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Black Maps  By  cover art

Black Maps

By: Peter Spiegelman
Narrated by: David Aaron Baker
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Publisher's summary

The stronghold of white-collar crime in the rarefied world of high finance–this is the setting for Peter Spiegelman's edgy, suspenseful, sharply-honed debut novel. At the center: John March, who walked away from his family's venerable merchant bank for the life of a rural deputy sheriff–a life that would explode in personal tragedy and professional disaster. Three years later, he's back in Manhattan, working as a PI and running from his grief and the expectations of his wealthy family.

March takes the case of Rick Pierro, a self-made man who has everything–and who's in danger of losing it all. An anonymous, poisonous threat has implicated him in a vast money-laundering scheme already under investigation by the feds. March's own investigation uncovers a blood-stained paper trail that leads him deep into the lives of both insiders and outcasts on the street. He discovers that his client may be the latest victim of a serial extortionist diabolically adept at psychological and physical intimidation, but the more March learns the more questions he has about Pierro, his wife, and the secrets hidden beneath the glossy surfaces of their lives. And the more he begins to fear that his own blood will be added to the trail before the case is closed.

With its headlong narrative, quick, incisive language, and brilliantly clarified details of finance–the legal and the illegal–Black Maps is a stunning first novel.

©2003 Peter Spiegelman (P)2003 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Spiegelman knows where the bodies are buried and he knows how to write. Impressive.”– Jonathan Kellerman

"John March is one of the most intriguing new P.I.s to come along in quite some time."- Publishers Weekly

"A stunner... [It] keeps readers in the dark until the very last page. Suspenseful narrative, superb characters, and a prevailing atmosphere of Chandler-esque melancholy. . .to ask for more in a mystery would be criminal.”– Newsday

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Wait for the next book

I had read a review of this book somewhere that made me want to get it. I don't know if my problem with the book has to do with the way it was abridged for Audible or if it's the book itself. I found the story very predicable and the characters flat and stereotypical. Maybe I'm just picky, but I'd look elsewhere for a good mystery.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Engrossing read

I found this book both engrossing and suspenseful. The plot intrigued me; in particular I enjoyed being "inside" a federal investigation of a failed financial institution. Some of the plot twists were a little over the top, but not enough to significantly reduce my enjoyment of the book.

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