- Hardcover: 456 pages
- Publisher: Chivers Large print (Chivers, Windsor, Paragon & C; New edition edition (1 July 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0754016013
- ISBN-13: 978-0754016014
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 5,099,887 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
A blue-blooded London-based global investment bank is in trouble after major financial irregularities in the Far East. You don't need to be Sherlock Holmes to work out the inspiration for Paul Kilduff's first novel, Square Mile, a thriller based on low deeds in high places in the city. His hero Anthony Carlton works for investment bank Steen Odenberg where he has to know "a call from a put, a currency swap rate from an interest rate swap...the cable rate from the Swissy rate and an over-the-counter warrant from a listed equity". Carlton is ambitious. Working his way doggedly up the gilded pole, he starts the book in clear awe of the world of finance. But he isn't so much impressed by its impact on the global economy as he is by the stylish dress codes of his colleagues and their six or even seven-figure salaries.
The author trades profitably on insider knowledge of city institutions and global financial systems garnered during his six years spent working with a US securities house. We learn much about the "fine check lilac shirts, bold stripes, occasional braces, yellow ties, heavy dangling cufflinks, doubled breasted suits", that his hero aspires to. But the detailed listing of brand names and accessories as an index of social values is a trick that has been done many times before, not least in Tom Wolfe's Bonfire Of The Vanities and Brett Easton Ellis's American Psycho. The difference is that they did it to make a political point. You feel that Kilduff just likes expensive kit.
When a director of Steen Odenberg is found murdered, Carlton is drawn reluctantly into the police investigation and embarks on a voyage of discovery about his own uncritical acceptance of this gold-plated world. In other hands this could be the literary equivalent of mogadon. But Kilduff's prose style, relying on the rapid delivery of short sentences coupled with a wealth of detail--mostly about wealth--and a pacey plot, makes this a thoroughly entertaining and gripping read--even if you're not interested in the world of high finance. --Alex Benady --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
'SQUARE MILE offers a complete initiation into the financial City ... Kilduff's plot is immaculately conceived' -- Law Society Gazette 'An attractively written first novel, whose strength lies in the creation of the bank's atmosphere and the detailed analysis of financial jiggery-pokery.' -- Evening Standard 'A slick, punchy thriller by a banking insider, full of financial know-how' -- Daily Mail 'Kilduff writes with authority ... He handles the world of high finance and soft-top BMWs with aplomb' -- Irish Times 'An entertaining debut with an all-too-believable ending' -- Sunday Telegraph 'The most gut-tightening, enthralling tale I have read for a long time' -- Dublin Commuting Times 'A gripping read. Great pace, exciting, well-researched ... If you liked John Grisham's The Firm, then you only need to know one thing. This is better!' -- Accountancy Ireland
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
ONE NOT TO PUT DOWN,
By BRIAN RODGER (ENGLAND) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Square Mile (Paperback)
THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I HAVE READ ONE OF PAUL KILDUFF'S BOOKS BUT IT CERTAINLY IS NOT THE LAST. A BRILLIANT STORY LINE THAT LEAVES YOU NOT WANTING TO PUT THE BOOK DOWN BUT WONDERING WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT AND WHERE. BEING AN ENGINEER WITH NO "CITY " BACKGROUND I QUICKLY FOUND MYSELF RELATING SOME OF THE STORY LINES TO MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCES WITH PENSION FUNDS ETC.PAUL HAS WRITTEN THIS BOOK IN PLAIN ENGLISH IN SUCH A GREAT WAY THAT EVEN IF YOU HAVE HAD NO KNOWLEDGE OF "CITY" WORKING OR LANGUAGE YOU ARE EASLY GOING TO UNDERSTAND STORY LINE, UNLIKE SOME BOOKS THAT FLIT BACK AND FORWARDS THE WHOLE WAY THROUGH LEAVING YOU LOOSING THE PLOT. I ENJOYED IT SO MUCH THAT NOW THE FIRST AUTHOR I HUNT OUT IS PAUL KILDUFF.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great read for the tube into the city,
This review is from: Square Mile (Paperback)
An exciting story that gives unique insite into the working of the control group for a makor investment bank. The story has a likeable main character, is fast paced - and takes you from London as only known by an insider to Amsterdam and Hong Kong on a mission to really find out what is going on at a large institution that turns out to be rotten to the core.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Square Mile,
This review is from: Square Mile (Paperback)
Paul Kilduff's first novel. This, surely, is the first of many. A most enjoyable read from somebody who obviously has first hand experience of the ways of London's movers and shakers.At the end of the novel I was half expecting the final immortal lines taken from that old Country and Western number, 'Deck of Cards'.
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