Rating: 
Summary: Easy reading - flows well, and is informative.
Review: I have read most of Paul Erdman's books. I enjoy his emphasis on financial elements which are built into his mysteries. The Step-Up is easy reading both from a financial and mystery point of view. One of his best. Highly recommended. I look forward to more of his books in the future.
Rating: 
Summary: good read, but plot unravels too quickly at the end
Review: I just wanted to add a slightly less positive review of Erdman's "The Setup". This is a good quick read suitable for the airplane or beach -- it is fast-paced, enjoyable escapism a la Grisham. But my big complaint is that the plot wraps up too easily in the last 50 pages; everything falls into place much too quickly and with no resistance whatsoever. This lets some of the air out of the tires of an otherwise decent plot. But if you have six or seven hours to kill and you don't want to read anything too mind-intensive, then I would certainly recommend this book. Who knows, you might even learn something about currency trading along the way.
Rating: 
Summary: Paul Erdman's best to date
Review: I love financial thrillers and have read most of Paul Erdman's fiction, but this is by far the best. Not only does he expertly take the reader through the world of derivatives investing and international banking, he paints a picture of Switzerland from Zurich's Bahnhofstrasse to the most remote parts of the Alps that makes you long to get on a plane and go there (and I have been there--it's worth it). The plot moves fast, from the point of view of every character; his knowledge of German, Swiss-German and Italian is impeccable, and the story culminates in an around-the-world chase that keeps you from putting the book down. I can't wait for his next one.
Rating:
Summary: A page turner, difficult to put down.
Review: I really wish Paul Erdman wrote more books. I have enjoyed everyone of his novels. No one of them is better than another, they are all good.Erdman's novels are centered around investments economics and high finance adventure. To an economist they are especially exciting but I think for most readers they are each an excellent read and The Set-up is no exception. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Lives up to its description
Review: I recently ordered this book and found it quite good. I'm hoping that Paul Erdman is in the process of writing more books. The book moves quickly, though in the beginning it gets into some financial descriptions that might put off some readers. If you are reading a financial thriller I think you should expect that kind of thing, and I think going into financial theory is an interesting part of the book.
Rating:
Summary: "The Set Up" is pure Erdman!
Review: I was a young GI in Germany in 1969 just learning to appreciate "the Trib." I remember one article that caught my eye: a young American banker working in Basel at the sub of a California bank was arrested for trying to corner the world cocoa market! He failed miserably, and in the process wiped out his employer's equity base. As if the young banker, named Paul Erdman, did not know enough about Switzerland already, he was to learn more, from many months inside a Swiss jail. I next noticed Erdman several years later. He had written a novel, "The Billion-Dollar Sure Thing." I read it and liked it, and later learned that he had begun his novelist's career in that Swiss jail. Erdman's subsequent novels have never disappointed. He is the master of the financial thriller, an unfortunately under-populated genre. "The Set Up," like all of Erdman's fiction, takes place largely in Switzerland. Charles Black, former Chairman of the U.S. Fed, is arrested at the Basel airport as he enters Switzerland. (Erdman reminds us, as he never fails to do, that Basel's airport straddles the Swiss/French border.) He finds himself in the maws of the Swiss power structure, comprised of a hundred or so rich and powerful Swiss men who are, in Erdman's eye, as amoral and as slimy as any in the world. No Swiss Heidi-types here. (Had Erdman been successful in cornering the cocoa market he would have been hailed, not jailed, by this group for furthering the cause of Swiss chocolate!) To divulge any more of the plot would be cheating. Suffice it to say, there is lots of (1)German- Swiss bashing,(2)Deus ex machina that stretches credibility, and (3)untranslated "Schwietzer dooch" and other languages. There is also a woman/mate of the male hero who is sharper than the hero himself. This theme is present in most Erdman novels. Erdman has produced eight novels in a quarter of a century, about one every three years. When I haven't seen one for a while, I start looking in book stores. This year I did something different: I searched for Erdman at amazon.com. Sure enough, he'd written a new book which I ordered immediately. The several days it took to arrive in the mail was an eternity as I anticipated reading a new Erdman. It arrived, and did not disappoint. Erdman remains at the top of his form!
Rating:
Summary: "The Set Up" is pure Erdman!
Review: I was a young GI in Germany in 1969 just learning to appreciate "the Trib." I remember one article that caught my eye: a young American banker working in Basel at the sub of a California bank was arrested for trying to corner the world cocoa market! He failed miserably, and in the process wiped out his employer's equity base. As if the young banker, named Paul Erdman, did not know enough about Switzerland already, he was to learn more, from many months inside a Swiss jail. I next noticed Erdman several years later. He had written a novel, "The Billion-Dollar Sure Thing." I read it and liked it, and later learned that he had begun his novelist's career in that Swiss jail. Erdman's subsequent novels have never disappointed. He is the master of the financial thriller, an unfortunately under-populated genre. "The Set Up," like all of Erdman's fiction, takes place largely in Switzerland. Charles Black, former Chairman of the U.S. Fed, is arrested at the Basel airport as he enters Switzerland. (Erdman reminds us, as he never fails to do, that Basel's airport straddles the Swiss/French border.) He finds himself in the maws of the Swiss power structure, comprised of a hundred or so rich and powerful Swiss men who are, in Erdman's eye, as amoral and as slimy as any in the world. No Swiss Heidi-types here. (Had Erdman been successful in cornering the cocoa market he would have been hailed, not jailed, by this group for furthering the cause of Swiss chocolate!) To divulge any more of the plot would be cheating. Suffice it to say, there is lots of (1)German- Swiss bashing,(2)Deus ex machina that stretches credibility, and (3)untranslated "Schwietzer dooch" and other languages. There is also a woman/mate of the male hero who is sharper than the hero himself. This theme is present in most Erdman novels. Erdman has produced eight novels in a quarter of a century, about one every three years. When I haven't seen one for a while, I start looking in book stores. This year I did something different: I searched for Erdman at amazon.com. Sure enough, he'd written a new book which I ordered immediately. The several days it took to arrive in the mail was an eternity as I anticipated reading a new Erdman. It arrived, and did not disappoint. Erdman remains at the top of his form!
Rating:
Summary: Perhaps the best financial thriller writer out there
Review: I'm still on my quest for a Grisham-like financial thriller, and Erdman is the best I've read in that genre so far, though it's not quite Grisham. I've read several other authors in this genre including Stephen Frey, Michael Ridpath, among others, and Erdman is the best of the group. I just wish he had more fiction work out there. I found this book to be a fast-paced, easy read that I completed in 2 days. I'd highly recommend it. P.S. I'd also recommend checking out Erdman's book Zero Coupon; it dates back to the 1970's, but it's still among the best out there.
Rating:
Summary: Perhaps the best financial thriller writer out there
Review: I'm still on my quest for a Grisham-like financial thriller, and Erdman is the best I've read in that genre so far, though it's not quite Grisham. I've read several other authors in this genre including Stephen Frey, Michael Ridpath, among others, and Erdman is the best of the group. I just wish he had more fiction work out there. I found this book to be a fast-paced, easy read that I completed in 2 days. I'd highly recommend it. P.S. I'd also recommend checking out Erdman's book Zero Coupon; it dates back to the 1970's, but it's still among the best out there.
Rating:
Summary: Erdman at His Best
Review: If you like financial thrillers, you can't go wrong with Erdman, and he's at his best here. Usually the loose ends of "thrillers" bother me for years after I've read them; years after I've read this one I still admire the neat way he ties everything up nicely.
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