The First Billion

July 8, 2002
Reich continues to struggle, trying to recapture his early success. After a rather intriguing setup, this third novel gradually evolves into something more like an unintentional parody than a real thriller. Following the altogether lackluster Allan Folsom–esque Nazi war crimes plot of The Runner, the Swiss banker–turned–thriller writer returns to the more familiar arena of international finance, which provided the intriguing backdrop of his 1998 bestselling debut, Numbered Account. But action and pacing are made to substitute for the authenticity and credibility that distinguished his promising first novel. Borrowing to the hilt in a go-for-broke move, Jett Gavallan, ex–Gulf War fighter pilot turned founding CEO of Frisco-based Black Jet Securities—an up-and-coming investment banking firm—puts all his chips on the line for the chance to take public Mercury Broadband (Russia's answer to AOL) with shares worth $2 billion. The pot of gold at the end of his rainbow is a cool $70 million, but all is not blue skies. An enigmatic online financial analyst, Private Eye-PO, starts warning investors that the deal is bad, leading Jett to send partner Grafton Byrnes undercover to Moscow to verify the legitimacy of Mercury Broadband. Graf calls in with a coded warning that all is not well, Jett's investigator locates the real Private Eye-PO in Delray Beach, Fla., and bodies begin piling up. Credibility wanes and action spins out of control as Jett and an old flame embark on an intercontinental plane and car chase. Comic-book dialogue ("Kind of you, Mr. Gavallan. It's not often a disloyal, disgraceful slut gets any TLC") makes this thriller read like an old Saturday Night Live
skit, which may give it kitsch appeal but undermines its dramatic effect. Major ad/promo.

May 1, 2002
Again, the bad guys are Russians mob bosses who secretly run a company about to land on the U.S. Stock Exchange. It's good news that the head of Black Jet Securities has uncovered the truth. Now what?

Copyright 2002 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2002
How far would you go to rebuild your dwindling empire? Thirtysomething John "Jett" Gavallan is ready to go the distance to help his brokerage company, Black Jet Securities, regain the luster it enjoyed in the late 1990s. And you kind of want him to succeed. A Stealth Bomber pilot during the Gulf War, Jett has always been a bootstraps kind of guy, having successfully made the jump from Texas "border trash" to San Francisco power broker. But the tech crash has hit his firm hard--M & A's are down, high-dollar IPO's are scarce, and more layoffs are imminent. In fact, it's Jett's own retirement fund that's keeping the firm afloat. Just when he's on the brink of going public with the largest Russian media company--with a listing on the coveted NYSE, no less--rumors surface that the Russian conglomerate is corrupt and on shaky ground. Fearing a drop in the offering price, and knowing full well that the rumors are fabricated, Jett sends his number-two guy to check out the company and its enigmatic boss, Konstantin Kirov. But when his guy never returns, Jett is forced to trek to the former Soviet bloc himself, finding answers to questions he might wish he hadn't asked. If you want high-concept espionage, it doesn't get much better than this.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2002, American Library Association.)