Hell’s Gate, by Stephen Frey

Stephen Frey’s latest novel differs considerably from his previous ones. In Hell’s Gate, Frey takes us out to Big Sky Country – Montana – and away from The Big Apple, Wall Street and the world of finance. And the key character in this book is a star litigator rather than a finance buff. It is about thirty-five-year-old lawyer Hunter Lee, who decides to turn his back on New York City and the firm that has made him rich but also cost him so much. Instead, after having successfully won a big case involving a $40 million settlement in the state, and following the advice of his brother, who lives there, he decides to build a new life in the small and somewhat isolated – but very beautiful – town of Fort Mason, Montana.

Aided by his brother, Hunter Lee quickly gets acquainted with a lot of important people in Montana. Soon it becomes clear that someone is torching the forests in the Northwest. Several key players have strong economic incentives for doing this, due to fat government contracts with a somewhat flawed incentive structure. And the players involved are all people Hunter has met.

Is it George Drake, the owner of the Bridger Railroad and Bridger Air, who is paid for transporting fire fighters? Or Dale Callahan, who is paid way too much for catering the fire fighters? Or perhaps Butch Roman, who runs the state’s biggest construction company?

Hunter Lee and his brother Strat start investigating the case. And soon it turns out that this is the toughest challenge Hunter has encountered so far in his career. Everyone seems to have a secret, and as Hunter follows his instincts, Montana becomes a crucible where good and evil collide.

To move outside his usual perimeters – the world of commodities trading, corporate takeovers and high finance – is a bold and interesting move by Stephen Frey. In my opinion he is somewhat – but only somewhat – successful. Hell’s Gate is an entertaining book with all the usual Frey ingridients – treason, nice plot, some sex, and so on – but still not quite as good as Frey’s best financial thrillers. Even so, it is worth reading.

Tagged as: Book review, Hell’s Gate, Hunter Lee, Montana, Stephen Frey, Thriller