Rating: 
Summary: definitely not a keeper
Review: I read this book over a week's time. It did not call me to it at the end of the day. I kept reading it to have something to do. I hated the flash backs. The action didn't move until the last forty or so pages. This book was a terrible disappointment to me. I also didn't think the characters were believable. I lost patience with them early on. This is definitely not, in my opinion, in the style of David Baldacci. Shame on you for saying it is. Finley Adams
Rating: 
Summary: A fairly good read but hardly a real page turner
Review: Numbered Account is a good first effort and I expect to read more from Reich. However, it did not grip and hold my attention the way an early Robert Ludlum, Len Deighton, or Tom Clancy might. Maybe it's my generation but I though Sylvia came on a bit to strong which made me suspicious of her loyalties from the beginning. Kaiser's obsession with the bank also seemed unrealistic and the obsession seemed to be inconsisitent with his promotion of a really inexperienced Nick. The master bad guy seemed to have been everywhere and done everything bad that could be imagined. The setting, the Swiss banking industry, offered an unusual framework and an enlightening foregound on international finance.
Rating:
Summary: Numbered Account - Good story
Review: Numbered Account is an engaging story: interesting plot, intriguing theme, memorable characters. It was a good read. The writing style was a bit Grisham-esque; not the makings of great literature. However, use of language was somewhat better and it is a more than competant first book.
The action, adventure, and the intellectual struggle produced a tension that kept me reading. Definitely worth reading.
Rating: 
Summary: A Matter of Author COURAGE
Review: The book jacket blurbs read "brilliant thriller, suspense, taut, sophisticated, well-written, sleek, fast moving, gripping." Others talk of "espionage, story telling genius." Numbered Account is all of those "words" but they really miss the point. It is, of course, a detailed, informative, exciting, educational novel about international finance. But do not let that focus deter the reader. If you like finance, read the detail and learn more. If you do not, read the book! With a Phd in History and a postdoctoral MBA in International Business, I can understand some of the finance. But that world changes so rapidly, much remains a mystery. So don't worry about understanding it all. Why? Because this novel, entertaining as it is, is also true from both an historical standpoint and from a political science analysis. What happened in this book HAS HAPPENED with the Swiss banks. Analysts know that. What happened IS HAPPENING. Analysts know that. Leave the direct murder out and you have a not uncommon panorama of history in the major Swiss banks - and, unfortunately a not-so-rare portrayal of the remarkable ability of the Swiss higher echelon to separate so finely the ethics of business and the morality of personal life. Are the Swiss worse than others? Yes - due in part to their special status in banking. Has their stance been harmful? Yes - it has killed hundreds of thousands - and humiliated, defeated, economically and emotionally destroyed, and rot-gut robbed millions - who trusted them. From WWI to today - and it continues unabated, satiated with denials, official racist and antisemitic and brutally savage public and not-so-private statements. Indirect killing, after all, still kills. Is the information about the Swiss banks new and formerly secret? No. Some of us have been writing about it for years. But forgetting is easier than remembering, acknowledging is much harder than denying - especially when no will to do so exists. And now, hopefully its time has come - through Congressional and International exposures - and brave and fascinating novels such as this groundbreaker. It is not a matter of moral courage to do so, as the novel points out, but an absence of any inclination or need to do so. It is, as the reader experiences, the SILENCE OF THE SOUL - or perhaps its death. It is always better, I think, to prick conscience through mystery and intrigue and carefully crafted plots. I am reminded of Anne Perry's Victorian mysteries - each one with a focus on a social issue that carries through to today - and perhaps stirs our concern a bit. Christopher Reich is a very courageous man. Make no mistake. He will be threatened as well as his family. And he knows that. His life will not be as private as he would like. It is a matter of reality, not a fanciful conspiracy theory. Hopefully, this book will be a bestseller. It is exciting enough, intriguing enough, well written enough - and brave enough. As for me, this is one of the few times I do not add my name to my review.
Rating:
Summary: Well-plotted page turner, with elegant locales.
Review: I wanted to get away from the maddening deluge of political news, and Christopher Reich's thriller proved just the right vehicle for escape. Wonderfully plotted, with elegant locales and characters who are sleekly sinister, this book offers enormous entertainment.
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: A pleasant surprise
Review: I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I actually received this book as a Christmas present several years ago from my broker. I had stuck it on the shelf and hadn't touched it because I just assumed that anything that a broker would send wouldn't be interesting. Well I was wrong.
The book follows Nick Neuman to Switzerland and a new job in a Swiss bank that his father had worked for years ago in an effort to uncover who killed his father several years earlier. The book had enough plot turns to keep it interesting even if you could see some of them coming. I suppose that the book has more meaning now than it would have when it was written since its main "bad guy" is a mid-easterner who is generating and laundering money for the express reason of bringing down the non-Muslim infidel. I suppose it's not amazing that he resembles UBL, but it seems to have more significance in the wake of 9/11.
The book is packed with folks who aren't who they seem to be, double crosses, and action. It's a good read. I notice that the book is out of print, so if you run across a copy in a used book store, spend a few bucks and pick it up.
My star ratings:
One star - couldn't finish the book
Two stars - read the book, but did a lot of skipping or scanning. Wouldn't add the book to my permanent collection or search out other books by the author
Three stars - enjoyable read. Wouldn't add the book to my permanent collection. Would judge other books by the author individually.
Four stars - Liked the book. Would keep the book or would look for others by the same author.
Five start - One of my all time favorites. Will get a copy in hardback to keep and will actively search out others by the same author.
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: 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!
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