Rating: 
Summary: History, Mystery -- and good at both
Review: It's not often you get an author who can summon up a period (Commercial London, 1719) and then mix in a mystery plot that works. With Benjamin Weaver, the ex-boxer who makes his living finding things and people, you will be introduced to the machinations of the infant stock exchange and the world of finance -- a very risky place where everyone has his own reasons to help or hinder Weaver's investigation. A great entertainment.
Rating:
Summary: stock market mania--circa 1718--
Review: I am a steady reader of historical fiction that is well researched. Liss does a great job here with the era, but his character development and story steal the show. This is one of the highlights of this year, I was a bit disappointed by the ending, but could see this easily brought to movie form, and I would hope of course Benjamin Weaver, an 18th century Sam Spade, might be seen in a sequel-- all in all , an impressive first novel.
Rating:
Summary: A Conspiracy of Paper
Review: I am an avid reader but I do not often find a book that captures my attention and imagination as this book has. I truly enjoyed it and, I gauge my enjoyment in some respects, by the fact that I spent a good deal of time speculating early on as to who might Martin Rochester be.
Rating: 
Summary: A Conspiracy of Quality
Review: What a ride! Not since "An Instance of the Fingerpost" has a novelist managed to limn the contours of a neglected nook of English history (in this case, the early 18th century) with such confidence and style. A fully engaging work with the pulse of high finance and low morality. As an MBA student and lover of historical fiction, I can't recommend too highly this superb rendering of a speculative era more distant from our own in time than, perhaps, in content.
Rating:
Summary: I'm in love
Review: I think I'm in love, with Daivd Liss' book, A Conspiracy of Paper. I don't usually buy hardcovers but, after scanning the first page, I was hooked. I read this book slowly, enjoying every word, phrase, eloquent thought. Please, Mr. Liss, continue to write. dusty
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Summary: Sleuth Series Start-up ?
Review: As a student of literature in college, long-time mystery fan, and current 'stockjobber' for a major, full-service financial firm, I thoroughly enjoyed this CONSPIRACY. Edward Chancellor's "Devil Take the Hindmost" is an excellent historical background to the corrupt raunchiness of the South Sea Bubble period, but David Liss' novel places you on the scene. Liss' surprising protagonist, Benjamin Weaver, a Jewish pugilist, moves with a refreshing brashness and self-confidence through the various layers of this eighteenth century period's class culture. I enjoyed the author's explanation of 'double cross', but then began hoping for more period insights and historical references. I see this book as an A&E television Mystery. And the opportunity for a sequel or series seems clear.
Rating:
Summary: A great read
Review: A great mystery with a historical setting.David Liss keeps you guessing through out the book. A real page turner and a good history lesson on the beginnings of the stock market. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A Terrific Read
Review: This book is fun and intelligent. The author has spun a thrilling tale of criminal and financial intrigue set in 1700's London. He has caught a million nuances of the times including the diction and the daily and serious challenges of life in London, including those with an affinity for a renowned Jewish prizefighter. The book also has impressive humor. For instance, the female protaganist is feisty and has characteristics of being a 2000, rather than 1717, woman. Kudos to David Liss. I hope and trust that he will do more.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful historical thriller
Review: Anyone who loves Caleb Carr's work will enjoy this book. It grabs you right away and transports you to the sights, sounds, and smells of early 1700's London. It's a wonderul thing to have a novel teach while it entertains and this book does just that!
Rating: 
Summary: I was expecting a more expertly written book.
Review: I read "A Conspiracy of Paper" with high hopes. I was expecting it to be a historical thriller in the vein of "An Instance of the Fingerpost," a truly first-rate mystery and historical novel. Although David Liss effectively captures the ambiance of London in 1719, the mystery is so convoluted and so drawn out, that I began to lose interest in "whodunit" by the time the book neared its ending. The hero of the book is Benjamin Weaver, a Jew and former boxer, who has spent his life in many a shady occupation. He is engaged to look into the deaths of his father and an acquaintance of his father named Balfour, both of whom died under mysterious circumstances. Weaver suspects before long that both men were murdered because of financial skullduggery, which was common at that time. Liss is an expert in the financial machinations of London in 1719, and he is clearly drawing an analogy between the speculative nature of financial dealings then and now. I generally love historical fiction set in London. However, I grew weary of the plot, which was all over the map, and the parade of characters, many of whom were extraneous. For "A Conspiracy of Paper" to have been more effective as a historical mystery, it should have been tighter and less rambling. Liss had a good idea, but it could have been executed better.
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