Rating: 
Summary: The book is good but it's too much like "The Firm."
Review: This book was fun to read and it is not dull and boring as some other reviewers rate it. I very much enjoyed the descriptions of Swiss private banking. I agree with one reviewer who suggested more financial thrillers- I agree, I think we have been Grishamed and Tom Clancyd to death. The author does need to improve and be more creative: Yes, the plot was too much like Grisham's The Firm's. The characters were too predictable and yes, you could tell what the end result was going to be from the beginning. The book can be improved if the author persuades a director to make a movie of it. I would change some of the assumptions- not have the protagonist have work at all at Morgan Stanley (make him work after the MBA immediately at USB, trying to follow his father's footsteps (his father could have been Chairman if he wasn't killed, why not him); let him not even consider at all that the bank had been involved in the death of his father (have him find his father's agendas during the course of his work in USB, make the bank's executive less sinister at first) and don't make the characters so stereotypical. Add some more unexpected twists in the end. Despite all of this, I was still addicted to the book and could not put it down. The book is definitely not a masterpiece but then again, that is not its purpose. Its an entertaining book. . .read it if you have a couple of long trips planned and some time to spare. . .beats watching the same sitcoms on TV!
Rating: 
Summary: mediocre knock-off of Grisham
Review: Reich's biography states that he used to work in a private banking dept of a Swiss bank in Zurich, so I suppose that gives him the credibility to write a mediocre novel about private banking dept of a Swiss bank in Zurich. But to add excitement, he adds international terrorist plot, lots of beautiful but treacherous women, and equally numerous treacherous and murderous men. It proves a tedious reading, and you'll end up counting the number of obnoxious characters before drifting off to sleep.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Enjoyable. When's the next one coming?
Review: I was looking for a break from the usual suspects - Grisham, Clancy, Cornwell and was happily to find Reich not only matches, but surpasses, the lot of them. Exciting and extremely interesting. I highly recommend it and am waiting for the next.
Rating:
Summary: Voluminous but brilliantly crafted -fasted 700+ pp around!
Review: Mr. Reich, got another one in ya?! We're ready. Best novel I've read in quite a while. Some of the more negative reviews may be correct in remarking on copious detail and, in some instances, apparantly incorrect detail. Irrelevant issues to me. I was fascinated with how frequent changes of POV maintained my interest across 700+ pages, especially given my heartfelt disinterest for the intricacies of banking. Micro-detail accuracy aside, the cultural and corporate contrasts were especially engaging to one with a multi-contintental background and a veteran of several multinational companies. Even more captivating was the exploration of the line separating good and evil -- each of the characters had credible rationalizations on how to move that line for their own purposes. Some lack of closure at the end? Fine by me, as it alluded to some individuals escaping legal and/or corporate justice. A bad book to read if you're struggling with disillusionment about morality and values, though...
Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: I really enjoyed this intense thriller. An exciting book about a man who starts to investigate the death of his father by working at the same bank. As the book continues, he gets involved with a criminal with no mercy. He realizes that his ties to this criminal are not so easily broken.
Rating:
Summary: Very suspenful plot.
Review: This is an amazing book. It was the first book by this author that I picked up and I enjoyed it tremendously. The high world of finance and swiss banking is very well depicted. The only thing that I found limiting was the somewhat shallow characterization of middle Easterns. Also, in the book, Reich makes a mistake several times by translating the word Inshallah as to mean God is Great when in fact Inshallah means God willing. Allah Akbar means God is great. I know it's a minor mistake but it takes away from the realism he's trying to depict.
Rating: 
Summary: Could Have Been Easily Cut Down To 300 Pages!
Review: This book had a good idea, but it reminds of the Chamber, where the author got all caught up in the good idea and forgot how to tell it. The tale goes back and forth and back and forth revealing little pieces of information that have already been told before, that you have already figured out, or that you no longer care about. But I still held out for 2.5 weeks to get to the end only to wish I would have given it up. The end sucks! Not because of what happens, but because if you take over 700 pages to tell a story, the least you could do is elaborate on who ends up where. Who ended up running the bank(s), was Sylvia out of a job, who was caught and went to jail? What about Armin, who wasn't even mentioned after he got the heave ho? Was he vindicated? Overall, it was too long to leave so many questions unanswered. The author clearly lost focus.
Rating:
Summary: Good for insomnia
Review: This book was boring, slow, dull. I can usually read a book of this length in 3 evenings. This one put me to sleep every night for 3 weeks. The characters are neither well-defined nor realistic; the plot is too contrived; and the story telling is ponderous.
Rating: 
Summary: Creat book
Review: This is the first time in more tha 15 years that I read a complete book, specially in english (I am a Venezuelan Citizen ). The book got me going until I finished in no more than 20 days. I work more than 10 hours a day. I loved the book, I think that the way it was written enables you to take some of your time work to read the book and don't give a damn about anything else. Great book, better than work. I saw the film "the thin red line" and looked for the book at the airpot in Miami before coming back to Venezuela, they didn't have it and I decided to buy the book for two reasons: first, because I reade the prologue and second because the design of the out side cover of the book was very attractive ( I am a Marketing man). Great book!!
Rating:
Summary: Worth reading-entertaining
Review: Not a bad story. other reviewers have covered everything pretty thoroughly. But, I find it difficult to believe that no one picked up the author's lack of firearms knowledge. First, a complete loaded round is called a cartridge, which includes a bullet, case, primer and powder. On page 546 " Nick ejected the clip and popped out the bullets". On page 547 "He unscrewed the gun barrel..." The barrel of a Colt Commander does not unscrew, it is held in place by a link, that when removed will allow the slide and barrel to be removed. No threads involved. On page 548 the author calls the pistol frame a CHASSIS. Pistols have frames, rifles have receivers, cars have chassis. On page 549 "He screwed the barrel back in..." Nuff said. It is surprising how many authors try to fake it on details only to be caught by sharp readers. If they want their story to have credibility, pay attention to details. If I find detail accuracy in MY area of expertise, I will reasonably assume that in other areas of the story that I do not enjoy this expertise I can expect accuracy and learn something, the story will be more enjoyable and believeable.
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