The Devil's Banker

By: Christopher Reich

Narrated by: John Lee

Length: 13 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

Hailed as “the John Grisham of Wall Street” by the New York Times, Christopher Reich returns to the world he knows so well - the dangerous, dazzling world of high finance and international intrigue.

In this ingeniously crafted thriller, the best-selling author of Numbered Account and The First Billion introduces his most complex and engaging hero yet: forensic accountant Adam Chapel - and paints a frightening scenario where terrorism is big business and money is the ultimate weapon of war…

The explosion that shatters the smart Parisian apartment reverberates around the globe. In an instant, a suspected terrorist is dead and half a million dollars has vanished. Within days, the CIA is certain it has found a connection between the dead man and a planned terrorist attack on U.S. soil. Determined to avert another 9/11, they have assembled an elite counterterrorist task force, code name: Blood Money. Its mission: to follow the money trail. Its secret weapon: forensic accountant Adam Chapel.

A man who trusts numbers more than people, Chapel has his own reasons for wanting to get the job done - four of his colleagues were killed in the Paris blast. Now Chapel is thrust back into the line of fire when he teams up with British intelligence agent Sarah Churchill. The two are assigned to hunt down a shadowy mastermind who is moving vast sums of money from country to country, from bank to bank, leaving no tracks--as he prepares for an Armaggedon of his own devising.

As Chapel follows a disappearing money trail from Paris to Munich to the deserts of Saudi Arabia, Sarah uses her elite training to stalk the “shadow” and his elusive network. Meanwhile, their quarry is auditing their every move, laying a twisting trail of false clues and shocking surprises. With the clock ticking down, soon Chapel and Sarah have only days, hours, minutes to avert disaster as a master terrorist plots to unleash the first strike in a brilliantly orchestrated conspiracy - with an almost unimaginable goal.

Hurtling us from the winding alleys of Pakistan to the elite banking houses of Europe, The Devil’s Banker creates an adrenaline-fueled world where following the money has never been more dangerous, and evil has never been harder to unmask.

©2003 Christopher Reich (P)2003 Books on Tape, Inc.

Critic reviews

"This smart, fast-paced read shuttles between Wall Street finance and the Eastern paperless hawala banking system - and makes both sound surprisingly cool." (Entertainment Weekly)

Enjoyable

Good story, good characters, and good narration. Sometimes a little heavy on the "alphabet soup" of acronyms and jargon for this-or-that agency, but in all an enjoyable book.

Better than Patriot's Club

Once in a while you come across an audio book that keeps you up at night because of the great writing and plot. This book teaches the reader about cultural differences between how the Westerner looks at life versus how terrorists see things.

People turn out to not be who you first think they are. Loyalties are hidden until the end and subtlely revealed.

Reich makes you wonder if the cultural differences can ever be breached. As the characters travel through Europe chasing down money trail leads, time is running out. Unless forensic account Alan Chappel and agent Sara Churchill can detect where the money trail ends and who is ultimately behind things, a disaster of immense proportions will ensue.

Went and purchased all the rest of the Christopher Reich titles after this one and am hoping that audible soon adds all titles for download.

An ACCOUNTANT as HERO??!! You Bet!!!

This is a good read on several levels: A look inside the shadowy world of the 'hawala' money system that leaves no paper trail. A fiendish plot. An unlikely hero...and several juicy twists that keep you interested. I am pleased that the spy genre did not die with the demise of the cold war!!

Keep it up

I found the book has a good plot, excellent character descriptions, with some nice twists. The ending was predictable because of how many threads had to be collected and very little space left to do it. Sort of like a TV script. Probably the best part is the timing of the various plot twists. There is a little suspension of belief in some areas, just enough to make the story plausable. I certainly will purchase his next work and recommend this book for any mystery fan.

good book, great naration

I would have enjoyed reading this book, but I REALLY enjoyed listening to it. John Lee's naration makes me remember the initial joy I had upon finding audio books years ago. The Devil's Banker made real for me much of the murky underworld of terroist financing and the new breed of expert, such as the hero accountant of the story, whose job it is to penetrate it and track down the bad guys. If it weren't for the slightly unsatisfying and perhaps too "Hollywood" ending, I would have given it five stars.

Incorrect Audio Length

I havent listened to the book yet ... but one of the reasons i bought it, was the fact that it is listed as a 26hr book. I wabted something that long for a trip however the book is really 12hrs ...less than half the displayed length. Not happy about that!!

magnus opus

This is a book Mr. Reich evidently worked very hard on, necesssitating a lot of research and a lot of imagination. Much of it occurs in foreign countries, so the narrator must do a lot of French accents and others. For a while it seems like a tour de force of both making forensic accounting interesting and a narrator who must be adept at many things. But it begins to wear a bit thin after a while on both counts. Regardless of the care taken, forensic accounting really isn't that interesting, and the violent plot is pretty standard stuff. And the narrator is great, but I grow weary of the French (and other) accent(s). Later Reich books are probably better, but it is fun to see how much he put into this one.

Suspenseful

I found I didnt want to stop listening to it. Very well written, and the story teller did an excellent job

Great book from start to finish

Would you listen to The Devil's Banker again? Why?

Yes, good storyline, well pieced together, flows well. Brilliant narration by John Lee, as expected.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Devil's Banker?

All good.

What does John Lee bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

John puts personalities into each character that you would expect from a good movie. He makes the characters real.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Made me want to keep listening.

Any additional comments?

This was my first book by Christopher Reich, it will not be my last.

Devil'S Banker

Wow! Though a fiction the book is very believable in what is going on in today's world.