Customer Reviews (15)

I am hooked!
This is my first Michael Ridpath book and I have become a true fan. I am not much for thrillers but this was different because I believed the characters. They were authentic people with normal interests that were drawn into a mystery, as was I. I hate stories where characters appear only to create the mystery and have no believeable purpose otherwise. I grew to care about each character, to dislike some, and feel a genuin sense of loss when one was killed. I almost hated to go about my life because I would prefer to stay remain absorbed in this world. It ended too soon, and I already miss them.

I am now looking through Mr. Ridpath's body of work for a sequal or at least another appearance of Paul, Cathy, and Cash.

One of the most boring books I've ever finished
Not only is this book very long and very boring, it also frequently goes into great detail about the extremely dull world of high finance.

Mark Fairfax goes through a transformation, from Stockbroker in London to Stockbroker in Scotland. Does that sounds like a transformation to you? Me neither.

It's just too bad that his brother has to die and his girlfriend is the one who kills him. For good measure, the author tosses in a chain-smoking, heavy drinking work-a-holic to replace his homicidal girlfriend. Yippee, a match made in Heaven!

But the author is determined to continue to wreck even more havoc on his own creation by creating suspense, then immediately destroying it while trying to drag it out. All the while I'm crying out, "But you already killed the suspense 100's of pages ago!"

And that's what Ridpath does throughout the book. It's like someone who gives the punchline before a joke that is extremely unfunny to begin with, and then expects people to laugh.

Excellent Whodunit-type Thriller
This book can be described as a modern whodunit murder mystery with thriller and technological elements thrown into the plot line. The brother of a bond trader in London is murdered and the bond trader turns into CEO and entrepreneur when he takes over his brother's company. The company was on the verge of a technological breakthrough in Virtual Reality and this technology plays a major role as the story unfolds. Suspense mounts towards the end as the protagonist has to deal with managing the company, keeping it afloat and learning about the technology, while he also tries to discover who murdered his brother at the same time. His life is not made any easier by attempts at hostile take-overs, attempts on his life and terrorism. To top it all, he also falls in love with one of his new employees! The author brings the book to a masterful conclusion when all the suspects are gathered in one location, as in true classical whodunit fashion, and the technology is employed to force the murderer to expose him/herself.The story flows well and the book is very difficult to put down.

A very good read
I found Trading Reality to be very exciting and entertaining - from beginning to end. The plot is great and it's difficult to guess what'sgoing to happen next. You constantly think you've worked it out only torealise that you've been had once again. I found the detailed descriptionsof life in The City combined with the interesting world of high technologyto be an excellent cocktail. Well written and definitely worth a try...

Better than Frey but that's not saying much...
This is my third try at reading a financial thriller, and so far I'm not impressed. Something about the blandness of the financial world goes badly with conventional, creaky thriller plots maybe. This is less financial thanFREE TO TRADE and a lot better than the dreadful efforts of Mr Frey, but itstill badly lacks an edge, or a sense of attack. It laps up the world ofhigh finance with breathless enthusiasm (all those HUGE sums of money beingmoved around - how thrilling! Or is it?). The result is pretty flat anddull. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Great Surprise
It's my first Ridpath's book and it was a worderful surprise. His narrative is easy and very well organized, keeping the reader's attention on the focus of the thriller: Simon's innocence and the mass arround his life after his father in law's murder. The determination on keeping his marriage with his loved, but mistrustfull wife, is an important ingredient in the story. The end is unpredictable but is reasonable. I reccomend this book for those who like a good thriller and for venture capitalists, who will find a intersting reading.

Michael looks like losing his touch
Michael's Final Venture is not as exciting as I expected it to be. First, it lacks the thrill of a financial market background. While the whole story is built around the venture capital firm, but seriously, anyone can write such a story. I expect more on financial market story from Michael.

And how Simon solve the murder case seems to be too easy, with help just around the corner when he needs it. He seems to be able to rope in the person he needs to help him solved the murder case, which I think it is unlikely in real life (but this is a fiction anyway).

I hope that Michael will do better in his next book.

Quite good, yet not his best work yet
Having read all Mr. Ridpath's previous books I was quite happy to find a new book of his being published. It was a very good read, I finished it in 3 nights and a short train ride. Once you start it's really hard to put down. The only negative part is that in the end I felt there was no way you could have found the guilty party by yourself. That's the reason I'm giving it 4 instead of 5 stars.

A mystery thriller that pleases...
I sometimes rate a novel by its skip factor, meaning how many sentences, paragraphs, or even pages I skip over because the text is not worth reading (does not contribute to the story, rambles, badly written, etc.).

I'm happy to say this book had a very low skip factor as almost every word contributed to plot development and to a much lesser extent character development.A good who-done-it that keeps you involved in determining plot twists and culprits.

This is a very strong foundation for the author who hopefully will strengthen other aspects of his chosen craft.Overall, a quick and breezey read.

Ridpath's best yet
This is an excellent book. Well written, easy to read, and a good plot.Ridpath writes a compelling story, and his character portrayal is firstrate. ... Read more

Product Description
From his past as an RAF fighter pilot to his job as a bond trader in the City, Alex Calder is a man known for taking big risks, and winning. But when colleague Jennifer Tan decides to pursue a sexual harassment case against her boss. Calder witnesses the ugly and tragic side of his world, when Jen commits suicide. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Fatal Error - a thriller in four parts
"Fatal Error" is a thriller built up in a rather special way.

Part 1 (chapters 1 and 2) takes place in London in Sept. 1999. An unknown assailant kills the chairman of the dot-com startup company featured in the story.

Part 2 (chapters 3 - 23) takes place in France (July 1987), Scotland (June 1992) and London (April - Aug. 1999). In other words, this part of the book consists of flashbacks that provide background information for what happened in Part 1. But the 1987 and 1992 flashbacks are interwoven with the 1999 flashbacks, so you are kept on your toes all the time. As expected (this is a thriller), a dead body turned up in both 1987 and 1992, and in neither case was the killer identified, let alone apprehended.

Part 3 and Part 4 (chapters 24 - 40) take up the story where Part 1 ended, i.e., London, Sept. 1999. Is the new killing related to the killings in 1987 and 1992? Who is sending the anonymous threatening e-mails? Will there be more killings?

The fact that almost half of the book consists of flashbacks and that the flashbacks are not presented chronologically actually heightens the excitement. However, I did find myself compelled to go back and reread Part 1 after finishing Part 2 in order to reestablish the flow of recent events in my mind.

The story is based in the heady dot-com entrepreneurial days in the late 1990's. New companies are going from zero to a stock market valuation of billions of pounds in the space of a year or so. The youthful employees are becoming millionaires and the bosses are willing to do whatever it takes to crush the competition and get a successful IPO (Initial Public Offering, i.e., getting on the stock market).

Note, however, that although "Fatal Error" is a story based on the building up of an Internet company, that the technology aspects are not the most important. Similarly, even though the financial implications of starting a company and getting venture capital financing and going to the stock market are important sides of the story, they are not the most important factors.

Instead, "Fatal Error" is basically a traditional thriller about a psychopath who has killed and is willing to kill again, and the danger this person represents to the people around him/her.

I found the book quite intriguing and enjoyable, especially due to my own background in the IT business. Surprisingly, I did not find any errors in the author's descriptions of how IT companies function and how web sites are built up. The discussions of the financial aspects also sounded correct to me, and they should be since the author has a background at an international bank in the City of London. This added to the overall credibility of the whole story.

In addition, the characters in the book seemed quite believable, with perhaps one exception. Incidentally, the story is told in the first person, but it is very well done so you hardly notice this normally problematic style.

My only major complaint is that the ending seemed too contrived. Were it not for that I'd be giving five stars to "Fatal Error".

A highly recommended thriller, especially if you're interested in the IT business and/or the financial markets.

Rennie Petersen ... Read more

Product Description
Ruthless, selfish, dangerous. In fact, just right for the job. At top investment bank Bloomfield Weiss, they taught them to be predators, killer deal-makers. While on the bank's training programme in New York, Chris and Lenka had become part of a close-knit gang of trainees. But when a drunken boat trip ends in tragedy, the gang decide to cover up the truth. Ten years later Lenka is murdered in Prague. Chris, now her business partner, must fight to keep their company afloat - and discover who was behind Lenka's death. For it seems the clues to the murder are rooted in that fatal boat-trip so many years ago. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Peek at Brazil
Love and scandal move it along, and an interesting fictional take on forces that can make or break investments and investors. However, what I enjoyed most was learning more about Brazil...which didn't seem so 'made up.'

Two Stars for the laughable collection of clichés. One stop shopping!
Let's use some analogies.

Michael Ridpath's "The Market Maker" is to "Global Bond Markets" as "The DaVinci Code" is to "The Catechism of the Catholic Church."

Here is a list of similarities between Ridpath's fictional world and the real world of sell-side or buy-side of fixed income trading.

1) Nothing.

Okay, they both use the word "bond" but after that, the differences drop off so precipitously five mathematicians have gone mad trying to map the decay function.

Next analogy: Michael Ridpath's "The Market Maker" is to "Thriller" as "The 120 Days of Sodom" is to "Nursery Rhyme."

This work reads like an old MadLib, or a Novel-O-Matic. Our [hero], a [poor] fellow has a stroke of [luck]. He enters [glamorous world] with a [powerful father figure] who is [rich]. He soon is [befriended] by [backslapping comic relief] and meets [beautiful girl] and finds himself [attracted to her]. Soon [mysterious] events occur that involve [money], necessitating [relocation to a glamorous location], where [sudden, unexpected violence] occurs. Our hero discovers that [beautiful girl] is [rich too], but hides it because she desires [powerful autonomy] from her own [father] figure.

Next analogy: Michael Ridpath's "The Market Maker" is to "Engaging" as "Dora The Explorer" is to "Complex, intricately crafted psycho-drama."

Future editions should place a detachable barf bag between pages 20 and 21. If you ever, in desperation, purchase this in an airport bookstore, be sure to search for same from the seat pocket in front of you before subjecting your eyeballs to this tripe stew of formulaic, cliché-ridden, pablum. As the late Truman Capote said "That's not writing. That's typing." But since Ridpath dictates his books, we'd have to say it's babbling. "Gaa gaa goo goo....bond, ......bond market go `poopy!' Big diaper poopy! Phew!"

Good financial based novel
I quite enjoyed this book. Maybe 'cause I love the intrigue of the money markets. This is a good novel about what happens when things go wrong and to the extremewhen things get dangerous. Certainly worth a read.

A real Book Maker
Although it reminded me very much of Grisham's "The firm", I liked it a lot and I am looking forward to reading the other Ridpaths. I found it very interesting getting a brief survey on London's brokerage scene and Nick's feelings and sceptiscism against it. Ridpath really knows how to treat the reader and to keep him continuing until the very end. The reason why I gave the book only four stars is the simple fact, that I don't believe that a single person is able to put so much pressure on an istitution like a big brokerage firm and I also find it unlikely hiring an outsider just because of his language skills.

Highly Recommended & addictive
my first Michael Ridpath book and addicted ever since, pity he's writtenonly four thusfar.This book grips you from the start and you are suckedinto the plot straight away. ... Read more

Product Description
Disgruntled academic Nick Elliott has reluctantly taken work with city brokers Dekker Ward. Strange things start happening to Dekker's employees, including Nick's colleague, Isabel, which is when Nick decides to take on a fixer who is unaccustomed to people standing in his way. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Exciting enough, but somewhat unrealistic and irritating
"The Marketmaker" is a thriller by British author Michael Ridpath and set in the financial world of investment bankers and bond traders. The basic idea appeals to me because I'm curious about the financal business world and the people who work in these high-paid jobs, while at the same time I like being excited by stories of murder and mayhem.

The story in "The Marketmaker" is about Nick Elliot who joins a London bond brokerage company that specializes in Latin American bonds. Soon after he starts Nick discovers that a former employee was killed in Caracas and that there are suspicions of the laundering of drug money via secret bank accounts controlled by the company. Then, during a visit to Rio de Janeiro, Nick is attacked and almost killed himself!

Nick falls in love with Isabel, a fellow employee. Together they try to determine what is going on. Is the boss aware of the money laundering? How about the boss's nasty brother, who works as the company's "enforcer"? Then, on another trip to Rio, Isabel is kidnapped!

There is no doubt that "The Marketmaker" is exciting, a good thing for a thriller. In addition, I liked the descriptions of how bond traders and investment bankers work and live. And I loved the descriptions of Brazil in general and Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo in particular, especially the contrasts between the beautiful neighborhoods where the rich live and the terrible shantytowns where the poor live.

Unfortunately, there were quite a few aspects of the story that I found very unrealistic, and I dislike books where I can't believe in the story. I could go into detail but that might spoil the story for potential readers so I'll refrain.

Another problem for me was that I found the writing rather irritating at times. Nick Elliot tells the story in the first person, and I got very tired of his stream-of-thought recitals of how he could justify to himself some of the things he did. His hypocritical justification for getting revenge in a way that misused the trust of his two best friends and jeopardized their well-being was especially trying.

Still, "The Marketmaker" is a fairly good read, and I do like reading exciting thrillers set in the world of business and high finance. It's just too bad that it was so unrealistic and irritating.

Rennie Petersen

A first rate book: Ridpath's best yet
I really enjoyed this book. It held my attention from start to finish. Easy to read, gripping and interesting.

Nothing like Free to Trade
Ridpaths third novel is further evidence of a downward trend. The main character Nick is not someone who generates reader sympathy. What are we to make of him when he ditches his girlfriend in a critical scene mid waythro' the book? Or when he makes a play for his best friends wife? Nick isalso naive in the extreme eg "What exactly is money laundering?".Nick is a drip who should have stayed in acedemia - why was he hired forhis Russian expertise when no use of this is ever made by his bank? All thecharacters have faces which "redden" - even middle aged folk?Basic errors abound - Lord Kerton is about forty - then ten pages later heis near retirement age? The dialogue lacks conflict. The prose is labouredand pedantic. As someone else has mentioned - who can believe that a loneEnglish guy can take on the Brazilian drug lords? Nice cover though.

A formula too far....
This thriller is a little like a throw-back to the 1970s. The trouble is, the author's heart doesn't seem to be in it. Long lectures about financial matters, culled from financial journals, the internet or The Economistreally don't make for a good novel, thriller or no. This story meandersslowly and predictably through a kidnap plot, adding a South Americanflavour, but none of this livens up a very tired idea. A disappointment.

Boring
Boredom pervades this book-- it's one long lecture.We get told thepopulation of Sao Paolo - in first person! We get told how financialmarkets work. We get told the mechanics of kidnapping.We even get toldwhat the hero is eating all the time.

All this telling is even worsewhen it comes to the story:to have any depth characters need to revealledthrough their actions, not the author's limited descriptions. Conversations are stilted.And lines like "Pushkin touches mysoul" are anything but deep and meaningful.

The real mystery is howthis boring guy:

1) attracts all the girls, 2) gets invited to be part ofbig deals without experience, because he observed something obvious, and3)gets taken along (with gun) to take on the baddies

The ending isimplausible.A suprise, yes, but not at all possible given the "badguy's" actions throughout. (enough - don't want to reveal all)

Asfor the City, the idea that you can destroy a smart guy who would jump to afierce competitor by saying bad things about him couldn't work.

Yes,fiction has to be bigger than life, but there needs to be a thread ofplausibility, and it needs to be --interesting! ... Read more