In the Christian Bible, Parables are used to to portray theological truths in a fictional melieu. This roman a' clef, serves a valuable purpose in making Opus Dei finances available for easy comprehension. It is a worthy companion to Hutchison's monumental reference opus (pun intended): "Their Kingdom Come," and is even more timely. E.g. The NY Times on August 3,1999, reported that grains found imbedded on the Shroud of Turin indicate that the Shroud is much older than its carbon dating suggested. This 1997 book gave the same imbedded grains hypothesis, and provides an interesting alternative theory: The Shroud of Turin was an exact copy of the authentic Shroud, which has subsequently disappeared. Using this book as a guide, one could hypothesize that the alleged homosexual murder suicide of a Vatican guard and his commander, might be a double murder to forestall publicity about the relationship of the two men. An Italian journalist was preparing a detailed expose at the time of the two men's death. The Calvi, Sidonna, and Calvi's secretary's "suicides" make this "fiction" a most interesting tour de force. Recent events in the Diocese of Santa Rosa, Calif., make this "novel" even more compelling.

I was familiar with almost all the jobs in this book, but hadn't really understood what it took to do them--AND love them--until I read this book. It also helped me see how these jobs related to each other, which ones were similar and which different. I think this book would be really useful for someone who has had a superficial acquaintance with the securities industry and wants to delve more deeply--maybe someone who has known a friend or family member with one of these jobs and thought it"~ was interesting or exciting. However, it's a pretty sophisticated book since it goes into highpowered jobs that involve some preparation and education. It's Step 2, not Step 1. shown interest in the markets.

If you have a career in banking or bank fraud, this is a very interesting book and highly detailed. The author must've known it was going to be expensive. It talks about the different types of banks within the scope of World War 2 and the influence it had over the occupied nations-from a macro standpoint. It also mentions the major players and their involvement. Now for the bad news! The author makes a lot of claims about these two German banks BUT, he rarely, if ever, provides any background on HOW they did it. German banks collaborated with expropriation of foreign industries, etc. Really? How? When? What happened? Nope, you just get a paragraph on this. . . next paragraph. . . and so on. There's a paragraph on the "Keppler Circle." What? There's more to this organization than just one paragraph. I think the author needs to write a sequel which details what happened. Otherwise, it's almost as if he was told "not to." I guess if you want a very good overview this is the definitive book. For details on incidences which discuss what happened-forget it. Had he elaborated, it would've been a five. It gets four stars for intense research on the MAIN TOPICS. One final note, if you don't know "bank jargon" you'll get lost after the third page.

Rafik Halabi has taken on one of the most difficult tasks in writing this book: giving an objective account on the difficulties between Jews and Palestinians in the Middle East since the founding of Israel. Of course, opinions may vary on Halabi's objectiveness, but I feel he had done an excellent job on portraying both sides of this conflict. As a Druse who has lived in Israel all his life, Halabi has experienced what it is like to live as an Arab in Jewish society. As he speaks both Hebrew and Arabic, the author was able to talk to many different people on both sides of this conflict, making friends and enemies along the way. Halabi is a career reporter and his book is full of details, so this is not a quick read. It can be difficult to keep up with the names and different groups, but I believe this is due more to the incredible complexity of this conflict rather than the fault of the author. This is a great book that can give the reader background on a conflict that may seem confusing to many.

"Kid" Carson lived the sport of boxing. He takes the aspiring student further in this book than most "how to" manuals. Besides talking basic boxing skills and training, he talks about dealing with managers, promoters, the press, and other elements that a promising young fighter would do well to read. The honest straightforward presentation and the liberal doses of black and white photographs make for a great boxing handbook.

It is a very interesting book about the history of coffee, coffee around the world, the art of coffee drinking, and many recipes of cakes, pastries, in which coffee is one of the ingredients. There are many nice pictures in the book. The only thing I dislike is that there are some spelling mistakes.

GGHF was recommended to me by an English major friend of mine. It took me a while to finally get around to reading it, but I'm actually glad I did. I'll admit that it wasn't as good as Fielding's Bridget Jones, or a lot of other short fiction that's been hitting the shelves lately, but I wasn't looking for a literary masterpiece. If you want a fairly quick, light read, this is a great book. It's not one to get too overly analytical of, as some readers seem to have done. I read it over the span of a few busy days where I could only pick it up for a few minutes at a time, but I never felt lost. Some stories are poignant, touching, and others are very funny, causing my friends to glance at me warily when I read it during a terribly boring class. Don't read it expecting literary genius, read it expecting a simple set of stories that give us a glimpse into Jane's world, that many of us could identify with.

I put off reading this book for months. The cover would catch my eye in the bookstore every time I'd pass by the bestseller table, but for some reason I would just never buy it. I finally picked it up in an airport bookstore and read this book in the time it took to get from Miami to New Jersey. I wish I had read this earlier.

Melissa Bank has created a wonderfully witty and three-dimensional character in Jane, one that I haven't run into in quite some time. She writes her stories in anecdotes, as if she's remembering things piece by piece, as so many of us tend to do. Ms. Bank doesn't waste our time with long, flowery speech, becoming so involved with the way the clouds look, or the air smells, that she forgets about her characters. Her writing style is very unique and to the point, and keeps your attention all the way through. I found myself laughing out loud on the plane one minute and getting choked up the next. Great writers can do that so seamlessly that our emotions never know what's in store, but we love every minute of it.

(The reason I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5, is that I felt one of the short stories did not belong in this particular book. It was the only one that didn't involve Jane, and while it was a very good story, I think it could have been saved for the next collection.)

I resisted reading this book due to the comparisons with Bridget Jones, but I recently bought the paperback and read it in its entirety in one evening. It's important to engage your reader immediately and Bank has a natural ability to do so.

Girls' Guide is actually a collection of related short stories; some are told in first person, others in third, but they all surround the life of Jane, the empathetic, self-consious, witty, and sometimes suffering heroine.

The writing is clean and simple, yet Bank's words resonate in a way that is reminiscent of Hemingway, Cheever, and her contemporary Loorie Moore. Like Moore, the collection of stories have a central theme and tone (read Self-Help and Birds of America) and each chapter helps us to understand Jane more clearly.

Totally engaging, beautiful writing, and excellent plotting. A wonderful first book. Highly recommended.

Endlich provides a rather interesting story of the firm at which she was once a Vice President.

This book chronicles the history of the firm, from its humble beginnings by Marcus Goldman, to the exclusive private partnership, to the modern day publicly traded corporation famous for its all star financial services and clientele. The text focuses on the changes in leadership over the years as each leader lends incredible character to the firm.

Although I found this book to be very interesting and well written overall, I think the second half of the book showed favoritism towards the trading aspect of the business, with very little focus given to the banking aspect. It seems that there was a lot of action in trading during the latter third of the century and Endlich's attention to the details is excellent; I only wish that more time had been spent discussing some of the other sides of the business.

Must read for anyone interested in the history of one of the world's greatest financial service firms!

I spent 30 years at Goldman Sachs as a senior risk arbitrage trader in the equities division. I retired in 1995. The information contained in the volume has been carefully and thoughtfully researched and the result is a wonderful historical analysis of Goldman Sachs. The book is eminantly readable and easily understandable, even for those uninitiated in the banking business. My only negative criticism refers to the excessive space given to the recent history of the firm. There was a clear change in the firms' culture after the greedy portion of the 1980's. The author is right on the mark when she tells how important the people (not only the partners) were to the creation of the special atmosphere that pervaded the firm and how very special it was to be a part of it. Although profitability was always a clear motive, it surely was not the sole purpose for which the firm existed. To profile a few bond traders and enumerate their spectacular successes (and failures) in the 1990s clearly indicates how things have changed from previous decades. I worked with Gus Levy for 10 years and Bob Rubin for 20 years and from a trader's point of view these were the spectacular people at least in the Equities Division. I doubt that the client interest is foremost in the culture of Goldman Sachs today as it was for the first 125 years. Although the importance of the client remains high today, it is profitability and risk taking that are the motivating forces.

Why would the partners of Wall Street's last remaining partnership, which also happens to be Wall Street's most profitable firm, decide to sell shares to the public? And when their public offering aborts due to a stock market dip (in the fall of 1998), what happens to the critical issues that triggered the choice of public ownership? Ms. Endlich provides answers to many of these questions as she leads the reader on a stimulating journey through Goldman Sach's 125 year history.

Ms. Endlich identifies many factors that contributed to Goldman Sach's success. She details personalities of the firm's leadership starting with Marcus Goldman and Samuel Sachs through a succession of outstanding leaders to the present day. Concurrently, she examines Goldman Sachs' progress as it expanded by new product development, though not always origination. She highlights the firm's geographic expansion as Goldman Sachs became a global powerhouse. Peppered throughout are constant reminders of the unique firm culture which Ms. Endlich suggests has been critical to the firm's past success. This culture's themes, such as proclaiming that the firm's clients come foremost and that the firm's success is more important than individual glory, spice up historical anecdotes. To-day the firm's mushrooming staff size plus their worldwide dispersion, exacerbated by potential public ownership, clearly challange the future of this culture.

Several episodes, which are explored in detail, liven this story and contribute to a down to earth impression of Goldman Sach's staid investment banking world. The Robert Maxwell debacle, insider trading charges during the 1980's, the hugely successful block trade of British Petroleum shares and a motorclycing star performer are examples that will interest Wall Streeters while providing enjoyable reading to non-Wall Streeters.

Clearly the fat lady has not yet sung on this latest chapter in the Goldman Sachs saga, but this book will provide a foundation to understanding to-morrow's headlines.

I read through the other reviews of this book. Apparently many readers agree with me. We have given James Patterson and Alex Cross many, many chances. I was on the edge of giving up on these books after reading the last Alex Cross. But because of the fine quality of earlier books, I plunged into this last one, Roses are Red. Never again.

It's just the same old thing over and over. A weird serial killer has a personal vendetta against Alex. I could even take another good book about that. But here's the real problem that has displayed itself in so many of the past several books - there is no solution or conclusion to the story lines.

The killer from either 3 or 4 books ago is still around. Alex thought he had gotten him, but it is revealed that he has just killed someone else. So, first of all, we are told that the criminal from a previous case has never really been captured. The story of the relationship between Alex and Christine is also just left hanging. If I was not familiar with the Alex/Christine story from other books, the description of what happens between them would make no sense at all.

Then, in this current book, there are several captures made of people who are thought to be the murderer. Every time a capture is made, the person says "You have got the wrong man". Of course, this being an Alex Cross book, it always is truly the wrong man because the real perpetrator is rarely caught in these stories. He is always free to roam to become the focus of a sequel. The final few sentences of the book supposedly do finally tell who the killer is. But, in my opinion, it was such an unbelievably dumb choice after reading the entire book, it didn't satisfy my curiosity. It just made me mad. And, even this dumb choice of a serial killer is not caught.

After I have invested my time in reading a book, any book, I feel that I deserve a conclusion to most of the plot lines in the story. I do understand about sequels and that sometimes things need to be left hanging to keep the reader interested until the next installment. But these Alex Cross books go too far. The plots are never wrapped up. There is way too much left unsaid. I feel like I have been jerked around by James Patterson. If you lure me into the story, give me some satisfaction by the end of the book.

Maybe in some future book, James Patterson will take all of these loose threads and weave them into one huge and final conclusion. Even if he does, I will not be reading about it. This book was really my last Alex Cross.

I have read all the Alex Cross Novels that Patterson has wrote and I must say that I am disappointed by alot of reviewers review of this book. I for one loved it. Though some of the critics feel it delved to deeply into cross' personal life I find it refreshing that the author took time to show that Alex isn't just a workaholic-cop who eventually end up eating his gun due to the fact he can't handle the stress of some of the stuff he see's on the job. We actually get to see the heart behind the hard and cool exterior that is Alex Cross. And as for the mastermind he will be a criminal that will go down in literary history similar to Morarty. Patterson takes us back to the Patterson that wrote Kiss the Girls, and Cat and Mouse which are my two favorite books in the series. And I am sure that the continuation/ending to this book will be a certified 5 star release from patterson.

This is the latest book in Patterson's Alex Cross series, and it follows the same pattern as the other books in the series--short chapters and constant switching from Alex's first-person narrative to a third-person view inside the head of "The Mastermind", the criminal responsible for planning a series of brutal bank robberies. As the book opens, Alex Cross, along with the FBI, is investigating a series of bank robberies where the victims are killed, along with their families, if the robbers' instructions are not followed PRECISELY. The pace of the action never slows, from the first to the final pages, and the reader can't help but feel sorry for Alex Cross as he tries to track down the killers, all the while dealing with two separate personal crises. He continues to slog on through it all, chasing down one false lead after another. Patterson is in fine form, with one incredible plot twist following another. Perhaps the most thrilling moment comes when Cross and "The Mastermind" come face to face, only Cross is completely unaware of it. My biggest problem with the book is Patterson's failure to resolve the situation at the end, but that has been his style with most of his Alex Cross novels, and I guess it's his way of making sure you buy his next book! Please note: If you are one of those readers who likes to flip to the back page of a book and read it first, DON'T DO IT! It will spoil the whole book!

I heard author Christopher Reich was paid a $2 million ADVANCE to write this book--a record sum. Clearly, his publisher saw talent in him because this is a great book. It tells the story of an American executive who left a charmed life behind in New York in order to come to Switzerland and work as a private banker in the United Swiss Bank, his fathers employer, to see if his work at the bank is what led to his murder 17 years prior. The main premise of the book took a while for me to believe--I mean, this Newmann character leaves his fiance and a great career to go on a very speculative journey to switzerland. But, by the end of the book, you'll start to understand why Nick is so curious about what his father did for the bank. Eventually, Nick grows weary of dealing with unscrupulous banking clients, such as a fellow who calls himself "the pasha" and moves enormous ammounts of ill-acquired cash from numbered account to numbered account. Yes, it's an exciting (and educational--I learned a lot about Swiss banking and the financial industry while reading this book, too!) story that can easily transport the reader into the world of cut-throat banking where you never know who you can trust

The book jacket blurbs read "brilliant thriller, suspense, taut, sophisticated, well-written, sleek, fast moving, gripping." Others talk of "espionage, story telling genius." Numbered Account is all of those "words" but they really miss the point. It is, of course, a detailed, informative, exciting, educational novel about international finance. But do not let that focus deter the reader. If you like finance, read the detail and learn more. If you do not, read the book! With a Phd in History and a postdoctoral MBA in International Business, I can understand some of the finance. But that world changes so rapidly, much remains a mystery. So don't worry about understanding it all. Why? Because this novel, entertaining as it is, is also true from both an historical standpoint and from a political science analysis. What happened in this book HAS HAPPENED with the Swiss banks. Analysts know that. What happened IS HAPPENING. Analysts know that. Leave the direct murder out and you have a not uncommon panorama of history in the major Swiss banks - and, unfortunately a not-so-rare portrayal of the remarkable ability of the Swiss higher echelon to separate so finely the ethics of business and the morality of personal life. Are the Swiss worse than others? Yes - due in part to their special status in banking. Has their stance been harmful? Yes - it has killed hundreds of thousands - and humiliated, defeated, economically and emotionally destroyed, and rot-gut robbed millions - who trusted them. From WWI to today - and it continues unabated, satiated with denials, official racist and antisemitic and brutally savage public and not-so-private statements. Indirect killing, after all, still kills. Is the information about the Swiss banks new and formerly secret? No. Some of us have been writing about it for years. But forgetting is easier than remembering, acknowledging is much harder than denying - especially when no will to do so exists. And now, hopefully its time has come - through Congressional and International exposures - and brave and fascinating novels such as this groundbreaker. It is not a matter of moral courage to do so, as the novel points out, but an absence of any inclination or need to do so. It is, as the reader experiences, the SILENCE OF THE SOUL - or perhaps its death. It is always better, I think, to prick conscience through mystery and intrigue and carefully crafted plots. I am reminded of Anne Perry's Victorian mysteries - each one with a focus on a social issue that carries through to today - and perhaps stirs our concern a bit. Christopher Reich is a very courageous man. Make no mistake. He will be threatened as well as his family. And he knows that. His life will not be as private as he would like. It is a matter of reality, not a fanciful conspiracy theory. Hopefully, this book will be a bestseller. It is exciting enough, intriguing enough, well written enough - and brave enough. As for me, this is one of the few times I do not add my name to my review.

This was a very good book about the world of Swiss banking. Nick Neumann leaves a good job with a prsetigious brokerage firm
in New York to go to work for The United Swiis Bank.He is trying to find out why his father was murdered seventeen years before.
During the time of his employment he encounters several unique
people.Wolfgang Kaiser is the chairman,Sylvia Schoen,Sterling
Thorne is the DEA agebt and the villain of the story Ali Mevlevi
better known as the Pasha. The Pasha is a heroin dealer who is
planning to invade Israel with a private army as well as explode
a nuclear device over a small city in Israel. You also have aa
attempted takeover of United Swiss Bank by a hostile rival bank.
Neumann has to go through a web of treachery and many double crosses to get to the bottom of the truth about his father.This
is a very good book that you will find enjoyable to read.