Rating: 
Summary: Something like The Takeover
Review: I really liked this book when I read it. So, I turned around and read another one of Mr. Frey's books, The Takeover, some two weeks later. Reading The Takeover, I am sensing that Stephen Frey had run out of material for The Day Trader and just went back to the original formula, for in some (perhaps relatively minor) instances, this novel plays out like his first. I would have given The Day Trader 4 stars had I not gotten a hold of its prototype. Still, it's a terrific way to pass the time while riding the the NYC subway.
Rating:
Summary: Good
Review: I thought this was a good book, unlike some of the other people who reviewed it. It kept me turning the pages, wondering what would happen next. Unlike other reviews, this IS worth the paper it is printed on.
Rating:
Summary: Good
Review: I thought this was a good book, unlike some of the other people who reviewed it. It kept me turning the pages, wondering what would happen next. Unlike other reviews, this IS worth the paper it is printed on.
Rating: 
Summary: Day Trader?? Made only a two trades throughout the 347 pgs
Review: I was a day trader in the 90s, and loved it. I thought there was going to be excitement about trading stocks in this book, and getting highs off making huge money, and suffering loses as well. The author does not touch stock trading really at all. Its more of a mystery/murder story, and not a good one at that. If you are looking for day trading fiction excitemnet, please look elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining, Yet Disappointing
Review: I was entertained reading The Day Trader, but I was disappointed because so little of the plot was spent on actual day trading - although I did not really realize the dearth of day trading until I had finished the book.
The plot is not complex, but unlike some other reviewers, I was not offended by Stephen Frey's writing style. The lack of detail regarding a particular trade (there are only a couple transactions) intrigued me as I expected the secret to that success to be revealed later.
I would like to read a fast paced novel about a day trader that detailed days of success and days of losses and frustration. The Day Trader is not that novel. However, it is entertaining and worth reading for that purpose and as an average read rates three stars.
Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyable read ... but something was missing
Review: I've never read any Stephen Frey before. I read a lot of mystery/suspense books and I enjoyed this one a great deal. I had a tough time putting it down. However, I found some of the explanations of trading to be a bit trite. I wasn't sure I believed all of the facts of the "trading floor" until I verified with my husband that such places existed. I found the protagonist somewhat implausible. He could be incredibly smug and yet really naive and then at the same time, brilliantly figure it "all" out! The book is definitely worth reading and I think I'll try another Frey book to see how he does with other characters.
Rating:
Summary: Trade it for a better one
Review: The editor's review was too kind. This book features a dumber-than-rocks protagonist, an inane plot, and inept character development. Don't waste your time.
Rating:
Summary: Editor, what is an editor?
Review: The story is interesting, but the first person present tense drove me crazy. He needs to pay his editor a little better, or perhaps take English 101!
Rating:
Summary: Steve. Don't rest on your laurels . . .
Review: There's a point in Day Trader that you find yourself saying 'a guy this talented couldn't be this much of a nitwit.' That may be harsh but yet it's a valid criticicm of whether or not we like the protagonist. Even more importantly, we're into the protagonist's life: can we believe him?James Crumley for example, the great Raymond Chandler, James Burke once in awhile, Elizabeth George from time to time, write about characters we don't necessarily like. However in those instances, the writing is so brilliant as to carry your distaste. Your dislike of the main character, I submit, becomes sublimated into the story and the telling. But with Augustas McKnight, we are constantly scratching our head. A man brilliant enough to decipher the Wall Street Journal, daily, in his spare time, should realize that when his wife works until two in the morning and comes home in strange underwear, something is wrong. Counselling may be in order. Denial isn't a good choice. And there are many other incongruities. Hey. This is a good, "B" movie. It's entertainment. You won't remember one passage. But it's 7 o'clock at night and you're at Newark Airport and they just announced your flight's been delayed three hours. This then becomes a great book. But Frey has in fact written better and probably ought to get back to writing better before we start expecting more Day Traders. He is worthy of better efforts. An OK read. Not necessarily a good read . . .unless you're at Newark Airport.
Rating:
Summary: Zip Zap Financial Thriller? Well, No.
Review: This book is not quite as bad as some of the other reviewers have indicated. It's readable and moves right along. A great book if you have time to kill. Unfortunately, it's also silly and shallow. Augustus McKnight is just about to quit his "day job" and became a "Day Trader" when his wife announces she is leaving him. The next day she is found murdered. Augustus' life is rapidly spiralling down hill. Assorted "friends" and "co-workers" seem united in trying to do him in. Nobody is who they seem to be. Augustus becomes an amateur sleuth, trying to solve the case of his wife's murder in which he is rapidly becoming the chief suspect. The plot is complicated and contrived, the characters are not believable, nor do you care what happens to them. And the main character, the protagonist (who is also the narrator, who also gives tedious lectures about the mechanics of selling short, for example) is--how shall I say it?--a jerk. This is not a financial thriller at all, really, although Augustus is supposedly "day trading." It is just a second-rate whodunit. But as I say, it reads quickly, and is kind of fun.
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