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The Devil's Banker
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 bestselling 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.
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.
400 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2003
143 people are currently reading
721 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Reich
28 books739 followersChristopher 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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 93 reviews
May 22, 2009
The Story
Christopher Reich’s The Devil’s Banker is an old fashioned chase book. Except here the quarry is an international terrorist. And the hunter uses computers more than guns to corner his prey.
Of all of the ways to fight terrorism, this book covers perhaps the least understood but most important aspect: finance.
Adam Chapel is a forensic accountant whose biggest thrill is to discover and then pull out the “golden thread” of the terrorist transactions. Just as he is about to nab his first terrorist, the suspect detonates a bomb that instantly kills four of the investigators. Injured, and now determined to avenge the deaths of his friends, he teams up with British intelligence agent Sarah Churchill to hunt down the bomber’s secret organization.
The terrorist cell called Hijira is funded by a wealthy Parisian commodities trader called Marc Gabriel. His plan is to destroy the heart of the American political establishment through a complex plan that has taken over 20 years to reach fruition. His idea is to take a nuclear warhead and explode it during an important Middle Eastern state visit to Washington.
As Adam follows the trail of numbers and papers across Europe and into the Middle East, he begins to realize that the money is somehow related to a missing Isreali nuke. That means that the clock has started ticking on this search. But he has very few clues to work with and an uncooperative French investigative liaison. Yet, despite the odds, Adam slowly begins to trace the money from the bomb to Marc Gabriel.
In a nice twist on the classic character match ups, Chapel is the brains and Churchill the muscle in the hunt. Gabriel, of course, has kept his tracks well hidden. He has laid down a trail of false clues and traps that spring shut with deadly results. Nevertheless, Chapel and Churchill start to close the loop on Gabriel. But Gabriel complicates matters by implicating Chapel in the terrorist plot (because he survived the bombing). This means that Chapel must do the last of his investigations out of the official loop. Further complicating matters is the dubious affiliations of Sarah Churchill, who sometimes helps but just as often seems to hinder the investigation.
With the clock ticking down, Reich weaves Chapel’s hunt together with the story of the bomb’s journey to its destination, while slowly revealing the complicated plan to blow up the White House. How can the wrongly accused Adam Chapel figure out what’s going on before the bomb blows up?
The last three chapters are impossible to put down.
The Critique
Christophen Reich does a terrific job taking the reader through the treacherous shoals of high finance: from the Islamic paperless hawala banking system; to a pirated software operation in South America that is the perfect money laundering front; to the stainless steel sheathed ultra modern private banks of Switzerland and Germany; and finally through the various Federal and International governmental oversight agencies. At points in the book, the sheer volume of acronyms can be a challenge to navigate without a glossary: "Run the name through the CBRS. Check for SARs and CTRs" and "OFAC called the White House. The White House called FTAT to confirm that OFAC's IEEPA request was legit...." are but two examples. Still, thriller readers get used to the lingo pretty quickly.
Unusually for thrillers, the characters are actually fairly well defined and actually go through some development. We learn that Chapel was pushed by his father from a young age to make money. Churchill goes from being 007’s female counterpart to being a double agent, and from being warm to icy cold as her political convictions ultimately surface. Most intriguing of all is Marc Gabriel. The brilliant financier is shown to be a family man who dreams of a simple life in back in the deserts of the Middle East. But he is driven by his dreams of vengeance to send his own son and sister to their deaths to help him achieve his goals.
The fast-paced plot has enough twists and turns in it to keep readers guessing, even when the scheme has been fully revealed. Reich has managed to hook readers by teasing their intellectual curiosity, and then managed to keep them locked in to the end by making them care what happens to the characters.
Reich also has a dry wit that comes only from an international work background, such as: ”…that just about summed up 200 years of Franco-US relations: allies without trust, friends without intimacy…”.
If I have one criticism, it is that he gives a little too much away before the end. But perhaps that is the way of forensic accounting: each clue builds on the last until the story emerges from the accumulated facts.
Bottom Line
This is a perfect airline book. It can be easily read on a transatlantic or transcontinental flight. The action is so gripping that the hours will just melt away. On top of which, readers will get a pretty good education in modern financial institutions in Europe and the Middle East.
Highly recommended to fans of the thriller genre, as well as MBA types who would not otherwise dream of reading fiction.
Christopher Reich’s The Devil’s Banker is an old fashioned chase book. Except here the quarry is an international terrorist. And the hunter uses computers more than guns to corner his prey.
Of all of the ways to fight terrorism, this book covers perhaps the least understood but most important aspect: finance.
Adam Chapel is a forensic accountant whose biggest thrill is to discover and then pull out the “golden thread” of the terrorist transactions. Just as he is about to nab his first terrorist, the suspect detonates a bomb that instantly kills four of the investigators. Injured, and now determined to avenge the deaths of his friends, he teams up with British intelligence agent Sarah Churchill to hunt down the bomber’s secret organization.
The terrorist cell called Hijira is funded by a wealthy Parisian commodities trader called Marc Gabriel. His plan is to destroy the heart of the American political establishment through a complex plan that has taken over 20 years to reach fruition. His idea is to take a nuclear warhead and explode it during an important Middle Eastern state visit to Washington.
As Adam follows the trail of numbers and papers across Europe and into the Middle East, he begins to realize that the money is somehow related to a missing Isreali nuke. That means that the clock has started ticking on this search. But he has very few clues to work with and an uncooperative French investigative liaison. Yet, despite the odds, Adam slowly begins to trace the money from the bomb to Marc Gabriel.
In a nice twist on the classic character match ups, Chapel is the brains and Churchill the muscle in the hunt. Gabriel, of course, has kept his tracks well hidden. He has laid down a trail of false clues and traps that spring shut with deadly results. Nevertheless, Chapel and Churchill start to close the loop on Gabriel. But Gabriel complicates matters by implicating Chapel in the terrorist plot (because he survived the bombing). This means that Chapel must do the last of his investigations out of the official loop. Further complicating matters is the dubious affiliations of Sarah Churchill, who sometimes helps but just as often seems to hinder the investigation.
With the clock ticking down, Reich weaves Chapel’s hunt together with the story of the bomb’s journey to its destination, while slowly revealing the complicated plan to blow up the White House. How can the wrongly accused Adam Chapel figure out what’s going on before the bomb blows up?
The last three chapters are impossible to put down.
The Critique
Christophen Reich does a terrific job taking the reader through the treacherous shoals of high finance: from the Islamic paperless hawala banking system; to a pirated software operation in South America that is the perfect money laundering front; to the stainless steel sheathed ultra modern private banks of Switzerland and Germany; and finally through the various Federal and International governmental oversight agencies. At points in the book, the sheer volume of acronyms can be a challenge to navigate without a glossary: "Run the name through the CBRS. Check for SARs and CTRs" and "OFAC called the White House. The White House called FTAT to confirm that OFAC's IEEPA request was legit...." are but two examples. Still, thriller readers get used to the lingo pretty quickly.
Unusually for thrillers, the characters are actually fairly well defined and actually go through some development. We learn that Chapel was pushed by his father from a young age to make money. Churchill goes from being 007’s female counterpart to being a double agent, and from being warm to icy cold as her political convictions ultimately surface. Most intriguing of all is Marc Gabriel. The brilliant financier is shown to be a family man who dreams of a simple life in back in the deserts of the Middle East. But he is driven by his dreams of vengeance to send his own son and sister to their deaths to help him achieve his goals.
The fast-paced plot has enough twists and turns in it to keep readers guessing, even when the scheme has been fully revealed. Reich has managed to hook readers by teasing their intellectual curiosity, and then managed to keep them locked in to the end by making them care what happens to the characters.
Reich also has a dry wit that comes only from an international work background, such as: ”…that just about summed up 200 years of Franco-US relations: allies without trust, friends without intimacy…”.
If I have one criticism, it is that he gives a little too much away before the end. But perhaps that is the way of forensic accounting: each clue builds on the last until the story emerges from the accumulated facts.
Bottom Line
This is a perfect airline book. It can be easily read on a transatlantic or transcontinental flight. The action is so gripping that the hours will just melt away. On top of which, readers will get a pretty good education in modern financial institutions in Europe and the Middle East.
Highly recommended to fans of the thriller genre, as well as MBA types who would not otherwise dream of reading fiction.
Read
January 17, 2023Life’s too short to read things you don’t want to.
August 26, 2024
I really wanted to like this book. I've enjoyed books by Reich before. I was intrigued because the plot involves forensic accounting. Forensic accounting is fun. Well, it is until you catch someone you know, and that's not fun at all. But, I digress. There is precious little in the way of forensics here. The money trail practically glows in the dark. The rest of the plot however, doesn't shine at all. Completely lackluster. I gave up 2/3 of the way through. I am done.
February 4, 2023
Too many characters that I couldn’t keep track of until I was 75% into the book, so I was constantly confused. The ending of the book! Ugh.
February 12, 2023
Espionage with a financial “follow the money” twist made this read interesting. However, the quantity of acronyms was distracting and added unnecessary details to the storyline. In contrast, I disliked how quickly the author brought the book to an end. Just as the reader is preparing for the grand finale in anticipation to learning the answers to all of our questions, it’s over in 3 pages.
November 24, 2016
Not really worth 2 stars, but I can't rate it 1½ (Did nothing for me).
Why?
Another novel about terrorists. Ho-hum.
Another novel where just about everyone (good and bad) is playing his or her own game behind their friends’ backs. Another plot device that’s been done to death.
A book about a forensic accountant tracking down terrorists via the money they’re using. Right up there with novels about terrorists and double-dealing people on the excitement scale.
I couldn’t develop any dislike for the bad guys or any fondness for the good guys. Reich’s highly omniscient POV writing didn’t help.
Reich frequently drifts between events happening in the book and earlier ones. The first few times he did it, the shift from the story to prior events and back to the story threw my reading off-stride. Even after I caught on, every time he did it, I had to ‘readjust’ my mindset from past events to current ones, which broke my reading flow. So did the many asides explaining the function of this or that computer program or government operation or task force.
Two blurbs on this edition of the book call it ‘fast-paced.’ It is – if your idea of fast-paced runs to turtles, snails, and sloths. One blurb says it has ‘relentless action.’ It does but not until you reach around page 400 of this 465 page book. And Reich never delivers the tension a thriller should have. Scenes that could have been real nail-biters petered out before they reached that point. The climax, which should have been a headlong rush toward a catastrophe only averted at the last second, was a tepid wrapping up of the story.
I won’t be reading another Christopher Reich book.
Why?
Another novel about terrorists. Ho-hum.
Another novel where just about everyone (good and bad) is playing his or her own game behind their friends’ backs. Another plot device that’s been done to death.
A book about a forensic accountant tracking down terrorists via the money they’re using. Right up there with novels about terrorists and double-dealing people on the excitement scale.
I couldn’t develop any dislike for the bad guys or any fondness for the good guys. Reich’s highly omniscient POV writing didn’t help.
Reich frequently drifts between events happening in the book and earlier ones. The first few times he did it, the shift from the story to prior events and back to the story threw my reading off-stride. Even after I caught on, every time he did it, I had to ‘readjust’ my mindset from past events to current ones, which broke my reading flow. So did the many asides explaining the function of this or that computer program or government operation or task force.
Two blurbs on this edition of the book call it ‘fast-paced.’ It is – if your idea of fast-paced runs to turtles, snails, and sloths. One blurb says it has ‘relentless action.’ It does but not until you reach around page 400 of this 465 page book. And Reich never delivers the tension a thriller should have. Scenes that could have been real nail-biters petered out before they reached that point. The climax, which should have been a headlong rush toward a catastrophe only averted at the last second, was a tepid wrapping up of the story.
I won’t be reading another Christopher Reich book.
November 22, 2016
I'm still unconvinced about this author. This is his fourth (chronologically) that I've read, and the fact that I've given it a fourth try clearly indicates something is keeping me in there. But surprisingly I can't really place it. This book was average. It had all of the good attributes for an interesting read but somehow it fell flat. I'm not sure whether it was too many characters, or whether it was confusing to place them at certain stages, or whether the ending was just, well, not too exciting. Not one that I read again, but not a bad book either. I think I'll read one more book...
October 20, 2010
I enjoyed this book as I have every one of Reich's books. He's one of the top thriller authors writing today IMO, but never seems to get mentioned with the real creme de la creme. Which is too bad, because he deserves it.
Reich doesn't do any one thing better than others - characters, pace, writing are all solid and that is what makes his books good. And he doesn't go overboard with too much action or too much introspection and several of my favorite thriller authors have begun to do in recent years.
Reich doesn't do any one thing better than others - characters, pace, writing are all solid and that is what makes his books good. And he doesn't go overboard with too much action or too much introspection and several of my favorite thriller authors have begun to do in recent years.
November 27, 2019
The Devil’s Banker
My first Christopher Reich novel, and I will be reading a second one. I give this three stars because it is a good, solid read. The pace is slower initially, with parts, at least in the audiobook format, that were confusing. As the story progressed, the pace picked up. The hunt was on for the bad guys and I was right there on the hunt, too.
Narrator John Lee is a great reader, and helped boost this book forward, keeping me engaged.
My first Christopher Reich novel, and I will be reading a second one. I give this three stars because it is a good, solid read. The pace is slower initially, with parts, at least in the audiobook format, that were confusing. As the story progressed, the pace picked up. The hunt was on for the bad guys and I was right there on the hunt, too.
Narrator John Lee is a great reader, and helped boost this book forward, keeping me engaged.
May 22, 2014
The underlying story is good...terrorists laundering their money around the world to fund their terror activities. But in typical Christopher Reich style, there are too many characters, too much going on, a lot of waffle and then everything happens quickly in the last 100 pages. I wish there were half stars because I'd rate this 2.5 rather than a 3.
July 16, 2016
I really enjoyed this book. I think terror financing is a fascinating topic. The book moved the plot along quickly and before I knew it, everything was wrapped up.
Kudos to the author for doing his research and getting most of the details right.
Kudos to the author for doing his research and getting most of the details right.
April 25, 2022
I gave up on p. 56. There may be some nuggets I'm foregoing, but I'll take the chance. Mr. Reich knows nothing about guns, just like his hero, Adam Chapel. Does that matter? Well, guns are an integral part of a spy/action/terrorist thriller. Would you expect a jockey in a story about horse racing to know the difference between a fetlock and a forelock, or between a hock and a hamstring? I would.
On p. 32 of the paperback, Sayeed, the terrorist, getting ready to shoot Sarah, is "pulling the firing pin." I cannot imagine why he would do so, but especially how. Pulling the firing pin on any gun that I know of is impossible unless the gun is disassembled. Maybe he pulled the bolt back to chamber a round? But pulling the bolt and pulling the firing pin are as alike as examining a mare's forelock because she has come up lame.
On p. 35, Leclerc, a sniper, is assembling his rifle and tells Adam it's a "Seven-point-six-two millimeter, semiautomatic." First, where was the editor? Bore sizes are never spelled out. It's 7.62 mm, .308, 9 mm, etc. That's on the editor. But no sniper would cite merely with the bore diameter of his weapon. A bore diameter of 7.62 mm (.308 in.) does not define the cartridge. There are at least two dozen cartridges with nominal bore diameter of .308. It could be 7.62 x 51, 7.62 x 54 R, 7.62 x 63, .30 Carbine, .300 RUM, .300 Win mag, etc. Those cartridges are NOT interchangeable, cannot be chambered in one of the other rifles, and if they could be chambered would be highly dangerous for the shooter and bystanders. It’s like a racecar driver volunteering that he drives “a six cylinder.” Is it a Honda HI14RTT, a 2.2 liter V6 with a redline near 12,000 and developing 700+ hp in an Indy car?Or is it a Toyota 3.5 liter V6 with a redline of 6200 and developing 270 hp? It makes a difference. They both come from Japan and they both have six cylinders. Oh, and they’re both internal combustion. Otherwise, they are no way interchangeable.
Next, Adam "watched the Frenchman ram a cartridge into the stock, then work the bolt back and forth." I have never seen a centerfire rifle where you "ram a cartridge into the stock." There may be one. The Browning SA-22 feeds through the stock, but that is a .22 LR, definitely not a sniper rifle. And why does Leclerc "work the bolt back and forth"? It’s a semiautomatic, yet he’s “work[ing] the bolt back and forth.” Releasing the bolt, ONCE, chambers a round, pulling it back extracts the round. Why would a trained sniper do that when preparing to shoot?
Leclerc finishes with these preparations and asks what kind of gun Adam carries. “Chapel blinked repeatedly … the truth was that guns unsettled him.” No kidding. What follows is a lengthy paragraph on his training as a spook, explaining why “guns unsettled him.” Among other things we learn that in his training to become a CIA spook he somehow qualified despite shooting 18 out of 50. What a wunderkind! Finally, Adam confects a labored riposte to the sniper. “I guess I like my MBA four-point-oh from HBS the best,” he said. “But I also keep a CPA and a CFA handy, you know, just in case. And, oh, yeah, in my sock I got a nifty little MPA—that’s a master’s degree in public accounting. Absolutely essential when you’re in close and things get a little hairy.” Oh, he’s a witty man is Adam Chapel. With one labored, extended metaphor he manages to convey his insecurities, his arrogance, and his disdain for a man under his command—a trifecta! Good job, Adam!
On p. 43 Reich demonstrates that he knows as little about knives and farming as he does guns. “Sayeed had exchanged his rifle for a knife. A curved dagger big enough to thresh wheat.” Wheat was never threshed with daggers, long, short or tattooed. Threshing was done with a flail. Reaping was done with a scythe, a curved blade maybe 20 inches long. Reaping is an entirely different operation from threshing. And you could not reap with a knife, curved blade or no. That’s why a scythe has a handle far longer than the blade. The handle is set at nearly a right angle and is fitted with a cradle to catch the stalks.
Are you, gentle reader, tempted to spend 465 pages with such a character?
On p. 32 of the paperback, Sayeed, the terrorist, getting ready to shoot Sarah, is "pulling the firing pin." I cannot imagine why he would do so, but especially how. Pulling the firing pin on any gun that I know of is impossible unless the gun is disassembled. Maybe he pulled the bolt back to chamber a round? But pulling the bolt and pulling the firing pin are as alike as examining a mare's forelock because she has come up lame.
On p. 35, Leclerc, a sniper, is assembling his rifle and tells Adam it's a "Seven-point-six-two millimeter, semiautomatic." First, where was the editor? Bore sizes are never spelled out. It's 7.62 mm, .308, 9 mm, etc. That's on the editor. But no sniper would cite merely with the bore diameter of his weapon. A bore diameter of 7.62 mm (.308 in.) does not define the cartridge. There are at least two dozen cartridges with nominal bore diameter of .308. It could be 7.62 x 51, 7.62 x 54 R, 7.62 x 63, .30 Carbine, .300 RUM, .300 Win mag, etc. Those cartridges are NOT interchangeable, cannot be chambered in one of the other rifles, and if they could be chambered would be highly dangerous for the shooter and bystanders. It’s like a racecar driver volunteering that he drives “a six cylinder.” Is it a Honda HI14RTT, a 2.2 liter V6 with a redline near 12,000 and developing 700+ hp in an Indy car?Or is it a Toyota 3.5 liter V6 with a redline of 6200 and developing 270 hp? It makes a difference. They both come from Japan and they both have six cylinders. Oh, and they’re both internal combustion. Otherwise, they are no way interchangeable.
Next, Adam "watched the Frenchman ram a cartridge into the stock, then work the bolt back and forth." I have never seen a centerfire rifle where you "ram a cartridge into the stock." There may be one. The Browning SA-22 feeds through the stock, but that is a .22 LR, definitely not a sniper rifle. And why does Leclerc "work the bolt back and forth"? It’s a semiautomatic, yet he’s “work[ing] the bolt back and forth.” Releasing the bolt, ONCE, chambers a round, pulling it back extracts the round. Why would a trained sniper do that when preparing to shoot?
Leclerc finishes with these preparations and asks what kind of gun Adam carries. “Chapel blinked repeatedly … the truth was that guns unsettled him.” No kidding. What follows is a lengthy paragraph on his training as a spook, explaining why “guns unsettled him.” Among other things we learn that in his training to become a CIA spook he somehow qualified despite shooting 18 out of 50. What a wunderkind! Finally, Adam confects a labored riposte to the sniper. “I guess I like my MBA four-point-oh from HBS the best,” he said. “But I also keep a CPA and a CFA handy, you know, just in case. And, oh, yeah, in my sock I got a nifty little MPA—that’s a master’s degree in public accounting. Absolutely essential when you’re in close and things get a little hairy.” Oh, he’s a witty man is Adam Chapel. With one labored, extended metaphor he manages to convey his insecurities, his arrogance, and his disdain for a man under his command—a trifecta! Good job, Adam!
On p. 43 Reich demonstrates that he knows as little about knives and farming as he does guns. “Sayeed had exchanged his rifle for a knife. A curved dagger big enough to thresh wheat.” Wheat was never threshed with daggers, long, short or tattooed. Threshing was done with a flail. Reaping was done with a scythe, a curved blade maybe 20 inches long. Reaping is an entirely different operation from threshing. And you could not reap with a knife, curved blade or no. That’s why a scythe has a handle far longer than the blade. The handle is set at nearly a right angle and is fitted with a cradle to catch the stalks.
Are you, gentle reader, tempted to spend 465 pages with such a character?
March 15, 2024
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 bestselling 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.
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.
May 18, 2017
A very well done thriller about a task force that must follow the money to foil a terror attack.
Five hundred thousand dollars are sent by a terror financier from Pakistan to Paris through back channels. The sum of money is evidence that Hijira, a terrorist organization, is about to go operational. The recipient of the funds is unknown. Counter-terror finance analyst Adam Chapel and British secret service agent Sarah Churchill are members of a small, ad hoc task force known as Blood Money, which to trace the financial breadcrumbs to the source. If they succeed, they can prevent the terrorists’ plot.
Devil’s Banker strikes the perfect balance between the technical details of a terror finance investigation and an action-packed adventure. The details seem very accurate and plausible, and they do not slow down the drive of the storyline. They add a layer of concreteness and precision that draws the reader into the story even further.
Adam and Sarah faceoff against enemies including Marc and George Gabriel, a French Muslim father & son duo. There is tension between the father and son, which was not my favorite element of the book (a would-be terrorist with daddy issues doesn’t engender much sympathy from me), but it did add depth.
Devil’s Banker maintains a good pace. The end is satisfying except maybe for one pivotal paragraph a few pages from the end that served as the climax. The paragraph wasn’t clearly written and caused unnecessary confusion.
A strong book. The author, Christopher Reich, is obviously an intelligent, conscientious researcher with a firm handle on how to write a thriller. Recommended.
Five hundred thousand dollars are sent by a terror financier from Pakistan to Paris through back channels. The sum of money is evidence that Hijira, a terrorist organization, is about to go operational. The recipient of the funds is unknown. Counter-terror finance analyst Adam Chapel and British secret service agent Sarah Churchill are members of a small, ad hoc task force known as Blood Money, which to trace the financial breadcrumbs to the source. If they succeed, they can prevent the terrorists’ plot.
Devil’s Banker strikes the perfect balance between the technical details of a terror finance investigation and an action-packed adventure. The details seem very accurate and plausible, and they do not slow down the drive of the storyline. They add a layer of concreteness and precision that draws the reader into the story even further.
Adam and Sarah faceoff against enemies including Marc and George Gabriel, a French Muslim father & son duo. There is tension between the father and son, which was not my favorite element of the book (a would-be terrorist with daddy issues doesn’t engender much sympathy from me), but it did add depth.
Devil’s Banker maintains a good pace. The end is satisfying except maybe for one pivotal paragraph a few pages from the end that served as the climax. The paragraph wasn’t clearly written and caused unnecessary confusion.
A strong book. The author, Christopher Reich, is obviously an intelligent, conscientious researcher with a firm handle on how to write a thriller. Recommended.
May 16, 2023
It's a solid international spy story with the American, Adam Chapel, staring with Sarah Churchill, MI6, in an effort to trace money across banks globally. The Hijira aim to blow-up the Whitehouse while the president of Saudi Arabia is visiting and then stage a could in the Saudi capital. The Hijira leader, Omar al-Utaybi (aka Marc Gabriel) is the rebel leader. There is a little bit of a surprise ending when its revealed, the mid-level WHO leaders who has carried on a romance with a decorate US military leader, is in on the bombing plan and Noor, happens to be Omar's sister. The bombing is foiled and Sarah disappears into the night, much to Adam's chagrin.
The story has a so-so ending and Adam looks like he's been framed, and Sarah mystically gains his release from US authorities. I give this one a 3 of 5. Easy read, slightly complex story, but not the strongest ending considering the wonderful detail leading up to it.
The story has a so-so ending and Adam looks like he's been framed, and Sarah mystically gains his release from US authorities. I give this one a 3 of 5. Easy read, slightly complex story, but not the strongest ending considering the wonderful detail leading up to it.
August 8, 2018
Adam Chapel is an accountant and after reaching the top at his firm he decides to start working for law enforcement- in particular the CIA, using forensic accounting to find and stop terrorists. When Adam is almost killed during an attack, he must work very quickly with the limited information he’s given to hopefully stop the terrorists before their full attack on American soil can be carried out.
It’s not every day that you manage to find a book about an accountant and it’s actually interesting! I felt like this book had the right amount of money mixed in with action to keep me interested and turning the page. I also liked that the book was set all over Europe- especially in Paris! It reminded me so much of my time there. The only thing I didn’t like was that the end felt a little abrupt, almost like it ended too quickly.
It’s not every day that you manage to find a book about an accountant and it’s actually interesting! I felt like this book had the right amount of money mixed in with action to keep me interested and turning the page. I also liked that the book was set all over Europe- especially in Paris! It reminded me so much of my time there. The only thing I didn’t like was that the end felt a little abrupt, almost like it ended too quickly.
August 28, 2019
From the back cover this book really intrigued me and I couldn't wait to read it. It would seem to have a good plot but I don't really know because I just couldn't bring myself to finish it. I got to page 131, and the story still hadn't "taken off". I kept expecting it to get going but at that point it just hadn't. It still seemed to be setting up for the real story to start. Another problem I had with this book was the authors inconsistency with using names. There are a lot of characters in this book and within the same chapter the author switches from using a characters first name and last name then back again. It made you think there were more characters then actually present and hard to keep track of what was going on and who was in that scene. I really wanted to like this book. I read much farther than I wanted to hoping it would get going but it just never did.
October 1, 2020
this was a very interesting read. The characters well crafted and the plot still holds true 10 years after publication. The main character Adam was complimented by Sarah and Leclerc whose rolls in this story are defined early on. Adam the prodigy of Wall Street - who was quick to assimilate in the covert world of terrorist financing; proves his value almost from the onset. Sarah Churchill (Meg) a covert operative that is trailing a terrorist in the middle east who is linked to Adam's work in Paris. LeClerc the untrusting heavy handed operative within the French terrorism network that is always jumping to be ahead of a plot. The Banker is a well defined and written to draw you into the story and to leave you wondering what is on the next page. Strongly recommend, if looking for another exciting adventure, this book is one that is worth locking onto.
May 24, 2021
I am enjoying Christopher Reich's financial thrillers, and this one, which certainly has echoes of the other books of his I've recently read, sticks to his entertaining formula of a determined but angst-ridden male protagonist, here Adam Chapel, and a semi-dea-ex-machina romantic counterpart who seems just a little unclear as to whose side she's on. Lots of US government bureaucracy in the CIA, Treasury, and other agencies. French counterparts who are far less scruples-governed in they way they pursue justice. All focused on a Middle Eastern financier who has aspirations of upsetting the global order.
Guns, blood, cars, lack of sleep, money, dark streets, and bombs. Very diverting.
Guns, blood, cars, lack of sleep, money, dark streets, and bombs. Very diverting.
December 10, 2021
Chappel is an American agent that follows the money. Assisted by British agent Sarah, who seems more loyal to France, they have limited time to intercept a terror attack on the U.S. With the terror network two steps ahead of them and a bomb going off every time they get too close, Chappel and Sarah do not know who to trust. A mole is undermining their efforts. The story shows the global financial weaseling of terror networks and the time-intensive work to unravel them. It also illustrates the conflict between the Saud family and the Wahhabi clans.
I have read several of Reich's novels and his books are always pretty good.
I have read several of Reich's novels and his books are always pretty good.
June 13, 2020
I had a hard time deciding between 3 or 4 stars. It's a great plot with some interesting and memorable characters. The ending doesn't disappoint. The reader does a great job. It's not your standard thriller since the emphasis is on "follow the money" (as at least two of the characters say at one time or another). Our current favorite villains are involved, Islamic fundamentalists, but it's their banking deposits and withdrawals that our heroes follow to figure out who they are and what they're up to.
March 6, 2021
I normally read non-fiction but was in the mood for some fiction and had traded a stack of books with a friend and this was in the stack. I knew he was a huge fan of Christopher Reich. The book was good. It kinda one of those spy /underworld movies like that Tom Cruise movie series (oh heck I don't remember the name... I don't watch those either).
The book did keep my attention and it was fun to try out another type of book. I have other Christopher Reich books in that trade... and heck I may actually read another one.
The book did keep my attention and it was fun to try out another type of book. I have other Christopher Reich books in that trade... and heck I may actually read another one.
May 7, 2018
Mr. Reich returned to his wheelhouse in this one which is finance based thrillers. However, it centered around middle eastern terrorist activity and I personally have been over served with that genre. It also was written in a choppy style with a cast of thousands and my ancient memory was over taxed so I'm sure there were facets to the story that I missed. I didn't quit on it though and I'm
reasonably sure that there are others who would enjoy it.
reasonably sure that there are others who would enjoy it.
September 7, 2020
An excellent story of spies filled with suspense. No one is who they seem to be. Spies, moles, who is telling the truth. The hero, much more than an accountant, finds the enemies of America using numbers. He must find a terrorist by searching the terrorists hidden financial holdings. A surprise ending.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 19, 2017
The novel is based on the financial aspect of money laundering in support for terrorism through hawala operators. The plot is stale & a hastening end ensures that the book becomes a well below average read. DISMISSED.
June 27, 2017
Not very thrilling, but the story line was pretty good!
July 10, 2018
Just couldn’t get into it.
September 22, 2018
Non stop action
A very good read. From the first moment it just keeps moving along. Is it possible? Well now a days pretty much anything is.
A very good read. From the first moment it just keeps moving along. Is it possible? Well now a days pretty much anything is.
February 1, 2019
God read
Topical Reich, plenty of action and a surprise ending. I would recommend to people who like Mitch Rapp or puller
Topical Reich, plenty of action and a surprise ending. I would recommend to people who like Mitch Rapp or puller
May 21, 2019
Great book. It was mixed with just the right amount of flight, fight, technology and global travelling that left you wanting you to turn the next page and then the next chapter.
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