Another Madoff Spin-off

Fundamentally a fictional version of - or perhaps an "homage" to - the Madoff family saga, this book is every bit as gripping as the true story. Even without the presence of young children on stage in this particular iteration of the "deal with the devil", the book has depth, suspense, and ingenious twists and turns, especially at the end. The writing is fast-paced, descriptive and multi-layered, but watch out if your attention wanders because you may lose track of the character connections.

The author manages to get in something for everyone - there are personal histories, backstories and lots of front-end action - it all comes into play and it all works. The timeline structure functions well and adds to the suspense, with the primary action taking place during a Thanksgiving weekend (similar time frame as the Madoff story), and each section is given a clock point (5:45, 8:15 etc.) which functions as an effective and ominous narrative device.

The narration could not have been better. Fried gives an evenly-toned performance, with subtle cues when needed, but never turns up the volume for the sake of histrionics.

I may go back and re-read this one - I am sure there are many details that I missed the first time around.

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17 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Fun Novel (Early Beach Read)

Perfect beach read (listen) for anyone connected to finance. Also good for running (plot moves nicely). Thei book might not endure, but it's a well constructed, sophisticated and believable Madoff-type drama. Reminded me a bit of the JC Oates book "We Were the Mulvaneys." I don't often comment on the narration, but the reader of this one was outstanding -- nuanced voices without screaming for attention.

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4 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Overweight

There's an interesting story of the 2008 financial crisis hidden under the all the overstuffed cast of characters. It was hard to keep track of all the names and relationships, on top of the complexities of financial malfeasance.

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Okay, not great

This book is a good glimpse into New York society but the characters are flimsy and the story is only so-so. This would be a good book to read on an airplane-and sometimes you need books like this to take you into another world for a little bit. Unfortunately, it wasn't very memorable.

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2 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Very Enjoyable

Would you listen to The Darlings again? Why?

Maybe...it was a really good listen

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Darlings?

You just can't wait to see what will happen next. You like these characters, even if you want to dislike them.

Who was the most memorable character of The Darlings and why?

Paul...he is unwittingly caught up in the excessiveness

Any additional comments?

Since the story takes place in just one week, reading it might be a little slow. I can't wait to get in my car, or on the treadmill to finish this book!

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Not sure

I liked Alger’s novel, The Banker’s Wife, and so I tried The Darlings. I don’t know if it was just not what I wanted at the time, but I could not get interested. The character’s seemed flat and I didn’t like them, so I didn’t care much what happened to them. I may not have given it enough time to develop, but, based upon other reviews it was a probably enough to know.

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Great book!

This book is a timeless story set in modern Manhattan amongst old money and movers & shakers in the financial world. Charismatic characters I was rooting for & a just a wonderfully written page turner.

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nothing interesting happens

If you are still introducing chracters and establishing storylines by mid book, you know it not a story but a book filled with random stuff.

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I couldn’t wait for this one to be over.

Slow, slow narrative about the New York City super rich elite and other Wall Street insider stuff.

In the end what you’re left with is a jumbled rehash of the Madoff Ponzi scheme scandal and the story about the main characters remains completely underdeveloped and gets lost in the mix.

The first half of the book was tolerable, but part two was so boring that I found myself hoping someone would die or just get arrested already. There was endless recounting of conversations between characters that quite frankly, I couldn’t care about.

Too many characters. Not enough character development. Weak and over-done story.

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Could have been a great story.

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No, I would not recommend this book. Very similiar to the Bernie Madoff story but the reader was terrible.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

He sounded like a bad broadway actor.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No

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