Frank Whaley Books

It's 2 am and I have a 7 am golf tee time. I'm on page 243 and I am wide awake. Why? Because I can't turn the pages to the Up and Comer fast enough. Am I getting my point across? Absolutely one of the finest pieces of fiction to come along. Great character development, perfect plot, a little bit of spice -- all this adds up to the perfect book. Word of advice -- make sure you've got an uninterupted 8 to 12 hours because once you start, you won't stop. Make it 10 Stars for Up and Comer!!!!!!!

Like a lot of people, I never heard of Howard Roughan until I read James Patterson's novel HONEYMOON, which Roughan co-wrote. I thought HONEYMOON was better written than the average Patterson novel, so I thought I would give one of Roughan's earlier novels I shot. I'm glad I did.

THE UP AND COMER is a very witty, darkly comic novel. It is also a novel that features an remarkably unlikable character as its protagnoist. New York attorney Philip Randall has married his wife Tracy for her family money, while at the same time having an extramarital affair with his best friend's wife. He is also very smug and offers a lot of acerbic (yet funny) commentary about city life in New York. Eventually, something goes terribly wrong with Randall's life. The way he handles this crisis, and the violent complications that ensue, lead to a very suspenseful read. In some ways, this novel reminds me of another novel, James Siegel's DERAILED.

I must admit that I found Randall to be very off-putting at first, because he is such a louse. However, this book gets better as it goes along, and Randall is a very different person at the end of this book than he is at the beginning. In the end, this novel is something of a morality tale, and I enjoyed it immensely.

In short, I highly recommend this book to people who like their suspense mixed with a little dark comedy. I sincrely hope that Roughan writes more books.

I first read this book several years ago, but I can't stop re-reading it. The protagoinst of this book, Phillip Randall, is, to put it mildly, ethically challenged. Basically, Phillip is just a guy who already has it all and is willing to do whatever it takes to get more, more, and more. He's perfectly happy to take advantage of the opulent lifestyle provided by his wife's father's money, to climb the corporate ladder at his law firm no matter what the ethical cost, and, when the mood strikes him, to sleep with his best friend's wife. He does these things with no remorse - Phillip is a pretty happy guy and believes, in his very Manhattan WASPY upper-middle-class way, that he is entitled to all of these things, and more.

It makes sense, then, that when someone threatens the pleasant lifestyle he's grown so accustomed to exploiting, Phillip takes action in a way that most of us would be horrified about in real life. The beauty of this book is that the author puts you right inside his head and makes you part of what Phillip is doing - and while you find Phillip disgusting, you also can't help but like him. You will live vicariously as Phillip's life starts to snowball, and you will alternate between hoping Phillip gets caught, and then hoping he gets away with it.

It's a plot that's been done before, but in my opinion, this author does it better than almost any of his contemporaries (except possibly Jason Starr). Roughan does an amazing job capturing a certain psychology of a certain type of guy most of us have come across in life. The narrator's voice is readable, darkly funny, and infectious. This book has a fantastic plot, great characterization, and a perfect ending. Roughan presents us with a traditionally unsympathetic character, takes us with him to do unspeakable things, and even makes us identify with him, all without compromising the moral center of the book.

I loved this book in every way. My only complaint is that Roughan isn't writing more books just like this one. This author is a great talent with a unique voice and I recommend all his books, but this one is by far his best.

The main character, Philip, is an anti-hero that is amoral, complex and intriguing all at the same time. The book is an easy page turner and the ending is very fitting.

Simply put, if you like books that move quickly but still are well written, have very clever satire, and still have a good plot with strange but believable characters, you will like Howard Roughan's "The Up and Comer". I don't know how I missed this book when it was released but Mr. Roughan truly can write in this genre. I often find books of this type to be simply trash, ones you might finish but never really admit to having read. This one is different. Someone who willingly allows their life to get out of control and thinks they can always put it back on the rails. That AND is very funny along the way. Read this book. On the beach, on a plane. It is not serious literature but it is seriously good.

I do most of my reading on the train commuting to and from work. This book did not give me that luxury because I was so into the story of how this kid became rich and invested for well known celebrities. I read it in three days because I kept wondering how and when this guy was going to get whacked by the mafia. The real life photos in the book make the stories more justifiable. Also, these pictures help keep the reliability of the book in tact.

Business mostly draws my interest for reading material, so that was the reason I bought the book at an airport one day. If you like business success stories and real life mafia drama, then this book will knock you off your feet.

If you can imagine a book written that blended these two movies together, bada-bing, there's your book. There's your review.

It nevers ceases to amaze me that people could be so gullible as to send a check for a large sum of money because some guy with a great line of BS says he can make you rich and he represents an official sounding brokerage house. Wow.

The story is very captivating. Reading about Louis spiral out of control, hooking up with organized crime "Guys", the drugs, the lies, the scamming. Pretty entertaining.

This book really makes me wonder what all those regulatory agencies actually do. Its obvious they are not running around trying to protect the average consumer. Too bad, cause with people like Louis manning the phones, many people out there need protection.

I found myself looking for excuses during the day to get back to reading this book. I really enjoyed it.

Mr. Weiss shows us how he has been able to capture his Pulitzer. The author "lets the hood tell his story" as one reviewer complains, but I would assert that this is a BIG asset to this book. Yes, we find out the "banality of evil" but that is beside the point.

You may find yourself dealing with this part of society in one shape or another eventually and you may be surprised to find that the Mafia is NOT so dead as it is being assumed to be. Of course, if you really read between the lines of this book you realize that this is an example of Organized Crime ADAPTING. The penny stock industry (Yes. .it is an ongoing industry . . and NOT going the way of the buggy whip, if my FAX machine is any indication. . .filled as it is with unsolicited stock BS) was the place to be if you wanted to rub shoulders with mobsters in the 1990s. Weiss acts as narrator as the life story of Pasciuto unfolds.

Some here have complained about the prose style. I found it very accessible. The story is an easy read and you are not supposed to wind up "compelled" by any character. They are almost all bad guys. This time, Weiss didn't complain about how incompetent the legal watch dogs must be to simply let this all unfold without being much hindrance, but if you think this stuff through fully, you would wind up wondering that. . .WHERE IS THE SEC??? . . .the NASD?

Anyway, if you want to get a feel for the chop stock industry you should read this book. If you feel compelled to invest in those ULTRA LOW CAP stocks that you see in your fax machine or in unsolicited e-mails. . .you MUST read this book!

Caveat Emptor!

Chris Tune

A really fascinating, jarring look at a corner of Wall Street that I did not know existed. Takes you back to the days of the Roaring Nineties when the Internet bubble and IPO mania was driving stocks skyward. Working around the edges of the market were criminals in Armani suits like the subject of this book, Louis Pasciuto.

Pasciuto was a sharp kid from the streets of Staten Island, and he was a cinch for the sharp talk of a hoodlum named Roy Ageloff, who ran the brokers at a crooked firm called Hanover Sterling. Pasciuto had a talent for ripping off investors, and he used that talent first at Hanover and then 17 other firms.

Watching Pasciuto on his rise and then fall is a truly unbelievable experience. Amazing that as a teenager he was already running an entire crew of other young thieves.

The book unveils the Mafia aspects of the book slowly and naturally, without sensationalizing. So we get realistic glimpses of what the Mafia has become in the later part of the 20th century. Through it all we get into the psyche of the Mafia gangsters, particularly the one who was principally shaking down Pasciuto, Charles Ricottone.

By the end of the book you come away with a deep appreciation of two things:

One is that the Mafia is definitely on its way out. I just finished reading Selwyn Raab's book Five Families, and that book, though also very good, failed to depict the Mafia's current state in quite as vivid a way as this one. Raab failed to adequately explore the personnel weaknesses that have decayed the Mafia. They become very obvious in reading Born to Steal. Obviously the people left in the Mob are low-level hoods without imagination or drive.

Second, you get a real sense of how Wall Street operates. Even though the book concentrates on on the lower rungs of the Street, you get a good appreciation of the kind of money-grubbing nature of the people who run Wall Street generally.

The epilogue, recounting what happened after the hardcover edition came out, is cynical and very funny.

In all, a very strong and readable book.