The Prince of Risk

by Christopher Reich

At the crossroads of high finance and international terrorism, a New York hedge-fund manager searches for the truth behind his father's murder.
The master of the financial thriller returns.
"Christopher Reich is a superstar."--Lee Child
Bobby Astor is a fearless New York hedge-fund gunslinger on the verge of making his biggest killing ever. But everything changes when his father, the venerable chief executive of the New York Stock Exchange, is murdered along with the head of the Federal Reserve in a brazen, inexplicable attack on the South Lawn of the White House. In the moments before his death, Astor's father sends Bobby a mystifying text message . . . a single word that Bobby soon realizes offers the only clue to the identity of his father's killer and the terrifying motivation behind the attack.
As Bobby unravels the mystery behind his father's death, he crosses paths with his ex-wife, no-nonsense Special Agent Alex Forza of the FBI, who is hot on the trail of a band of elite international terrorists intent on infiltrating New York City. All the while, Bobby must fight to hold together his increasingly risky business deal. At stake is not only the survival of his company and a colossal fortune . . . but also a sophisticated foreign conspiracy that threatens the entire financial system of the United States.
"The Prince of Risk" is Christopher Reich's most prescient, suspenseful, and entertaining thriller, a novel that anticipates the headlines of the near future and shows, once again, why "The New York Times" calls Reich "the John Grisham of Wall Street." "From the Hardcover edition."

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Suspense, Mystery, Audiobook, Mystery Thriller, Crime

ebook

First published December 3, 2013

About the author

Christopher Reich was born in Tokyo. In 1965 his family moved to Los Angeles. He attended Georgetown University and the University of Texas and worked in Switzerland before returning to the United States to become an author. His novel The Patriots Club won the International Thriller Writers award for Best Novel in 2006. He lives in Encinitas, California.

Reviews

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

China seeking world domination is becoming the theme in 2014’s thrillers. In this unadulterated financial thriller, the protagonist, Bobby Astor, is a hedge fund manager, owning his own firm. Bobby’s father is the CEO of the New York Stock Exchange. In the beginning of the novel, Bobby’s father is murdered along with the head of the Federal Reserve. Bobby’s ex-wife, Alex is a Special Agent of the FBI. She’s not involved with Bobby’s father’s case, but she has one of her own that looks like a future terrorism plot. The book is a great page-turner. Bobby wants to find out who killed his father. He sleuths around with no or little regard to law enforcement. Meanwhile, Alex goes off-grid to find out who’s behind the potential terrorist conspiracy. The story lines are incredibly developed with twists and character driven events. The good guys are likeable and the bad guys are slimy. It’s realistic fiction, highly entertaining, and brilliantly written.

[Patrice Hoffman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Won through a Goodreads Giveaway

I'm not sure where to begin with this novel. Let's start from the beginning. Bobby Astor, the hedge-fund prodigy is sent for a loop when the news of his father's death is revealed to him. They've had a tumultuous relationship so much so to the point that they were no longer speaking. A last minute text before his father's death arrives on his phone with the word Palantir. Unsure what it means, Astor becomes embroiled in a financial threat that threatens to bring America to it's knees. A terrorist plot that is on a scale that is hard to fathom is in the works.

While Astor attempts to unravel the mysterious happenings that surround his father's death, his ex-wfie Alex Forza, a prominent figure in the FBI, is sent for a whirlwind when she attempts to unravel a plot that is meant to cause the deaths of many Americans. Forced on the sidelines after a bust gone wrong, she decides to go rouge and get to the bottom of what's really happening. She's badass! Thank you Christopher Reich.

The Prince of Risk begins explosively and never once eases on the tension. It's a shame I wasn't able to read this novel in one sitting because it quite possibly could have made my 3 week tour de Reich down to a 3 hour rendezvous. To top off all the thrills and the piling of dead bodies is financial jargon I can't even begin to decipher. Reich explains in layman's terms what a hedge fund is, the inner workings of Wall Street, and who really holds our financial fate in their hands.

Generally, The Prince of Risk is an extremely intelligent financial thriller on the surface. Eventually the major players such as Bobby Astor and his ex-wife become people I want to win. Astor, especially, could have been portrayed as just another a-hole that makes more money I'll never see in my life. He could have easily been a shark that preys on the week in an effort to go on another retreat payed for courtesy of hardworking taxpayers. Reich makes him human and damaged. A man hoping to erase the mistakes of his past in an effort to right his life.

Although I found this novel to be pretty fun and exhilarating, reading it in small spurts was not conducive to the amount of characters introduced. I could not keep track of some the players which is a shame because I take notes. After a while I just gave up. The beginning chapters introduce ghost-like ninjas, an invisible person who can predict the future, and a Chinese guy who expects the defeat of America. Oh, let's not forget the possible FBI mole who's in cahoots with the terrorist.

In a nutshell, I can't wait to read more by Christopher Reich. I very much so enjoyed The Prince of Risk and happy I won this through a giveaway. Thank you Goodreads and publishers. He's a formidable voice in the thriller genre and I look forward to more by this author.

[Rusty Dalferes · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was my second Goodreads Giveaway win, and it was announced to me only 2 or so days after I wrote the review for my first win. The short story is: write reviews and get free stuff. Thanks to Goodreads, Doubleday, and Christopher Reich for the free book. And Goodreads: I'm expecting my next win shortly. :)

I have read a few Reich books in the past and thoroughly enjoyed them. He is normally a master of the financial intrigue, and I was looking forward to the same in this book. While it's an OK story, he doesn't quite hit the full mark that his previous books led me to expect in this one, and the result is more of a police procedural than an international thriller.

His writing can be a bit trite at times in this novel (e.g., "no sh!t, Sherlock," "he had sworn never to go to a hospital to die," "NYC. The center of the universe," "for all intents and purposes"), and with such a large vocabulary available in the English language, "trite" is a pretty insulting thing to say about someone's writing. There was also a large amount of niggling grammatical errors -- the types of little things that wouldn't matter to someone with a 6th grade reading level, but which would enrage experienced readers and other writers (who/whom mistakes, sentence fragments in narrative, sentences ending with prepositions unnecessarily, split infinitives, etc.). I don't ask for perfection out of mass-market writers, but I do ask for some degree of consistency -- and if you're a mass-market, bestselling author, you should have a crack editing staff telling you these things. My services are available, and my rates are quite reasonable.

There were some instances of writing that caught my eye in a good way. A character finally describes the proper distinction between "assault" and "battery" (if you actually hit someone, it's battery; assault is merely the threat). The hedge fund manager (high-strung partner of the main character) has a great internal monologue about not knowing where to go or what to do when the office was completely empty, a good description of the lack of a life that some people have outside of their work.

Unfortunately, I found many troubling plot points: (1) The two main characters, divorced parents of an ambiguously-aged-but-presumably-teenaged daughter, are both caught up in dangerous parallel investigations that have them risking their lives, yet as of p. 269 (well into the threat against both of them), not a mention is made of arranging safety for the daughter. A threat against her is even made by one of the main antagonists on p. 306, yet no arrangements for her safety are made, neither parent ceases investigations to find her, and, most surprising of all, none of the many minions of the antagonists even attempts to take her hostage. In fact, mere hours after being tortured by the bad guys, the father is back at his office looking at the market, rather than trying to find out where his family is and if they're safe (and, by the way, for the rest of the book there's no mention of the injuries caused by the torture, which should have been permanent or at least long-lasting). These aren't parents; they're job-obsessed egotists, and the daughter is such a peripheral plot point in their lives as to merit little to no mention. The book would not have changed at all if the entire idea of the daughter had simply been deleted (the daughter didn't even affect how the parents interact with one another, which is simply unbelievable).

(2) Much of the troubling information about the main bad guys could have been found (and, in fact, later in the plot WAS found) through simple Google searches or other available public records searches. This presumes that people investing and trading literally BILLIONS of dollars don't do a single shred of background checks on the people who are giving them huge barrels of money. In the post-9/11 age of crackdowns on terrorist financing, I find that hard to believe.

(3) An African-American, good-sized adult male CIA agent is described as having size 7 feet. Maybe after foot-binding.

(4) The head of the NY Stock Exchange is on the Board of Directors of a foreign country's sovereign wealth investment company? I'm not an expert in international finance, but that seems like a very large conflict of interest. If it's not already illegal, it should be.

(5) The main source of the protagonists' intel on the threat is a guy who is described as a Marine, who suddenly has super-hacker skills. He's not described as a Marine super-hacker, but as a regular soldier on the ground. There's no explanation of why this guy has the ability to hack into things that the FBI and the NSA couldn't discover. He's deus ex semper-fi, or marinus ex machina.

(6) There's a general lack of understanding of how criminal law works, and especially how international criminal law works, which is especially bad given the fact that one of the main characters (the mother of the forgotten daughter) is an FBI counter-terrorism agent. One passage says "a year from now when this thing [the big conspiracy at the heart of the book] finally gets to a court of law," when in actuality a conspiracy this large would (a) likely take 4 or 5 years to get to a court, and (b) that court would likely be an international tribunal (either the ICC for individual crimes or the ICJ for actions by a foreign state) or a black-site military tribunal like Gitmo. However, one of the main characters describes the potential for legal conflict as "we both know that isn't going to happen," meaning the government won't pursue the mastermind of the conspiracy. This is just wrong. The government may not start a land war in China over the investigation, but we all know that it would definitely investigate the crime and use diplomatic back channels to pressure the other nation to make things right, especially when the crime at issue is an attack on the nation's financial center. It's not a black-and-white, casus belli vs. complete inaction scenario. There are shades of grey between the two, and I guarantee that if China attacked America's financial centers, there would be an investigation and at least some repercussions.

(7) Towards the end, one of the main bad guys gets shown into the location of the NYSE's secure servers, providing a false name to do so, even though (spoiler alert here) he's someone who is well-known among investors and fund managers as the head of an extremely large family investment company. On top of that, his tour guide takes him into the heart of the security gateway for every trade made on the exchange, a large server room (described as a room "housing six mainframe computers," which is a bit of an anachronism), in which the tour guide and the bad guy are the only people -- no security, no apparent cameras, no passwords or physical key locks to access ports to the servers, merely a matter of disabling the tour guide with a puff of powder (which, oddly and inexplicably, has no effect on the bad guy even though airborne and poisonous), then inserting a flash drive into the computer. The lack of security at one of the world's most important financial information centers is inexcusable, and probably not reflective of reality.

But aside from the plot points noted above, the biggest problem I have with this book is its end moral. One of the main characters (the father of the daughter noted above) was the owner and main driving force behind a private hedge fund company. He bet a lot of money (BILLIONS of dollars, of his and his investors' money) on a single currency valuation bet. His personal and corporate solvency, and large chunks of his clients' money, was tied into this ONE INSANE GAMBLE THAT EVERYONE THOUGHT WAS GOING TO FAIL. While that bet was somewhat caught up in the events of the conspiracy at the heart of the book, so its outcome wasn't dictated by purely market forces, it's indicative of a larger problem: the hubris and unnecessary risk-taking of the world's financial leaders. And Reich applauds these character traits, painting the protagonist as a prodigy and a self-made man and a panoply of other positive descriptors, even though the man had lost his relationships with his father, his wife, and his daughter, had lost $600 million of his and his firm's money, and had few (if any) real friends in the world (even his business partner is never seen around him in any capacity but business). (Further spoiler alert:) His big currency valuation bet loses, and he becomes virtually bankrupt at the end, and yet the final pages show him and his partner (the one noted above who couldn't figure out what to do when the office was empty) starting a new firm from scratch, ready to start the gambling all over again. Reich obviously sees a dedicated professional doing what he knows how to do; I see an addict getting high with other people's money, the source of many of the world's financial woes for the last few years and pretty much the last person I want working with my money. I wish Reich had ended the story with a moral that someone learned something from the events of the novel. Unfortunately, it appears that no one did.

In sum, an OK book, but not the brilliance of Reich's earlier works.

[David Ketelsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received The Prince of Risk by Christopher Reich free from Goodreads in exchange for a book review.

I have read a number of Christopher Reich's book and have always enjoyed them. The Prince of Risk is no exception. It's a rollicking joyride of a financial thriller. As usual, the financial aspects of the novel work better than the characterizations and interpersonal dialogue. The relationship that comes across best is the one between the protagonist, New York City hedge-fund manager Bobby Astor, and his right-hand man and best friend, Marv Shank:

Shank: You're sure?
Astor: Do you want me to pinkie swear?
Shank: Screw you. Shows what I get for caring.
Astor: If you want a friend...
Both: Buy a dog.

It might not be deep but it does come off as classic Wall Street bravado and very much in character for two old hands ruling over a successful hedge fund.

There was also a line between the two of them that I found amusing. When Astor decided to try to investigate his father's murder, Shank accused him of thinking he was Harry Bosch. A name familiar to mystery fans since that's Michael Connelly's lead character in his LA based detective series. I love when authors do shout outs like that though I realize some folk find it cheesey.

The plot is fast paced and quite enjoyable. From the conspiracy oriented start when 4 prominent men from the world of finance, including Bobby Astor's father, President of the New York Stock Exchange, are mysteriously killed while on their way to inform the President of the United States of a national threat to multinational corporations being used as building blocks in a diabolical plot this book rocks the way you'll view the world.

[Rally · Rating 4 out of 5]

Започва се с тройно убийство пред Белия дом и един загадъчен смс. За тези, които не разбираме от финанси едно краткотрайно трепване на индекса на валутите не би означавало почти нищо, за борсовите акули се измерва в стотици милиони. И докато инвеститорите се разколебават, един син се заема да разнищи причините за смъртта на баща си. Игра на залози за милиарди и национална сигурност в надпревара с времето.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reich returns to the scene with another of his powerful financial thrillers (yes, those words can go together effectively!), sure to lure the reader in from the opening pages of the preface. When the CEO of the New York Stock Exchange is involved in a freak accident on the White House grounds, he transmits a mysterious message before his ultimate demise, PALANTIR. This elusive message makes its way to his estranged son, Robert "Bobby" Astor, a hedge-fund guru with more money and market control that many could imagine. Determined to discover the secret behind this single word, Astor commences his own investigation into his father's recent dealings and how this word might play a role. Meanwhile, Astor's ex-wife, Alex Forza, is neck deep working for the Counter-Terrorism Unit of the FBI, based out of the New York Field Office. When she takes a team out to investigate the siting of a mysterious crate, a firefight ensues and individuals on both sides are left dead. As Forza tries to justify herself to her superiors and piece together the evidence she finds on scene, she's drawn into a web of international espionage, with New York City as its suspected next target. Seemingly unrelated events might have a larger connection, once the smoke clears and all the characters are clearly defined. In this post-Cold War era thriller, a new powerhouse is set to wrestle power away from the United States, in a much more subtle and detrimental manner. Reich weaves such a seamless tale that readers cannot pull themselves away, no matter how late the hour.

Reich is great at making a seemingly less than exciting topic highly interesting and thoroughly enjoyable. He fills the novel with technical jargon, but sets it up in such a way that the reader need not be well-versed in the nuances of finance, technology, or stock trading to make sense of it all. I find this to be highly beneficial, as a reader, so that I do not feel dumb when trying to read something for my own enjoyment. Reich is a masterful storyteller and while he uses some predictable plot developments, he is effectively able to build a unique and entertaining story that stands alone amongst his other great novels.

Kudos, Mr. Reich for your great work and interesting take on the next great War with the US, which won't involve guns and bombing.

[Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've long been a fan of Reich's books--whether financial or espionage. This combines the two with a satisfying conspiracy and the bad guys poised to take over the world by bringing down financial markets through computer manipulation. On the side of the angels are a flawed hero and heroine--he's a savvy hedge fund manager and she's a kick-ass FBI agent. They were married once but career drives separated them. Bobby Astor's father, head of the NY Stock Exchange, dies trying to reach the president late one Sunday night, but before his fiery death he texts his estranged son one word--and Bobby is convinced this is no accident but murder. Alex uncovers a cache of weapons and a plan involving 23 unknown shooters. The plots converge, of course, into the same conspiracy: the evil Chinese plan to destroy America's and the world's financial security. Lots of financial details, some flashy computer scares, black and white characters, high body count with some torture. The whole thing moves at an urgent pace, fueled by short chapters. Dan Brown territory with a financial background frame, rather than art, history, and literature. Over the top but diverting.

[Христо Блажев · Rating 4 out of 5]

В играта на милиарди няма правила: http://knigolandia.info/book-review/i...

Райх вдига залозите още с първата сцена, в която тримата най-високопоставени играчи във финансовата система на САЩ - изпълнителният директор на Нюйоркската фондова борса, председателят на Федералния резерв и министърът на финансите се втурват презглава в полунощ към президента, за да го алармират за огромна опасност… но нещо поема контрол над колата им на поляната пред Белия дом и тя е направена на решето от агентите на специалните служби, които смятат, че предотвратяват терористичен акт. Разследването на убийството на трима толкова влиятелни фигури обаче не води до никъде, затова и синът на единия от тях – Боби Астър, се наема да търси истината, макар да мрази баща си и двамата да не са се виждали от години. Той е собственик на 5-милиарден хедж фонд, звезда от “Уолстрийт”… и тъкмо е направил огромен залог срещу тенденциите на пазара, свързан с курсовете на юана и долара. И си няма и идея, че убийството на баща му и този залог са част от една много по-голяма игра.

CIELA Books
http://knigolandia.info/book-review/i...

[Русева Юлиана · Rating 5 out of 5]

Държи до последният дъх и естествено финалът залага на доброто момче. Въпреки това, Райх пише невероятно и ще го следя занапред

[Tom Tischler · Rating 5 out of 5]

He is on the verge of making his biggest killing yet. His
name is Bobby Astor and he owns a hedge fund. All of this
is about to change when his father is killed in a brazen
attack on the south lawn of the White House while he is
trying to deliver a terrifying secret to the president.
Bobby finds himself and his company on the brink of ruin.
A tiny clue leads him deeper into the lies surrounding his
fathers murder and he stumbles into a sophisticated conspiracy
that not only threatens to wipe out his own fund but destroy
the foundation of the U.S. Financial System. A top rate
thriller from Christopher Reich. A real page turner and
well worth the read.

[Philip Trubey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is as good as any A list writer out there. The book is very timely as it describes nation states using the Internet to spy and manipulate computers at will. The frightening thing about this is that the mechanisms Reich reveals as the book moves along are very, very plausible. You don't find out just how devious it all is until the protagonist finds out about it later in the book. Very well researched, it also accurately depicts how hedge funds run, giving the reader an understandable peek into the inner workings of high finance Wall Street. Finally, it is a true page turner, hard to put down. Very well written.

[Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you've been waiting for Christopher Reich's next book since Rules of Betrayal you won't be disappointed with The Prince of Risk. This is a classic page turner, with plot twists and turns that really keep you guessing. If you haven't read any of Christopher Reich's book this is as good as any to start with.

[Jonathan Brais · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great financial thriller!

[Ted Lehmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good thriller requires a premise which catches the imagination of the reader by hooking some concern or fear that actually affects the reader, either consciously or unconsciously. It then includes characters who can be identified with in some way that keep the reader engaged as the story develops and maintains its narrative drive. Often the books are characterized by having many short chapters, each ending with a cliff hanger event, or anticipation of one, which drives the reader forward to the next one. Prince of Risk by Christopher Reich (Doubleday, 2013, 386 pages, $25.95) achieves all these elements in a financial/techno thriller that hits all the button, drives the reader through to its exciting and satisfying conclusion, and strikes a note of unintended cynicism for the wary reader about many values and directions in our society. Prince of Risk is certain to be a best seller, appealing particularly to xenophobes and conspiracy theorists, while coming at the reader with a vibrant force that keeps the pages turning almost by themselves.

The novel opens with the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the President of the New York Stock Exchange meeting together to discuss an urgent problem. At the urging of the Edward Astor, the Stock Exchange chief, they request a late night meeting with the President of the U.S. Heading to the White House, they get through several security stops, but as they approach the building, the car takes on a will of it's own and rolls toward the portico, but is destroyed before it can do any damage, killing all aboard, but allowing just sufficient time for Astor to text a single word, “Palantir,” to his estranged son, the fabulously successful hedge fund manager, Bobby Astor, whom we meet standing atop the chimney of his Long Island mansion, about to leap into the swimming pool to raise millions of dollars for charity. Shortly after, Bobby Astor's ex-wife Alex Forza, an ambitious FBI agent on the rise as well as a great beauty, informs him of his father's death. The story then cuts to China, where we meet Magnus Lee, in charge of Chinese investments in the financial and political world, who seeks a place in the ruling committee which runs the world's fastest growing and most completely managed society. Thus, all the pieces are in place for a rip-roaring combination of thought provoking plausibilities and plenty of violence with a smattering of sterile sex. Describing more of the action would only take away from the fun of reading this novel. Read the rest of this review on my blog (www.tedlehmann.blogspot.com). If you decide to purchase it, please use the Amazon portal on my blog to do so.

[Benjamin Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Financial thriller novels, like legal thrillers or military thrillers (or any other kind of sub-genre thriller novels) can be a difficult balancing act. There has to be significant parts of the plot devoted to that sub-genre topic, in this case finance, without allowing those parts to overwhelm the layman reader. And at the same time the plot has to be, fundamentally, a thriller plot with enough action and intrigue to keep the pages turning. Christopher Reich does a good job here of balancing those forces.

I have a basic knowledge of finance but am certainly no Wall Street guru and I felt very comfortable with the level of financial buzzwords thrown at me in this book. You really don’t even have to know what a Hedge Fund is because it is briefly explained to you. Of course, I would suspect that most readers of financial thrillers are pretty well versed in basic financial terms or else they wouldn’t be drawn to such novels in the first place.

So that leaves the thriller part of the story. The plot focuses on two main characters. Bobby Astor is the CEO of Comstock Partners a very successful hedge fund. He is known as the Prince of Risk for his willingness to take large financial risks and has been hugely successful for the past 15 years. The second main character is his ex-wife, Alex, a fast burner FBI agent with visions of FBI leadership running through her veins. The plot itself involves high level investing where millions of dollars gained or lost every hour is no big deal combined with a terrorist attempt to disrupt and even destroy America’s financial leadership in the world. Happily, and refreshingly, the terrorists are not of Middle Eastern origin and there is no mention of Islamic Fundamentalism in the entire book.

Overall, this was a fun and fast paced read. Some parts in the middle seemed to be a little long or unnecessary and there were a few too many named characters that seemed to have been just thrown in to flesh it all out but weren’t actually of any importance to the story. My other concern is that the ending seemed a little forced with a rather complex plot being resolved in only a few pages. I did like the very end though. A lot. Almost like an epilogue, it was good to see closure for the main set of characters.

[R J Mckay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bobby Astor lives his life the same way he runs his hedge fund: fearlessly. His current undertaking is based on information received from a associate. He was told that China would be devaluing their currency. The tip appears promising, so Astor invests heavily, hoping to reap an enormous profit. But the risks are huge as well. If he is wrong, he would lose everything.

Edward Astor, Bobby’s father, is the chairman of the New York Stock Exchange. Edward and two associates, have received news that, if true, could be devastating to the United States. Realizing how sensitive this information is, as well as the urgency of the situation, Edward rushes directly to the President. But before he reaches the White House, his car loses control on the White House lawn. Edward’s last act was to send a brief text to his estranged son. This message sends Bobby plunging head long into an international conspiracy that threatens the United States economy. With the help of his ex-wife, FBI Special Agent Alex Forza, they work to unravel the events leading up to the death of his father, as well as the money conspiracy his father was trying to save the United States from.

“The Prince of Risk” combines terrorism in the echelons of high finance as well as high octane action. Fasten your seat belts, because this book will take you for the ride of your life.

[Ray Palen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christopher Reich has been labeled the master of the financial thriller and that claim is right on the money (pun intended).

THE PRINCE OF RISK refers to superstar investment banker Bobby Astor who is about to have his entire world turned upside down. When his father, the wealthy and highly respected billionaire, Edward Astor (the CEO of the NYSE) is murdered in an exploding car on his way to inform the President of a matter of international terrorism his last act was to text his son Bobby a single word --- Palantir.

It is up to Bobby to figure out what was behind this fateful final message from father to son. Digging into this instantly puts Bobby, his Wall Street firm and all those close to him in immediate peril. When he teams with his ex-wife and current Federal Agent, Alex, the two follow different paths to prevent multiple acts of terrorism on U.S. soil all of which have their funding and elicit roots in the world of international finance.

THE PRINCE OF RISK moves fast and never lets up on the pedal. Reich combines intricate details of the Wall Street machinations with real-life fear of terrorism and keeps the suspense building to a satisfying climax.

[Joshua Atkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you've liked other Reich novels, you will like this one. I didn't start off with a good impression. Christopher Reich took a gamble (see what I did there? I could have said "he took a risk", but I'm a better man than that) when he decided to make a hedge fund manager the hero of the story, but in the end Bobby Astor wasn't as objectionable as he could have been.

This sounds like faint praise, but it isn't. Reich managed to do something good here. Price of Risk is a classic page turner. It doesn't ask a lot of the reader (there are a lot of financial terms and concepts throughout, but Reich breezes through them so that even a financial illiterate like me wasn't bored or bogged down), but it keeps your interest and forces you power through to the end. If you're looking for a beach read, or a book to lay down in front of a fireplace with, this is a good one.

[Tianna Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

For full disclosure, I received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

It is absolutely bloody good! It keeps you on your toes from the beginning to the end. Figuring out who was behind it all... is a shocker, at least for me anyways. It is a thrill from beginning to end. The plot is also unexpected from what I thought it was going to be. You learn things from The Stock Market and get an idea of how it works. You also learn from about hedge funds. It keeps you on your toes and keeps you guessing. Bobby Astor is willing to do anything to figure out who is behind his father's death with the help of his ex-wife Alex,(in the FBI). I absolutely recommend it to anyone. A must read for a Christopher Reich fan. I'm hooked. :-)

[Deanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a fan of Christopher Reich's books. The first one that I read had the Swiss Banking System as the bad guy so I was hooked. This is not his best but is still good. The action is fast and the characters interesting. The problem I had was because I was listening to the book on CDs. I did not like the voice that the narrator gave to the MC. It was a voice that should have been given to character in a book set in the 1920s. Just wasn't right for the character.

While reading this book we in the USA experienced a day that saw computer attacks on the NY Times newsper, the NY Stock Exchange and United Airlines. When you read this book you will understand why I felt like I was entering the Twilight Zone.

[Sameer Garach · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a good read that takes you into the depths of the hardware and software threats faced by the financial markets. I gave the novel four stars because the plot has ingenuity, and I didn't give it five stars because there's nothing special about the characters. Also, Bobby Astor, the main character faces little resistance in finding who killed his dad. It's just too easy for him. He opens up Google and within seconds has the correct search results and information he seeks. He skims a few magazines and/or company reports and the information he needs is magically there, and he magically puts the dots together.

[Frederick Bingham · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to this on audio, narrated by Paul Michael.

This is a relatively formulaic and forgettable thriller. There's a brilliant and beautiful female FBI agent, the fabulously wealthy hedge fund manager who she was married to, evil villains, this time Chinese, and a mystery to be solved.

It was page-turning enough to get me to make my way through it, but not memorable or well-written enough that I will remember any of it a month from now.

[David Henkel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another captivating thriller by Christopher Reich. A realistic thriller with a plausible theory of the 2011 flash crash.

[Boris Feldman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Engaging financial thriller: attack on NYC.
Flat prose.
Not as good as his earlier novels.
Too much detail on life inside a hedge fund (oxymoron?).

[Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. A real page turner. I couldn't put it down.

[Ryan Hillis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great financial Thiller

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This excellent thriller holds interest throughout. It posits a highly plausible theory and works its way through to a fairly decent conclusion. It could have ended better though. 8 of 10 stars

[David Marshall · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a completely absurd thriller which seems to think a formulaic plot is high art.

http://opionator.wordpress.com/2014/0...

[William · Rating 1 out of 5]

Other than making us aware of technology theft, the story was dull and very unbelievable

[Iskren Zayryanov · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Четвъртата световна война ще се води с лъкове и копия“ – Алберт Айнщайн

Плакат с тази мисъл и стилизирани фигури на хора, преследващи се с примитивни оръжия, висеше в кабинета по физика в моето средно училище. Плакатът беше як и първият в училище, който ме впечатли, а идеята му беше повече от ясна – предупреждаваше за жестоката заплаха от ядрен апокалипсис, надвиснала над Земята по време на Студената война. Само дето Студената война приключи без преки военни конфликти между двете супер сили, но въпреки това сблъсък имаше, имаше и печеливши и губещи. Де факто този конфликт се водеше на новата арена – тази на икономиката. Студената война може и да започна като класическо военно противопоставяне, но завърши като първата война на модерните икономики. Съжалявам за носталгиците с къса и извратена памет, но това беше причината за краха на социализма. А сега сме свидетели, че война може да се води по много различни начини – терористична, информационна, икономическа, хибридна, а едни от най-печелившите ѝ форми не са винаги свързани с употреба на армии и обявяване на война.

„Игра на милиарди“ е трилър точно за тези нови форми на конфликт между държавите. Тя разглежда кошмарната възможност САЩ да бъдат поставени на колене с умелото използване на тероризъм, интелектуален шпионаж и икономически натиск.

Нещо много сериозно е уплашило изпълнителния директор на Нюйоркската фондова борса, председателя на Федералния резерв и Министъра на финансите на САЩ. Толкова много, че те решават да потърся президента в неделя почти в полунощ, за да го предупредят за надвисналата заплаха, но някой ги ликвидира преди да осъществят срещата.

Боби Астър е син на директора на Фондовата борса и един от големите играчи на „Уолстрийт“, но от години не се е виждал с баща си. Отчуждили са се и затова се изненадва, когато получава от него съобщение, съдържащо само една дума. Мистерията става още по-голяма, когато разбира и че баща му е бил убит на път за Белия дом, заедно с другите двама най-влиятелни финансисти в САЩ. Отначало той няма никакво намерение да разследва мистериозното съобщение, но когато е убита и асистентката на баща му, за да ѝ се затвори устата, той решава, въпреки личните си пристрастия, да стори това, което смята за правилно и да разплете загадката.

Алекс Форца е агент във ФБР и оглавява КТ-26 – звено, което се занимава с терористи на американска земя. Тя губи трима свои колеги и агенти при рискова операция, защото не се е очаквало екипът ѝ да се конфронтира с професионални военни. Оказва се, че това, на което се е натъкнала, не е обикновена терористична операция, а нещо с много по-големи размери.

Алекс и Боби споделят общо минало, разведени са и всеки е поел в своята посока, но съдбата има друга идея. Пътищата им отново ще се преплетат, може би за да намери всеки загубена част от себе си, а покрай това да спаси и страната си.

Действието се развива в три сюжетни линии, които се движат успоредно и постепенно разкриват заплахата от икономически и военен аспект. Цялата история протича за няколко дни и поради което е стегната, но подробна и завладяваща.

„Игра на милиарди“ е занаятчийски написан трилър, за една възможна и плашеща война между две икономически супер сили. Хубавото е, че тук Райх не акцентира върху терористичната част, а дава превес на битката на арената на финансите, точно нещото, което контролира и движи модерния свят. Подчини икономиката на една страна и тя вече е победена.