Rating: 
Summary: A fast-moving, cerebral thriller; great character developme
Review: I heard author Christopher Reich was paid a $2 million ADVANCE to write this book--a record sum. Clearly, his publisher saw talent in him because this is a great book. It tells the story of an American executive who left a charmed life behind in New York in order to come to Switzerland and work as a private banker in the United Swiss Bank, his fathers employer, to see if his work at the bank is what led to his murder 17 years prior. The main premise of the book took a while for me to believe--I mean, this Newmann character leaves his fiance and a great career to go on a very speculative journey to switzerland. But, by the end of the book, you'll start to understand why Nick is so curious about what his father did for the bank. Eventually, Nick grows weary of dealing with unscrupulous banking clients, such as a fellow who calls himself "the pasha" and moves enormous ammounts of ill-acquired cash from numbered account to numbered account. Yes, it's an exciting (and educational--I learned a lot about Swiss banking and the financial industry while reading this book, too!) story that can easily transport the reader into the world of cut-throat banking where you never know who you can trust
Rating:
Summary: intrigue...based on 1998 hardcover edition...
Review: If you are a reader who enjoys a writing with a good plot, a writing that grabs your attention with the prologue, this author and his books are for you. NUMBERED ACCOUNT gives you the latter and more.Nicholas (Nick) Neumann, tarnished former US Marine and Harvard Business School, leaves his prestigious Manhattan - Wall Street position to pursue a career at United Swiss Back (USB) in Zurich, Switzerland. Or so it seems that is the purpose of his desire for change... Nick is encouraged to take the position at USB by Herr Kaiser himself, head of the USB who knew Nick's father. Nick accepts, with a ulterior motive - investigation of his father's murder in years past during employment with USB branch in the United States. Determined to investigate what his father was involved in when he was killed, Nick quickly learns of loyalty expected to the "establishment", as well as forging ahead into a collision course with the US government agencies in Zurich, the DEA investigator Sterling Thorne. The author's style and use of each chapter is to weave the story in a forward pattern, describing characters and situations to line up with intrigue and spurring the reader onward to search for reasons of why, what, when, where circumstances and actions had, do and will occur to bring answers to Nicholas Neumann's quest for the truth. The truth is stifled in conspiracy, lies, destruction of coworkers, not knowing who is trustworthy: Dr. Ott? Schweitzer? Chairman Kaiser? Peter Sprecher, who befriends Nick? and the mysterious bank customer, high volume bank activity, high-dollar depositor the "Pasha" a.k.a. Ali Mevlevi. What is the US DEA interest in the Swiss bank(s)? Sylvia in USB Human Resources department, long-time with the establishment, but slowly promoted - is she trustworthy? Why does the absence of employee-on-leave Marco Cerruti cause concerns and secretive motives? One of Nick's objectives is to gain access to the USB records room that might reveal the path to his father's mysterious death. USB faces the competition of the progressive Adler Bank, headed by USB's ex-employee Konig, who is attempting to realize a large percentage of USB shares for purposes of gaining a seat on the USB board. Nick approaches absentee Cerruti, who is able to offer information about Nick's father's employment with USB, but yet when Nick inquires about "The Pasha", Cerruti skirts around the question asked... Nick discovers that there is a "mole" in USB, with first-hand experience of items missing from his office. Nick is caught in a vise grip, double time, with all elements concerned which could lead to his own destruction. On the negative side: some areas are not carried out fully by the author... need of more definitive explanations of Swiss Bank activity. Perhaps a tad of explanation for the layperson reader referring to the complicated dealings and perhaps a definition section of words/terms placed in the back of the book would be reader-helpful. Also, the romance interaction of Sylvia and Nick; ex-fiancée Anne and Nick, are epitomized weakly - not the all-out adventures of intimacy scenes, but the intelligent, deep thought exchanges of relationships, giving the reader more insight into those exchanges. There were lapses in the flow of some events, such as agent Thorne's movements are given minor attention between the time that the "new agent" is to replace Thorne and his sudden reappearance in mid-400 pages toward the end of the story. A reader also sees the appearance of two different stories in this tome: 1) Nicholas 2) the DEA agent - two with goals in the plot, but yet not strongly woven together except in small circumstances. There is a predictable conclusion with not much suspense to the ending. On balance, this reader would welcome more writings by author Christopher Reich.
Rating: 
Summary: Wrong Number
Review: After looking at all the positive reviews I have a feeling, that I've read another novel named 'Number Account', 'cause the one I've read was NOT exciting, eye-opening or prophetic.
For someone who is an economist, Mr. Reich wrote a thriller about banking with as little actual economic detail as possible.
The main character works in a Swiss bank, while looking into the bank's files in connection to his fathers murder... but you can swap pages from this book for some scenes from "The Firm" by John Grisham, and you wouldn't notice! There is nothing new about stating that the numbered accounts are sometimes used in criminal activities and money laundering - and that's all the novel has on banking, really. The main character is a bank clerk ... do you like your thrillers with an everage man put into situation, when everybody is against him? Not this one! You see, before turning to banking he was a marine, and he also participated in secret assasination operations for US government (and you better be interestd in these operations, 'cause they are described throughout the novel, allthough they are not connected to the main plot). Hey, maybe this guy can have adamantium claws, too? Like Wolverine - now that could be fun! And it's realistic, if they do it in the movies - must be real, right? The villain of the novel is ... well, he is EVIL. He is rich, an Islamic fanatic and a personal friend of Saddam Husein ... the problem is (in real life, that is), that Hussein had driven all of the Islamic religiouse leaders from Iraq, when he came to power, Iranians considered him to be an enemy of Islam, so I can't see an Islamic traditionalist to be a friend and sponsor of such a leader (than again, he is EVIL, and having him as a friend makes our vilain EVIL, too) And, of course, there is a bomb for sale from the former USSR, just like in any other unoriginal thriller. TO the authors credit, there is some good action in the final part of the novel, but it's just too late ...
Rating: 
Summary: "A New Name for the Genre"
Review: Christopher Reich has made a stunning debut as a thriler writer. This is the kind of a book that makes you hope he takes his time to write the next one so he doesn't become a potboiler writer. "Numbered Account" pulls out all the stops. It is an intelligent, exciting and complex thriller. It manages to bring in plenty of characters who are so well drawn that you come to know and understand them. The lead character, Nicholas Neumann is a particularly intense and complicated hero who searches for his soul in a moral and fascinating way. Mr. Reich has managed to avoid the potholes of either a too simple plot or one that is so complex that you have to constantly turn the pages back to remember what is going on. That is good, because this book is so well written that you want to keep turning the pages in a foward direction while absorbing every word. His knowledge of the Swiss bank system is expertly transferred to the readers while his sense of drama and tension keeps you wondering what will take place next in this world involving finance,warfare, Middle East politics, drug dealing, affirmative action and sex. Quite a combo. Mr. Reich, I can't wait for your next novel but take your time and keep up the standards you have set in this knockout of a read.
Rating:
Summary: Gripping clean thriller
Review:
Christopher Reich proves that you don't need profanity & sex to make a gripping thriller.
Nick Neumann, the Pasha and Herr Kaiser are memorable characters, well-drawn, as is the United Swiss Bank, which becomes a real place to the reader as the book progresses -- especially the inner sanctum of the bosses.
The Middle Eastern villain was a timely figure, given that the book was published three years before Sept. 11.
The book is fast-paced and an excellent first novel. The mystery is sustained. Themes about fathers and sons, heroes and villains and questions of identity and capacity for good or evil run throughout without being overdone.
I have no negatives, except maybe the relationship Nick left behind is a little under done; I'm eager to read more Reich.
Rating: 
Summary: A TALE OF ....... - WRIT BIG!
Review: Reich gives us an eye-opening look into the world of those notorious numbered accounts that very wealthy people use to shelter their money. How many of those super rich acquired their assets in less-than-legal enterprises? In this exciting story, a major depositor turns out to have a strangle-hold on the top officers of a Swiss Bank, who have always known that this man, known only by his number to to the lower-ranking bank employees, is a major heroin dealer using the bank to launder his money. They just don't care, and the laws of Switzerland protect the secrecy of bank data. I enjoyed the European setting of the story, with most of the action taking place in Zurich, a city with both luxurious headquarters of major financial institutions and squalid sections inhabited by pathetic junkies. The action also takes us to Beirut and gives us a look at the book's villain, who thinks nothing of killing people he finds inconvenient, or who present an obstacle to his sick plans. The book is possibly unfair to Islam, in painting this man as sometimes pious, but always deadly. His twisted plans include using his money to launch an attack on Israel (shades of bin Laden!). The characters are mostly believable, although I found Nick a bit too macho for my taste. He understandably wants justice for the murder of his father, but his actions at times are vicious. The plot sometimes seemed overly involved, and the motivation for Nick to leave a comfortable and planned-out life in New York for Zurich seemed at times weak, as did certain elements of the ending. The story features many flashbacks, which the author handles quite well, and which do help us see why Nick reacts as he does. We're given a panoramic picture of this young man's life. The plot moves along, with new intrigues and double-dealings piled on one another, but the strongest reason to read this book is if you are curious about Swiss banking, as I was. The picture presented here of Swiss values is not very flattering. I can't be sure that Swiss bankers are quite as morally bankrupt as presented here, but I did catch the flavor of a country where banking is the main business and the government naturally wants to protect an important industry that provides its people with good jobs. At one point in the novel, a character laments that the Swiss now have competition in "private banking" from places like the Caymon Islands. It seems the crooks have choices, and the Swiss will have to keep offering special services (like secret numbered accounts) to keep those deposits coming. We can only hope reality is not quite this bad.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book!
Review: This was a very good book about the world of Swiss banking. Nick Neumann leaves a good job with a prsetigious brokerage firm
in New York to go to work for The United Swiis Bank.He is trying to find out why his father was murdered seventeen years before.
During the time of his employment he encounters several unique
people.Wolfgang Kaiser is the chairman,Sylvia Schoen,Sterling
Thorne is the DEA agebt and the villain of the story Ali Mevlevi
better known as the Pasha. The Pasha is a heroin dealer who is
planning to invade Israel with a private army as well as explode
a nuclear device over a small city in Israel. You also have aa
attempted takeover of United Swiss Bank by a hostile rival bank.
Neumann has to go through a web of treachery and many double crosses to get to the bottom of the truth about his father.This
is a very good book that you will find enjoyable to read.
Rating:
Summary: Bank Boardroom Intrigue
Review: Having worked in a bank most of my career it is interesting to see what goes on in the Chairman's office where all the big decisions are made. Also, being familiar with money laundering and other rules that banks must follow regarding cash transfers, made a lot of what happens very familiar to me in real life. Nick Neumann is the main character. Half Swedish, he first works on Wall St. and then transfers to a Swedish bank so he can investigate his father's death. He gets put in charge of an account where huge sums of money go in and out and he is not allowed to ask any questions about the account. Just follow the transfer instructions. Nick's character is very complex, having served in the marines on a dangerous mission and working on Wall St. He gets partnered with an interesting female who happens to be the recruiter for the bank. The suspense seems to grab you as all kinds of shady things are going on at the bank and Nick is forced to choose between loyalty and what is legal. I just started this book yesterday and I am already to page 250 which is a lot for me. The book is very difficult to put down. I highly recommend it!
Rating:
Summary: Sizzling Page Turner
Review: The story line of this book has been described at length, so what I want to point out is how refreshingly different this author's treatment of flashbacks is. Instead of going further into the past, he sets a flashback up and describes in the present tense. His reverse technique is what keeps the pace moving so rapidly. The reader is constantly kept in the centre of the action. It's also interesting to read this book in light of 9/11. His plot amid the potential threat of releasing a small nuclear explosion over Israel is all too realistic a possibility. Since this book was published in 1998 and is the result of a writer's active imagination, maybe intelligence agencies need to hire novelists who are capable of imagining the 'unimaginable' in preparation for future terrorist attacks. As for literary merit, even the opening sentence shines with beautiful prose--"Martin Becker paused before descending the stairs of the bank and gloried in the sea of glowing pearls." There are many descriptive moments throughout Reich's narrative that are visual gems, in addition to his tightly controlled plot and pace, not to mention his very vivid character portrayals. Rich in color, sound and intrigue, this story comes together like a fine piece of art! I look forward to reading more of Reich's books.
Rating:
Summary: Good premise, not such a good story
Review: I was excited to read the book. The premise looked good, but the story line didn't pan out. The details into the banking world was not done very well. The characters were two dimensional. Not much detail into the Marine Corps officer program. For those who read the book, if you know a little about semi automatic weapons, there's a chapter where someone runs out of ammunition and does not know it. Doesn't the weapons's slide lock back when it fires it's last bullet?
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