Black Maps

Black Maps

The stronghold of white-collar crime in the rarefied world of high finance–this is the setting for Peter Spiegelman's edgy, suspenseful, sharply-honed debut novel.

Shamus Award Winner

John March walked away from his family’s merchant bank for the life of a rural deputy sheriff–a life that would explode in personal tragedy and professional disaster. Three years later, March is back in New York City, working as a private investigator and still running from his grief and guilt. When he takes the case of Rick Pierro, a wealthy investment banker threatened by blackmail, March is swiftly drawn into a web of Wall Street insiders and outcasts, and back to a world he thought he’d left behind. The more he learns about Pierro’s connections to a notorious international bank that made billions in blood-money, the darker the terrain becomes. Soon March’s own life is in danger, as he follows a trail of blood and shattered lives to a ruthless and depraved extortionist.

In this thrilling and intelligent debut, Peter Spiegelman illuminates the dark underside of the financial world and introduces one of the most compelling fictional detectives of the new millennium.

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About the Book
Engrossing... from the first growls of its take-no-prisoners narrator, all the way to the vivid financial details that only an insider can deliver.
– Brad Meltzer
Spiegelman knows where the bodies are buried and he knows how to write. Impressive.
– Jonathan Kellerman
John March is one of the most intriguing new P.I.s to come along in quite some time.
– Publishers Weekly (starred review)
…[an] accomplished financial mystery.
– The New York Times
Spiegelman knows how to let March tell the story, how to keep our interest while imparting some financial tidbits, and especially how to keep us turning the pages. Recommended for all mystery and suspense collections.
– Library Journal
…precise and suspenseful…March is a strong and fatalistic character with a flawless nose for bull. A provocative debut…
– Kirkus Reviews
What sets Spiegelman apart from most first time writers is not only his ability to clearly describe the characters and surroundings, and create smooth transitions, but most of all his creative and sophisticated style
– I Love a Mystery
I can’t remember reading a better book based on corporate crime.
– Reviewing the Evidence
An original and exciting debut, Spiegelman has wrought a story that should delight and thrill even the most cynical mystery lover.
– New Mystery Reader
Does the phrase “financial thriller” sound like an oxymoron? Take a look at Black Maps and change your mind…this is a most promising debut and at least one reader is eager to see March again.
– Washington Times
Spiegelman keeps the motor racing in this superior first novel.
– Houston Chronicle
A stunner... [It] keeps readers in the dark until the very last page. Suspenseful narrative, superb characters, and a prevailing atmosphere of Chandler-esque melancholy. . .to ask for more in a mystery would be criminal.
– Newsday
A first-rate thriller from a first-rate novelist.
– Rocky Mountain News
Spiegelman has a fine eye for the details of Manhattan corporate life . . . An important and facinating book.
– Chicago Tribune
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Details
Series: John March, Book 1
Publisher: Knopf
Publication Year: 2003
ASIN: B000XUBFZG
ISBN: 9781400033591