you want to live in until you realize that it will corrupt you. Amazing. Fun. Furious. Fantastic. And, when all is said and done, a great read.

I ordered three copies of Morris' next, the one reviewed in our local paper. Gonna give two away and keep the one for myself. Is this guy the next Grisham? No. In my opinion, he's better.

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Summary: A Fun Read!
Review: A fun read! Following Peter Neil's story, from his naive innocence to his uncovering of ultimate corruption, kept me intrigued throughout.
Most notable was the detailed character development I find all too often lacking in many of today's novels. Morris' characters bring his story to life, creating a compelling adventure for his protagonist as well as the reader. I came away feeling I had in insider's look into the underbelly of the financial world; it is fascinating.

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Summary: Wall Street from the Inside
Review: After reading in the Wall Street Journal about the thiefs and thugs who infest Wall Street and are heads of major corporations, you'll find this book scary and all too believable. With fast action throughout and unpredictable plot twists, it's a natural for a thriller movie. It makes you want to cry out "Don't go there" to the hero. I stayed up late at night on this one.

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Summary: Wooden writing; better alternatives available
Review: As a retired trader (I made it by 30), I picked up this book out of curiosity. Mediocre writing (too much tell, not enough show; larding on of adjectives, poor editing), boilerplate plot, and mostly cardboard characters make this an offering not worth your money. Financial details appear accurate, if a bit out of date. The writer needs to hone his craft substantially; readers interested in financial thrillers would be better entertained by the work of Michael Ridpath or even Stephen Frey. I laughed when I saw the author's website: "financial thriller.com." Hardly. At least it wasn't in the plural. I hope he keeps his promise and makes this the only one.

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Summary: The Man in The Middlle
Review: As a Wall Street pro, I was surpised at the accuracy of the financial details, This book kept my interest the whole way through with its wonderful but realistic fiction. I look forward to finding another Ken Morris book to read!

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Summary: Great Financial Novel
Review: As an investment banker I enjoy reading novels built around finance intrigue vs. lawyers, doctors or policemen. This is a very good book of a recent college grad who after the death of his mother is given an opportunity to be a hedge fund trader. In a year he goes from not wanting the job to being one of the top traders and all the internal office politics that develop.

But this is no ordinary job and he wasn't recruited based upon his intelligence. The novel starts with two deaths of people who do business with the hedge fund as well as the death of his mother. Morris weaves many different plot lines like the death of his mother, his family life and a relationship with the attorney of the hedge fund, his love life involving the daughter of the attorney, and his conflicted views of wealth.

Overlapping these story lines is a great "whodunit" as the new trader fights to learn a business and duck clues that may involve him in an elaborate scheme. I strongly recommend this book for anyone interested in a good murder mystery built around a financial world background.

Rating:
Summary: Great Financial Novel
Review: As an investment banker I enjoy reading novels built around finance intrigue vs. lawyers, doctors or policemen. This is a very good book of a recent college grad who after the death of his mother is given an opportunity to be a hedge fund trader. In a year he goes from not wanting the job to being one of the top traders and all the internal office politics that develop.

But this is no ordinary job and he wasn't recruited based upon his intelligence. The novel starts with two deaths of people who do business with the hedge fund as well as the death of his mother. Morris weaves many different plot lines like the death of his mother, his family life and a relationship with the attorney of the hedge fund, his love life involving the daughter of the attorney, and his conflicted views of wealth.

Overlapping these story lines is a great "whodunit" as the new trader fights to learn a business and duck clues that may involve him in an elaborate scheme. I strongly recommend this book for anyone interested in a good murder mystery built around a financial world background.

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Summary: New York Times Gives Book Thumbs-Up
Review: “In the wake of the stock market collapse, with bankers being investigated by regulators, the raw material for the next generation of Wall Street yarns is certainly ripe for literary use… Man in the Middle has the plot line of early Grisham. Its main character, Peter Neil, a callow young man, goes to work for a hedge fund, runs up against a fleet of bad guys, saves the day, and ultimately gets the girl… There is plenty of violence and sex, too. .. A pulpy financial potboiler about life in the trading trenches… [and] a lush tale of evildoing in a San Diego hedge fund, Mr. Morris’ book, according to Amazon as of June 27, 2003, had a ranking of 512,876, his sterling reviews notwithstanding.”
-- NEW YORK TIMES