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THE COMPANY OF FRIENDS: A Story about Politics, Crime and Corruption is a political mystery/thriller involving the assassination of Elizabeth Stone, the first woman elected US president. There are no clues, suspects or apparent motive. Despite the use of the most sophisticated forensic tools, all initial efforts to find the killer fail to produce results. Is this the perfect murder? Frustrated, but determined to see that justice is done, FBI agent George Baker penetrates the twisted sub-culture of the underworld, breaking through the wall of silence that shields the perpetrator of such a heinous crime. The killer is charged, convicted and sentenced to death. But the question of motive remains unanswered. Did he act alone, or was he hired by someone? Further investigation establishes linkages between the president's assassin, several corrupt politicians and The Company of Friends, a secretive organization that runs some legitimate businesses, pays all taxes and supports a variety of charities. Its most lucrative activities, however, are illegal, driven by insatiable greed and made possible by corruption in high places. They involve bribery, insider trading, buying and selling of information and a variety of other illicit schemes. The reader is taken through the seamy side of American politics, exposing how money can buy influence, breeding corruption and subverting the democratic process. The multi-layered structure designed to insulate the masterminds behind this house of corruption is brought down by the relentless efforts of the FBI and its law enforcement partners. The evil genius behind the complex and seemingly foolproof plot to assassinate the president is finally unmasked and brought to justice. What makes the narrative so compelling is its sheer audacity and scope. Issues ranging from the economy, the environment, corruption in business and politics, to Quebec secessionists, create a sense of the complexity of the world lived at the presidential level. Furthermore, everything in the novel could actually happen. The reader does not have to suspend belief in reality to accept the characters and events as presented. The story winds up with a well-balanced and sometimes surprising conclusion for each of the major characters.… (más)
I received a free copy through Goodreads. --- Let's be honest, I read the back cover and was really looking forward to reading this book. However, from start to finish I was left kind of disappointed. While it is an interesting story (the assassination of the President of the USA! like hello how's that not interesting?!), it leaves a lot to be desired and room for a lot of revising.
The characters are all so one dimensional and impersonal. We read the story from the point of view of several people yet we never really get to know them as an individual. They all kind of blend in after a while and are forgettable. Like Elizabeth Stone sounded like a fascinating and interesting female president, we don't really get to know much about her beyond that she was a former judge, has kids and has a rocky relationship with her husband Peter Stone. Like it would have been nice to see her passion to have justice done or to improve the USA.
While there is plenty of political stuff, that lends itself to the book, was a little too much at times. Like OK, we do not need every single detail of the Prime Minister and the President's conversation leading right up to the incident, I just glossed over that part completely.
The whole conspiracy and framing people for the murder of the president was quite interesting, although stretched a little thing after a while. There's only so long you can drag things out before the audience loses interest completely. The Company of Friends were set up to sound like a sophistically runned and highly corrupt corporation, and they are, but after a few chapters I was like whatever the company sounds so boring, all blackmail and bribes and money making, no juicy stuff. Like it would have been neat if we got some real dirt about the CEO.
Overall, it was an OK read. It could have been better, even the climax was a tiny bit anticlimactic. ( )
This book starts off with a presidential assassination and from there this political thriller delves into the workings of government and big businesses. It is fast paced and a very good read. I won this from Goodreads for an honest review. ( )
THE COMPANY OF FRIENDS: A Story about Politics, Crime and Corruption is a political mystery/thriller involving the assassination of Elizabeth Stone, the first woman elected US president. There are no clues, suspects or apparent motive. Despite the use of the most sophisticated forensic tools, all initial efforts to find the killer fail to produce results. Is this the perfect murder? Frustrated, but determined to see that justice is done, FBI agent George Baker penetrates the twisted sub-culture of the underworld, breaking through the wall of silence that shields the perpetrator of such a heinous crime. The killer is charged, convicted and sentenced to death. But the question of motive remains unanswered. Did he act alone, or was he hired by someone? Further investigation establishes linkages between the president's assassin, several corrupt politicians and The Company of Friends, a secretive organization that runs some legitimate businesses, pays all taxes and supports a variety of charities. Its most lucrative activities, however, are illegal, driven by insatiable greed and made possible by corruption in high places. They involve bribery, insider trading, buying and selling of information and a variety of other illicit schemes. The reader is taken through the seamy side of American politics, exposing how money can buy influence, breeding corruption and subverting the democratic process. The multi-layered structure designed to insulate the masterminds behind this house of corruption is brought down by the relentless efforts of the FBI and its law enforcement partners. The evil genius behind the complex and seemingly foolproof plot to assassinate the president is finally unmasked and brought to justice. What makes the narrative so compelling is its sheer audacity and scope. Issues ranging from the economy, the environment, corruption in business and politics, to Quebec secessionists, create a sense of the complexity of the world lived at the presidential level. Furthermore, everything in the novel could actually happen. The reader does not have to suspend belief in reality to accept the characters and events as presented. The story winds up with a well-balanced and sometimes surprising conclusion for each of the major characters.
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Let's be honest, I read the back cover and was really looking forward to reading this book. However, from start to finish I was left kind of disappointed. While it is an interesting story (the assassination of the President of the USA! like hello how's that not interesting?!), it leaves a lot to be desired and room for a lot of revising.
The characters are all so one dimensional and impersonal. We read the story from the point of view of several people yet we never really get to know them as an individual. They all kind of blend in after a while and are forgettable. Like Elizabeth Stone sounded like a fascinating and interesting female president, we don't really get to know much about her beyond that she was a former judge, has kids and has a rocky relationship with her husband Peter Stone. Like it would have been nice to see her passion to have justice done or to improve the USA.
While there is plenty of political stuff, that lends itself to the book, was a little too much at times. Like OK, we do not need every single detail of the Prime Minister and the President's conversation leading right up to the incident, I just glossed over that part completely.
The whole conspiracy and framing people for the murder of the president was quite interesting, although stretched a little thing after a while. There's only so long you can drag things out before the audience loses interest completely. The Company of Friends were set up to sound like a sophistically runned and highly corrupt corporation, and they are, but after a few chapters I was like whatever the company sounds so boring, all blackmail and bribes and money making, no juicy stuff. Like it would have been neat if we got some real dirt about the CEO.
Overall, it was an OK read. It could have been better, even the climax was a tiny bit anticlimactic. (