Black Maps

Rating:
Summary: Very entertaining
Review: Although the story started a bit slowly for me, I enjoyed the author's writing style and characterizations immediately. Then the pace picked up and I was enthralled. I am very much looking forward to new books by Mr. Spiegelman and I highly recommend this one!

Rating:
Summary: Great Book -- Hard to Believe it is a Debut Novel
Review: As an avid mystery reader, I am always looking for the next "new thing" in the genre. I think that I have found it. Black Maps is an exciting debut in what I hope will become a long series of mysteries set in my hometown of NYC.

The writer spins an exciting and complex tale that gives equal weight to atmosphere, character development, action, and of course, plot. He draws the reader into the world of banking and Wall Street. While he does present some pretty detailed and technical financial information, he does so with such style and ease, that it neither boring, nor difficult to follow.

John March easily has to be the most exciting new PI character to come on the scene in a awhile. Like most detective characters, he's tough, smart, and always skeptical -- but that's where the similarities end. He's the black sheep of a well to do family, plus he's also got a boat load of guilt to contend with, thanks to the untimely death of his wife. (Hopefully that story will be developed in a prequel someday!) He's also got some unusual hobbies for a PI -- running, music, and reading, to name a few, which make him quite interesting, and a true New Yorker.

Black Maps is a great read for any fan of fiction, mystery, NYC, or of great writing. In fact, I'd have to say that thing that most excites me about Spiegelman is his writing style. Its quality is well beyond what most people would expect in a book of this genre. If you love to read, get this book.

One last comment, if there are any Steely Dan fans out there reading this review, you should definitely read this book!

Rating:
Summary: A Fast-Paced Read from a Promising Debut Novelist
Review: BLACK MAPS by Peter Spiegelman revolves around extortion, money laundering, insider banking businesses, drugs, arms dealing and mortal threats.

"Merchant's Worldwide Bank was the largest of several dozens of institutions owned by a Luxembourg company ... it was the largest criminally controlled financial services firm that anyone's ever heard of. Money laundering was their leading service [with] entities [so] structured [and] twisted you'd need an army of accountants just to draw the org charts. It was unique in scale and scope ... but it started coming apart ... when the number two guy at a regional bank ... tried to buy drugs from a DEA agent."

This is the story presented to John March P.I. by his friend, attorney Mike Metz, in front of Rick Pierro, the lawyer's client, who has received a threatening missive that has him terrified. The memo implies that twenty years ago Pierro was involved with Gerard Nassouli, the mastermind behind the illegal set-up: "In the letter [addressed to] Emilio Dias, who had apparently been the treasurer and CFO of Textiles Pan-Europa ... Nassouli reports that he has been dealing with a 'sympathetic' and 'flexible' banker ... who will help to establish a credit facility for Textiles' U.S. [an MWB] subsidiary." The name of the cooperative banker is Rick Pierro and the memo implies that he "was party to fraud."

March listens to Pierro's story before he decides to takes the case. His mission, should he accept it, is to find the person who sent the "blackmail" note and to determine exactly what s/he wants. The investigator is convinced that he has not been told the entire truth, but he needs the case. He wants to help his old friend, Metz, and is intrigued by a client willing to pay blackmail to keep the slightest impression of his involvement in illegal activities quiet. Pierro appears to be on the up-and-up on the surface and he is definitely quaking in his shoes over the memo: "My career ... has always been at risk ... it's been an uphill battle for me ... [but] now I'm where the air is thin, John: the executive committee." With a large family to support and major financial obligations, Pierro can't afford to be under the shadow of anything that would besmirch his reputation.

Since the executive committee doesn't meet for five weeks to determine who their new members will be, March takes the files and the notes with a promise to read them thoroughly. Then, he will let the men know if he will help this frightened man whose life is suddenly at the mercy of an unknown thug.

After reading the case files, Mike has more information than he expected to muster about MWB, but has no clues as to who might be trying to squeeze Pierro. This is where his investigating skills come in. He needs the names of everyone who had access to the bank's documents twenty years ago and all of the people currently associated with anything that Pierro put work into.

White-collar crime is usually subtle and insidious. The perpetrators do their deeds over many years. With each year that passes they become more and more arrogant. They have intricate ways of insulating themselves and create paper trails that lead to others rather than themselves. BLACK MAPS is strongest when Spiegelman sends his detective into the back rooms and under the radar of the "money industry."

Spiegelman is a new author who has been able to fulfill his reader's expectations for a fast-paced read the first time out. He has chosen a timely and interesting issue with a very attractive and likeable hero in John March. The plot is fast-paced and has enough suspense to satisfy the most ardent fan of the thriller. He is sure to attract readers who will be eager to see his next offering, hopefully starring John March, P.I.

--- Reviewed by Barbara Lipkien Gershenbaum

Rating:
Summary: An Exciting Read
Review: Black Maps is a page turner, full of exciting scenes that expose the true nature of greed, power, and fear. The characters in the story come to life through detailed descriptions and crisp narrative and dialogue, while the backdrop of Wall St/New York City evokes a feeling of glamour and danger.

What makes Black Maps such a great read is the complex story line with all its twists and turns. Just when you think you have it figured out, the story shifts in another direction. Just when you think all is well, more danger lurks behind the next corner, or in this case, on the next page!

Black Maps is great mystery with alot of substance. Its the type of book that one can read more than once, with the same sense of enjoyment each time.

It's truly one to be tried by all mystery fans.

Rating:
Summary: An Exciting Read
Review: Black Maps is a page turner, full of exciting scenes that expose the true nature of greed, power, and fear. The characters in the story come to life through detailed descriptions and crisp narrative and dialogue, while the backdrop of Wall St/New York City evokes a feeling of glamour and danger.

What makes Black Maps such a great read is the complex story line with all its twists and turns. Just when you think you have it figured out, the story shifts in another direction. Just when you think all is well, more danger lurks behind the next corner, or in this case, on the next page!

Black Maps is great mystery with alot of substance. Its the type of book that one can read more than once, with the same sense of enjoyment each time.

It's truly one to be tried by all mystery fans.

Rating:
Summary: John March is a guy you want to know...
Review: Black Maps is fine debut for Spiegelman. March is a very strong character, one that you look forward to growing with. The is not wholly original, but still a well done thriller. The ending has twists and turns that don't strain credibility (a huge advantage in this day and age of insane "top this" thrillers) and offer some geniune surprises. Spiegleman spends far too much time detailing the minute details of apartments and couches and features of minor characters, but that is typical of some first time authors. A good start to a promising series.

Rating:
Summary: A great story, very well written
Review: I just finished Black Maps, and it captured my attention completely. It is intriguely plotted with terrific if occasionally over-the-top characters. Some of the dialogue reads Elmore Leonardesque, and that's a good thing because it increases the entertainment value of the book. I also found the descriptions of the people and places among the best I have read. You can really "see" these faces, bodies, and places. Good stuff. And the story takes a series of twists that are not quite anticipated. I never thought of this as a "financial" mystery. That's just the context for a great story. I didn't realize this was the author's first book and started looking immediately for something else he has written, which is my recommendation for a very good author. I look forward to his next book.

Rating:
Summary: Complex Debut Novel: Black Maps by Peter Spiegelman
Review: In this debut novel, author Peter Spiegelman has created a complex and entertaining character, John March, who hopefully will be at the center of many mysteries to come. John March is now a private investigator three years after his life collapsed with the death of his wife thanks to a serial killer he was stalking on behalf of his employer at the time, the FBI. The pain is still fresh as are the constant and well-meaning efforts from family concerning his chosen profession. After all they reason, when one is born to money one should stay in a money field to make more and what he does for a living is so unseemly.

But March goes his own way as most loners do and at the request of a friend takes the strange case of Rick Pierro. Rick is wealthy by anyone's standards and is being blackmailed. From documents the blackmailer supplied and is threatening to use, it appears that Rick was a small part of a massive money-laundering scheme years ago. Part of the scheme has come to light in the last year or so and multiple investigations are underway. While Rick admits to doing business deals with the principals named in the documents, he claims that the documents themselves are fakes and that all his deals were and still are legit. With his job on Wall Street in jeopardy, Rick wants to pay off the blackmailer once, if the person can be convinced not to come back for more. Rick can't afford a hint of scandal should anything come out but has no intention of being bled dry either.

March thinks the whole deal is strange and problematic at best but agrees to do what he can. Before long, he suspects that Rick is lying to him and that Rick isn't the only one that the blackmailer has blackmailed. But the blackmailer, who takes offense at being looked for isn't the only one that has resources to deal with March. So too does a Federal Prosecutor and her task force which have to show result from months of investigation and at this point, they don't care how they go about it.

Hammered from all sides, March works the case in this complex and enjoyable novel. March is multi layered and complex as are many of the supporting characters. These characters were not cut out from cardboard but are instead created and soon come alive in the reader's imagination as the work moves forward.

At the same time, the storyline continually twists and turns as the novel works towards a conclusion hidden in the shadows. Nothing is what it seems or appears to be and as things move forward, events and characters get murkier and murkier in this gritty novel. This is an amazing book that this review does not do justice and is well worth the read.

Rating:
Summary: Hoping for more from this author
Review: This book is a terrific debut by a new author, and I'm always thrilled to discover one who can write the way he can. His character, John March, is an ex-deputy sheriff turned private investigator working in New York city, and the case in Black Maps concerns financial shenanigans and blackmail at a very high level. Very well written and Spiegelman makes the world of high finance seem interesting - not an easy task, I'm certain. His characters are well developed and the plot, while complicated, is easy to follow.
If I have any complaints, it is that he kind of over emphasizes his character's physical fitness: John March seems to live on tuna and yogurt and runs five to twenty miles every day. When he's not running, he's working out at the gym. I felt like saying, "okay, okay, we know he's physically fit - now move on!"
But that's a small gripe and I feel almost guilty at mentioning it, since the book is so good otherwise.
All in all, a very good read, and I hope to hear more from this author.