This is one of the books that was rushed into print shortly after the fall of Enron. At the time, it was a valuable resource, offering a detailed account of events that lead up to Enron's bankruptcy. Today, it has been surpassed by the exhaustively researched book by McLean and Elkind (2003).

Fox's account is solid, offering a detailed account of the transactions—the international ventures, corporate acquisitions and special purpose vehicles—that sapped Enron's cash flow and drove the firm to bankruptcy. Fox's explanation of "prepaid" swaps, which were a means of disguising debt as forward energy sales is insightful. The account of the Teesside deal is detailed and illuminating. The scrapped Dabhol venture in India is covered in depth.

A shortcoming of the book is that it is one-dimensional, focusing on the financial aspects of the story, but largely ignoring the human aspects. We never get to know the players as people. We learn what they did, but can only imagine some of their motives.